Author Archives: H.H. Giriraj Swami

“One day we decided to do Govardhan parikrama together. I was feeling pretty sick but I was thinking I didn’t want to disappoint Maharaja. He was also feeling sick and he was thinking. ‘I don’t want to disappoint Giriraj Maharaja’ so he kept pushing on. Pretty soon after that we were both in the hospital […]

A few days ago, Niranjana Swami wrote me a letter in which he said, “I meditate a lot on Sridhar Maharaja. I miss him.” And when I asked him to tell me more about his meditation, he replied, “I honestly can’t fully explain it. He became so unbelievably dear to me in Mayapur—the way he […]

Today is the disappearance anniversary of His Holiness Sridhar Swami Maharaja, Srila Prabhupada’s staunch disciple and our dear godbrother. As I wrote in Many Moons, “Three days after Sridhar Maharaja left, while on my daily walk, in Santa Barbara, I suddenly began to feel blissful, and I felt Maharaja’s presence. Then I imagined that he […]

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta states, “Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the most benevolent personality in human society because His only desire is to make people happy. His sankirtana movement is especially meant for the purpose of making people happy.” (Adi 9.45 p) And Srila Prabhupada said of himself, “I have started this Krishna consciousness movement in this country, […]

“We hold onto our material attachments because we don’t have faith in Krishna; we don’t have faith in the holy name. First, we doubt whether Krishna actually exists — whether He’s really a person. And then we doubt whether he will really save us. If I am falling, will Krishna catch me? And if we don’t have faith that Krishna will catch us, we will […]

This video shows devotees at the Ganges on Gaura-purnima 1974 and features Tamal Krishna Goswami shaving up and Sridhar Swami, Madhudvisa Prabhu, and me in a major water fight. Happy Gaura-purnima! Hare Krishna. Yours in service, Giriraj Swami

From Amrit Vani, “Nectarean Instructions for Immortality,” gleaned from the instructions of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and presented in the form of questions and answers.   Is the favor given by Mahaprabhu the highest favor? There has never been nor will there ever be better benefactors than Mahaprabhu and His devotees. No other type of […]

Again listening to Srila Prabhupada’s talks in Juhu, I was struck by his frank and realistic assessment: “What do they know about nation? Everyone is interested in his own pocket, that’s all. ‘What money is coming in my pocket.’ Where is the nationalism? If there was nationalism, how such havoc could have happened? There is […]

Today, listening to Srila Prabhupada’s talks in Juhu, I heard something that struck me as especially timely and relevant. “Krishna says advesta sarva-bhutanam: You should not be envious to any living entity. But the present civilization means to become envious. I do not wish to criticize anyone, but this enviousness is the basis . . […]

In an exuberant mood, Syamsundara Prabhu, the temple president in Houston, wrote me, “Thank you, Maharaja, for your divine presence in our lives. How fortunate we are to have you among us. Please live forever.” Reflecting on Syamsundara’s words, I thought of Srila Prabhupada’s statement “I will never die. I will live forever in my […]

Today is Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja’s disappearance day. He comes in the Gaudiya Vaishnava disciplic succession after Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura and Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana. He was a renounced ascetic, fully engaged in chanting the holy names of Krishna and meditating on His pastimes. For some time, he made his residence at Surya-kunda in […]

Today is the disappearance anniversary of Sripada Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaja, my sannyasa-guru and spiritual older brother. From him I learned almost everything I know about serving Srila Prabhupada. On this occasion I rededicate myself to him and pray to engage in his service eternally, in friendship and love. Hare Krishna. Yours in service, Giriraj […]

Today, Sivaratri here, we did special worship of our deity of Gopisvara Mahadeva, gifted to us by His Holiness Indradyumna Swami. We prayed to Gopisvara, vrndavanavani-pate jaya soma soma-maule   sanaka-sanandana-sanatana-naradedya gopisvara vraja-vilasi-yuganghri-padme prema prayaccha nirupadhi namo namaste “O gatekeeper of Vrindavan! O Soma, all glories to you! O you whose forehead is decorated with […]

Yesterday at our ashram in Carpinteria we celebrated the appearance day of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master, whose divine instruction led to Prabhupada’s coming to America and spreading Krishna consciousness—the teachings of Lord Chaitanya—all over the world. And we were happy that Balarama das, Sripada Tamal Krishna Goswami’s former servant, secretary, and […]

Giriraj Swami gave this talk on February 12, 2014 in New Dvaraka, Los Angeles. “We think of Srila Prabhupada staying in the Bowery with that young man, David Allen, who was taking the New York version of strong liquor—LSD. David just went mad. He could have done anything to Srila Prabhupada. And Srila Prabhupada went running […]

Today is Varaha-dvadasi, Lord Varaha’s appearance day. Srila Prabhupada spoke on this occasion in Los Angeles on February 18, 1970: “Today is the incarnation day of Lord Krishna’s appearing as the Boar. He lifted the world when it was submerged within the water of Garbhodaka Ocean. The universe which we are seeing, it is only […]

On Sri Advaita Acarya’s appearance day, I share with you a talk about Him by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, given on April 6, 1975, in Mayapur, India.  —Giriraj Swami advaitam harinadvaita   acaryam bhakti-samsana bhaktavataram isam tam   advaita acaryam asraye “Because He is nondifferent from Hari, the Supreme Lord, He […]

Happy Vasanta Panchami, Vrindavan’s first day of spring, which is the appearance day of Srimati Visnupriya Devi, Sri Pundarika Vidyanidhi, Sri Raghunandana Thakura, and Srila Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami; the disappearance day of Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura; and the anniversary of the acceptance of sannyasa by His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami (my sannyasa-guru). May they shower […]

The account of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu’s deliverance of the two drunken sinners Jagai and Madhai demonstrates the harmful results of blaspheming Vaishnavas and the beneficial results possible for those who do not blaspheme. Sri Caitanya-bhagavata (Madhya-khanda, 13.39–43) describes: “Every type of sin became manifest in the bodies of those two [Jagai and […]

In the morning I have been listening to Srila Prabhupada’s wonderful talks on Sri Caitanya-caritamrta given in Juhu in November 1975, and today I was struck by his explanation of how we can feel fellowship with each other—free from envy: “So if we accept this philosophy, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s, without falsely declaring ourself that ‘I am […]

Speaking on the offenses against the holy name, Srila Prabhupada said, “‘To become inattentive while chanting the holy name.’ Sravanam kirtanam: hearing and chanting. One has to hear nicely, and if he hears nicely, then he can speak nicely. But we must practice hearing . . . So many times this chanting, it is not so […]

Last night night Swarup Damodar, Sukumari, Nikunja Viharini, and I went to visit Rose Forkash (now Rajani-priya dasi) at her home in Carpinteria. For three hours, she enlivened and inspired us with stories of her and her family’s association with and service to Srila Prabhupada. And Swarup Damodar gave me a wonderful exchange with Srila […]

Adapted from a Talk by Giriraj Swami December 17, 2000 Ojai, California Our host, Urvasi dasi, called tonight’s occasion “The Holiday Festival.” In the West this is the holiday season, with Christmas and Hanukkah both coming up. As Srila Prabhupada explained, the Lord comes to this world to enlighten people with transcendental knowledge. Sometimes He […]

Two copies of the Hindi edition of Watering the Seed just arrived from India, and we offered them to our deity of Srila Prabhupada here in Carpinteria. The volume appears very nice, and I am indebted to Radha Charan, Charan Renu, Dhananjaya Krishna, Radha Priya, Hari Priya, and all the other friends and devotees who […]

Pictured here is our small deity of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura on his disappearance day, just before we offered him bhoha, pushpanjali, and arati. My spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, said, “Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura came in this world to execute the of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So he executed it. And when it was required, he left this […]

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master, is my grand spiritual master, but I feel that I never really knew him that well until I read his biography Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava by my godbrother Bhakti Vikasa Swami. Many of the quotes and references below come from that work, which has helped bring me closer […]

Today is the auspicious occasion of Gita Jayanti, the day Lord Krsna spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kuruksetra, the day of Moksada Ekadasi. To begin, we shall read from Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Chapter Nine, “The Most Confidential Knowledge,” two verses that can provide us with guidance for our lives: TEXT […]

Srimad-Bhagavatam contains a discussion between Dharma, in the form of a bull, and the Earth, in the form of a cow. Eventually he asks her, “The so-called administrators are now bewildered by the influence of this age of Kali, and thus they have put all state affairs into disorder. Are you now lamenting this disorder? […]

If we are at all aware of how dependent we are on God—for the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, and our very ability to eat and drink and breathe, to think and feel and do everything else we do—we will feel grateful and want to reciprocate God’s kindness. We […]

Reading Srila Prabhupada’s Light of the Bhagavata, I was struck by text 12 and his commentary on it: “The mountains, although being struck by torrents of rain during the rainy season, are not shaken, just as those whose hearts are dedicated to the transcendental Personality of Godhead are never disturbed, even when harassed by great […]

“We may approach the Lord for something material and he may fulfill our desire, but in such a way that we don’t approach him again for that desire. So, it is better if we approach the Lord and great souls like Giri Govardhan with spiritual desires like the gopi’s—just to serve and please Krishna—without any […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.32, verses 16 to 22. ” ‘But the reason I do not immediately reciprocate the affection of living beings even when they worship Me, O gopis, is that I want to intensify their loving devotion. They then become like a poor man who has gained some wealth and […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.3.28. “The standard of perfection for a human being is to develop the attributes up to seventy-eight percent in full. The living being can never possess attributes like Siva, Visnu or Lord Krsna. A living being can become godly by developing the seventy-eight-percent transcendental attributes in fullness, but […]

Giriraj Swami’s Vyasa-puja celebration was a festive opportunity for the devotees to chant, dance, feast and glorify Lord Krishna’s devotees. “My experience with His Holiness Giriraj Swami is that he is a clear representative, or as Srila Prabhupada said, a transparent via medium. So, through Giriraj Swami we see our Founder Acharya His Divine Grace A. […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.7.51. “These are very important principles. We may have heard them before but as Srila Prabhupada said repetition is important for understanding because we are in the material atmosphere which is full of fog and clouds. Therefore even though something may be clear at a certain time and with […]

Giriraj Swami and Rtadvaja Swami spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.7.6. “It is a great transcendental science and begins with the process of hearing and chanting the name, fame, glory, etc., of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Revival of the dormant affection or love of Godhead does not depend on the mechanical system of hearing and chanting, […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Sri Caitanya caritamrta Madhya-lila 14.228 in Dallas. “Although superficially Vrindavan is just a cowherd village, the opulence of Vrindavan far exceeds the opulence of Vaikuntha. But, because the mood of sweeteness (madhurya) prevails, it covers the mood of opulence (aisvarya) even though the opulence of Vrindavan is greater than that […]

It is said that wherever Lord Rama’s glories are chanted, Hanuman goes to that place. Yesterday after Deity greeting I was chanting in my quarters in Dallas when I received a text message saying, “Chitralekha is speaking about Srila Prabhupada now.” I immediately left for the temple room, remembering Hanuman: Even though I am like […]

Giriraj Swami and Anutama prabhu spoke from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 7.92. “Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura explains in his Anubhasya, “A person who has attracted the attention of the spiritual master by his sincere service likes to dance and chant with similarly developed Krsna conscious devotees. The spiritual master authorizes such a devotee to deliver fallen […]

On this day Sri Visvarupa, the elder brother of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa. It is also the day Srila Prabhupada took sannyasa. “If Srila Prabhupada hadn’t taken sannyasa and come to us, where would we be? We wouldn’t be anywhere. I shudder to think where we would be. that renunciation is necessary. Sat nyas—Giving up […]