Author Archives: H.H. Giriraj Swami

Today we are celebrating the beginning of Jhulana-yatra, which is steeped in the moods of Vrindavan. When I first began reading Srila Prabhupadas books I was struck by the following description in the introduction to Teachings of Lord Chaitanya: “Actually, Vrindaban is as good as the Spiritual Vrindaban, and therefore Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami says […]

In 1976, on August 15, Indian Independence Day, some of the tenants assembled in the garden at noon, stood in silence for a minute before the small statue of Gandhi, and then proceeded with their annual celebration—hoisting an Indian flag, garlanding the statue, singing the national anthem, and distributing sweets. “Where is the question of […]

When I arrived at my chiropractor’s yesterday, all the tables were taken, so I took a copy of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is from his bookshelf, opened it, and received just the instruction I needed: yadrccha-labha-santustah—one who is satisfied with gain that comes of its own accord, dvandvatitah—who has surpassed duality, vimatsarah—who is free from […]

We read from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Chapter One: “The Spiritual Masters.” TEXT 62 sadhavo hrdayam mahyam   sadhunam hrdayam tv aham mad-anyat te na jananti   naham tebhyo manag api SYNONYMS sadhavah—the saints; hrdayam—heart; mahyam—My; sadhunam—of the saints; hrdayam—the heart; tu—indeed; aham—I; mat—than Me; anyat—other; te—they; na—not; jananti—know; na—nor; aham—I; tebhyah—than them; manak—slightly; api—even. TRANSLATION […]

Question: “Can we pray for something that would be favorable for our service?” Giriraj Swami: “Suppose I don’t have a car to go to the temple. Can I pray to Krishna to give me a car so I can get to the temple? In the Bhagavad-gita (7.26) Krishna says, ‘O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality […]

Yesterday, I invited Rajani-priya (Rose Forkash), almost ninety-eight years old now, to accompany us to the Los Angeles Ratha-yatra. In the car on the way back to Carpinteria after the festival, she said, “Giriraj—I want to thank you, thank you, thank you so many times for including me in today’s program. I needed it, I […]

Yesterday Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja arrived in Carpinteria to spend some time with me at my ashram. I was much impressed with his plans and initiatives for cow protection (go-raksya) and, of course, as always, with his spiritual purity and Krishna consciousness. And I know that it was only his love for Srila Prabhupada and […]

Yesterday we were graced by a visit from Kalakantha Prabhu and Bhakta Jeff, from Gainesville. Kalakantha is such a sincere, intelligent, thoughtful, dynamic, compassionate, innovative preacher, I always feel enlightened and encouraged by his annual visits. As stated in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Adi 1.50), tesam satata-yuktanam   bhajatam priti-purvakam dadami buddhi-yogam tam   yena mam upayanti […]

“The mind is the agent of the false ego and the false ego doesn’t want to surrender to Krishna. The false ego wants to be the controller, the enjoyer, the proprietor and the center of everything. The mind will always give us so many reasons why not to surrender or chant Hare Krishna. So, we […]

One must conquer the modes of passion and ignorance by developing the mode of goodness, and then one must become detached from the mode of goodness by promoting oneself to the platform of suddha-sattva. All this can be automatically done if one engages in the service of the spiritual master with faith and devotion. In […]

———————————————— Giriraj Swami and Kalachandji dasa shared their memories of His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaja. ———————————————— Kalachandji dasa (Right click to download) Giriraj Swami (Right click to download)

Today is Guru-purnima. Srila Prabhupada has explained that the system of honoring the spiritual master annually is current among all Vedic followers. In Mayavadi (impersonalist) sects, disciples offer respect to the spiritual master on Guru-purnima. And in the Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya, disciples offer homage on the appearance day of the spiritual master, in a ceremony […]

It is a great honor, privilege, and pleasure to be here on the auspicious occasion of Snana-yatra. The first deities of Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra in ISKCON were discovered in San Francisco in 1967. One of Srila Prabhupada’s early disciples, Malati dasi, saw a small figure in an import store, Cost Plus, and brought it to […]

While I was chanting japa at Butterfly Beach, about forty crows converged on the sand nearby, and I told Jivan-mukta, “Look: a place of pilgrimage for crows (vayasam tirtham),” referring Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.1 na yad vacas citra-padam harer yaso   jagat-pavitram pragrnita karhicit tad vayasam tirtham usanti manasa   na yatra hamsa niramanty usik-ksayah ————————————————————————————————– “Those […]

We shall continue our discussion of the cleansing of the heart, “The Cleansing of the Gundica Temple,” Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, Chapter Twelve. I will read the verse again and then the entire purport. We have already discussed the beginning of the purport, which explains the general process of cleansing the heart. Now we shall discuss […]

The observance of Gundica-marjana, the washing and cleansing of the Gundica temple, takes place on the day before Ratha-yatra, in preparation for the arrival of the Lord. The history of Ratha-yatra goes back thousands of years, to a previous age, but for us the specific significance of the Ratha-yatra and the cleaning of the Gundica […]

On May 12 Mohini Madaan, now Madana-mohana-mohini dasi, who suffers from severe muscular dystrophy and has been told she does not have long to live, shared with me her thoughts on her eighteenth birthday: My dearest Maharaja, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva. All glories to your divine […]

Madan Mohan Mohini Dasi (Mohini Madaan) received her first and second initiation, and Hema Gauranga Das, Hemangi Dasi, and Sri-gopika Dasi received their second initiations, in a ceremony on Sunday evening. ——————————————- Kirtan by Giriraj Swami (Right click to download) Initiation talk (Right click to download)

Srivasa Pandita is one of the members of the Panca-tattva: sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu-nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasa. Vedic authorities state that in the current Age of Kali, Krishna came as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Balarama came as Sri Nityananda Prabhu. Similarly, Maha-vishnu appeared as Advaita Acharya, Srimati Radharani as Gadadhara Pandita, and Narada Muni as Srivasa Pandita. […]

Today the Supreme Court of India ruled that no one should be barred from the Jagannatha temple in Puri because of his faith or nationality, providing legal support to Srila Prabhupada’s long-standing desire that his disciples be allowed to enter, as described in the following excerpt from my forthcoming book about Srila Prabhupada and Juhu: […]

———————————————————- ————————————————— In-Dependence Event. The Darshan Room (Right click to download)

While I was leaving the Dallas Fort Worth airport on July 4, a large American flag flying in the wind caught my eye, and I was surprised by how happy I felt. I reflected on how fortunate we were to live in a country where we have freedom of religion, and how Srila Prabhupada said, […]

On July 5 we celebrate the divine disappearance day of Sri Srimad Bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaja, who left our world on this date on the Vedic calendar in 2005. Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Four, Chapter Twenty-eight: “Puranjana Becomes a Woman in the Next Life,” discusses the disappearance of the spiritual master: TEXT 48 uttisthottistha rajarse   imam […]

Sravanam and Kirtanam with HH Giriraj Swami and Madhava dasa.
#Kirtanforever
Posted by Madhava Kirtan Community on Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Yesterday we were blessed with the association of seven stalwart brahmachari book distributors who are following the Warped Tour. They arrived the night before, attended our entire morning program, and then, after breakfast, we discussed various aspects of the practice and preaching of Krishna consciousness. These devotees are extending Srila Prabhupada and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s […]

Today we were blessed to observe Nirjala Ekadasi with about twenty devotees from the Mantra House program in Los Angeles. Not only did we chant many rounds together, but we also discussed many interesting points related to the practice and preaching of Krishna consciousness. “Everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord. Everyone […]

At the Sunday program at Laguna Beach, Indradyumna Swami initiated Madhav Gharmalkar, son of Sri Vallabha dasa and Ananda Vrindavan dasi, and gave him the name Nilamadhava dasa, and Giriraj Swami gave Jivan-mukta dasa second initiation. Second-initiation talk (Right click to download)

? —————————————– 06.16.18_IDS_Panihati_Laguna (Right click to download) 06.16.18_GRS_Panihati_Laguna (Right click to download)

By Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, I successfully completed my vratas (vows) for the sacred, extra month of Purusottama. I chanted extra rounds and read and recited the fifteenth chapter of the Bhagavad-gita (Purusottama-yoga) every day—and I finished the first draft of my book about Srila Prabhupada and Juhu (I’ll Build You a Temple). And, remembering how […]

This morning while chanting japa before my deity of Srila Prabhupada, I was struck by how merciful he had been to accept me as his disciple, appreciating that, despite all my failings, he will never let me go but would do whatever it takes to deliver me. As he said of his guru maharaja, “My […]

Giriraj Swami, Indradyumna Swami, and all the other devotees staying at the ashram in Carpinteria went to visit Rajani Priya dasi (Rose Forkash) and spent two hours with her. —————————————– Indradyumna Swami’s kirtan (Right click to download)

Indradyumna Swami Maharaja has come to spend four weeks with me at my ashram in Carpinteria, and today, watching him do his Deity worship, I was reminded of a statement in Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.5.23–24 purport) that a devotee “unable to worship the Deity must at least see the Deity worship, and in that way he may […]

After almost fifty years, I was surprised to receive a letter from my freshman roommate at Brandeis University. He had heard that I had “changed my name” from Glenn Teton to Giriraj, and he had traced me, followed me, and written me, saying that he would be in Santa Barbara on Friday, June 1, and […]

Every day during the auspicious Purusottama month, I read the fifteenth chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, “Purusottama-yoga”—“The Yoga of the Supreme Person,” in which the seventh verse is one of the most significant. mamaivamso jiva-loke  jiva bhutah sanatanah  manah sasthanindriyani  prakrti-sthani karsati “The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to […]

? Audio Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.12 (Right click to download)

Giriraj Swami and other devotees gathered in Srila Prabhupada’s quarters to remember him. “Srila Prabhupada was starting to talk about forming a political party because his disciples wanted to form the ‘In God We Trust’ party. There was some movement among the American people that they shouldn’t have the slogan ‘In God We Trust’ on […]

My disciple Rohini-nandana Dasa, from Israel, who has helped tremendously with my book about Srila Prabhupada and Juhu, and his devoted wife, Vrinda Devi Dasi, a wonderful disciple of Bhurijana Prabhu (she took the picture), have come to spend eight days with us in Carpinteria. We are truly relishing their association, and look forward to […]

In a talk on Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.13, on May 30, 1972, in Los Angeles, Srila Prabhupada spoke about the qualities of a devotee, and I was struck by the following: A devotee is sympathetic—and friendly. “Sympathetic. We should be very much sympathetic. If some of our fellow men fall sick, we must take care of them, […]

On this day twenty-four years ago, Mother Arca-vigraha passed away, in Vrindavan, and to honor the occasion, I share a remembrance of her by Raghava Pandit das: When I think of Mother Arca and her myriad of good qualities, I am reminded of Srila Prabhupada’s instructions to one of his disciples: “Do it enthusiastically, with […]

At one stage on my evening japa walk today, the first day of Purusottama, my mind became restless, which disturbed me a lot, and I didn’t know what to do. Then suddenly within me I heard my disciple Damodar’s ringtone of Sripada Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja preaching forcefully: “Why are you unhappy? Because you are […]