Author Archives: H.H. Giriraj Swami

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.11 as part of Holy Name Week in Houston. “God helps those who help themselves. Srila Prabhupada said that in the context of the life of a devotee, the meaning of the saying -‘God helps those who help themselves’ is that the devotee puts himself in the presence of […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 9.10.9-11 during the morning program. “We were new to Krishna consciousness and we were new to India at the Ardha Kumbha Mela in 1971. A man came to our camp saying that he chants Hare Krishna and follows the regulative principles and we were very impressed to meet […]

Giriraj Swami and Rtadvaja Swami spoke at the Houston temple. —————————– “When I first went to the temple as a guest the devotees from Canada would always ask me, ‘When are you going to surrender?’ I would say, ‘I am an American. We don’t surrender. Surrender is for weak people. When people are strong they […]

One year on Gita Jayanti, the day on which Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna, I heard a talk in which Srila Prabhupada spoke about the perfection of reading the Gita. “When Lord Chaitanya was traveling in South India, in a big temple, Ranganatha temple, He went to see the Deity, and He saw […]

Yesterday Rohini-nandana dasa wrote: “Life’s Final Exam in Hebrew is now available in all major book stores in Israel. Bhaktin Sharon Karni has sent the accompanying photos.” Life’s Final Exam: Death and Dying from the Vedic Perspective is presented in pursuance of the Vedic aphorism: tamaso ma jyotir gamaya asato ma sad gamaya mrtyor ma […]

My dear devotees, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. In a letter to me dated December 1971, Srila Prabhupada wrote, “Go on increasing books, and go on increasing my pleasure.” December is a special opportunity to focus on Srila Prabhupada’s desire that we distribute books—and thus increase his pleasure. As he […]

In a conversation in Toronto in June 1976, a guest asked Srila Prabhupada about his translation, and Prabhupada replied, “It can be finished, but I have to look after this management. That is the difficulty.” “I write in the night,” he explained. “I go to bed at half past ten, and I get up at […]

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 […]

Giriraj Swami spoke on Srila Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja during the Sunday program. “Although one could say that Srila Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja didn’t preach, he did so through Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. He had an immense wealth of spiritual realization that he gave to Srila Sarasvati Thakura, who then distributed it. If […]

atmanam socati dinam abandhum viklavasrubhih stanav asicya vipine susvaram praruroda sa Translation: Being now alone and a widow in that forest, the daughter of Vidarbha began to lament, incessantly shedding tears, which soaked her breasts, and crying very loudly. Purport: Figuratively the queen is supposed to be the disciple of the king; thus when the […]

“My uncle poured his heart out to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Prabhupada was just listening with great sympathy. I think in the whole conversation, which lasted about twenty minutes, Srila Prabhupada only spoke a few sentences—he was just listening. And even that had such a tremendous effect on my uncle that as he was leaving the room […]

“Once, in Detroit, a child started to make a noise while Srila Prabhupada was talking. The mother started to chastise the child and Srila Prabhupada said. ‘In vedic culture children cannot be punished.’ So, then the mother’s husband began to chastise her for having chastised the child. Srila Prabhupada said. ‘In vedic culture women cannot be punished.’  […]

Giriraj Swami and devotees celebrated a small but beautiful Govardhana-puja in Carpinteria. ————————————————–

We celebrate Govardhana-puja. “When the cowherd men of Vrndavana, under instruction of Krsna, stopped offering sacrifice to the heavenly king, Indra, the whole tract of land known as Vraja was threatened with being washed away by constant heavy rains for seven days. Lord Krsna, out of His causeless mercy upon the inhabitants of Vraja, held up the hill […]

——————————– On the auspicious occasion of Diwali, I share with you a description by Smriti “Baby” Warrier (later initiated as Sravana dasi), whose family were tenants at Hare Krishna Land in Juhu, of how when she was a child she and her brothers wanted to set off fireworks, and how Srila Prabhupada responded. One Diwali, […]

Today Brahmananda Prabhu was placed in his samadhi in Vrindavan, and all the devotees present felt their hearts melt with love for Srila Prabhupada and Brahmananda Prabhu. I sent an offering to for the occasion, which Bhurijana Prabhu kindly read out for me. One thing was certain in my mind—that I would be present for […]

A talk by Giriraj Swami on October 24, 2011, in Vrindavan. In Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami says that the pastimes of Lord Caitanya are like a lake with many beautiful lotus flowers, which are love for Krsna—Radha and Krsna. As our acaryas tell us, the Caitanya-caritamrta is perhaps the most important of all the books […]

Today marks Sri Rama-vijaya-dasami (Dasara), the day on which Lord Ramachandra vanquished the powerful tyrant Ravana. As described in Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.7.25): vaksah-sthala-sparsa-rugna-mahendra-vaha- dantair vidambita-kakubjusa udha-hasam sadyo ’subhih saha vinesyati dara-hartur visphurjitair dhanusa uccarato ’dhisainye  “When Ravana was engaged in the battle, the trunk of the elephant which carried the king of heaven, Indra, broke in […]

“It is very encouraging to see devotees begin the process and stay with the process for decades. I can see from this assembly that we are extending ourselves to others. The only way our family is to grow is if we extend ourselves. That is good for us and for the people to whom we […]

————————— Ravindra Svarupa prabhu spoke and Giriraj Swami sang during this program. “Then there are Carbon atoms and they form complicated structures and at a certain level of complexity something else happens in the world and there are no longer just complex structures of matter but there is the experience of complex structures of matter. What is […]

“Once a devotee said to Srila Prabhupada, ‘I want to renounce everything.’ Srila Prabhupada’s response was, ‘Krishna owns everything. The only thing you have to renounce is the misconception that you have something to renounce.’ Essentially sannyasa means to give up our false-ego—ahankar; the desire to be the controller, the proprietor and the enjoyer. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu […]

The following devotees spoke in appreciation of Giriraj Swami: Gaudachandra dasa, Aditi dasi, Purusottama Ksetra dasa, Revati dasi, Sri Vallabha dasa, Madhava, Balarama dasa, Tulsi Manjari devi dasi, Sukumari dasi, Bhaktin Andrea, Bhakta Jared, Swarup Damodar dasa, Bhakta Rob, Rajani Priya devi dasi, Abhay, Radha Radhanatha devi dasi, Kandarpa Manjari devi dasi, Kunti devi dasi, […]

Today is Visvarupa-mahotsava, the date on which Lord Caitanya’s older brother, Visvarupa, took sannyasa, the renounced order of life. And on the same date some four hundred and fifty years later, our own spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, also accepted sannyasa. According to Vedic scripture, Lord Caitanya is Krsna Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, come […]

Today is the disappearance day of Namacarya Srila Haridasa Thakura, so we shall read from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, Chapter Eleven, “The Passing of Haridasa Thakura”: The summary of this chapter is given by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura in his Amrta-pravaha-bhasya as follows. In this chapter it is described how Brahma Haridasa Thakura gave up his body […]

“So we have a great responsibility.  when we think of all the sacrifices that Srila Prabhupada made, and all the risks he took to come to America and deliver Krishna consciousness to us, I get great inspiration in my own efforts and I think that anyone of us will feel the same. How much he […]

“Radha means the embodiment of wanting to please. In various sastras they describe that the essence of Her reality is that she wants to please. She is non-different than Krishna. It’s like if you have a rose with fragrance and color and the various potencies of the rose—Radha is the color, Radha is the fragrance, Radha […]

“When Sri Krishna sees the beauty of Sri Radha sometimes His crown and peacock feather fall off and He doesn’t even know it. When Sri Radha is touched by the breeze that has touched Sri Krishna Her consciousness just flies with that breeze. When She sees the color of a Tamal tree She embraces it. There […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.7.44. “One should endeavor for that which is never obtained by wandering up and down the universe as a result of the reactions of karma. What is that? One should endeavor to become Krsna conscious. If one tries to spread Krsna consciousness all over the world, he should […]

Many senior devotees including: Trivikrama Swami, Jagat Purusa Dasa, Jayadvaita Swami, Romapada Swami, Radhanatha Swami, Guru Gauranga Dasa, Niranjana Swami, Anuttama Dasa, Visaka Dasi, Nava Yogendra Dasa, Cintamani Dasi, Maha Visnu Swami, Anuttama Dasa, Ambarisha Dasa, Gopasvami Dasa, Sumati Dasi, Rukmini Devi Dasi, Rangavati Dasi, Sarva Siddhi Dasa, Svayam Prabha Devi Dasi and Giriraj Swami shared their accounts of how they were personally effected by Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in the USA. “I was standing out front […]

To commemorate the anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in America, we shall sing and discuss the second poem that he wrote on the ship Jaladuta, after he arrived in the Boston harbor on September 17, 1965. Poem [translation]: 1: My dear Lord Krsna, You are so kind upon this useless soul, but I do not […]

By some higher arrangement, I will be joining His Holiness Radhanath Swami for saintly Amala Bhakta Prabhu’s sannyasa ceremony today—the first sannyasa initiation in New Dvaraka in more than three decades. Then tomorrow morning Radhanath Swami and I will fly together from Los Angeles to Boston for the fiftieth anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in […]

“Then Srila Prabhupada said that he never complained, because his policy was, “Everything for Krsna; nothing for myself.” He mentioned how he had suffered in so many ways in the course of establishing the Krsna consciousness movement; he had struggled to get passage to America and then on the way suffered two heart attacks at […]

Giriraj Swami spoke about Krishna’s qualities and answered questions during the program. “From the musical perspective Krishna’s flute playing even bewilders Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma is the most intelligent being in the universe. He is so intelligent that he engineered the whole universe and everything in it. Still, he could not wrap his mind around the melodies […]

Giriraj Swami and Vaisesika dasa read from Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead during the festivities. “The art of focusing one’s attention on the Supreme and giving one’s love to Him is called Krsna consciousness. We have inaugurated the Krsna consciousness movement so that everyone can satisfy his propensity for loving others simply by directing his […]

My dear Srila Prabhupada, Please accept my prostrated obeisances in the dust of your divine lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Loving Grace and to your auspicious arrival in America. At this time your devotees and admirers are reflecting upon your momentous departure from India and your historic arrival in America some fifty years […]

We read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Ten, Chapter Two: “Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Krsna in the Womb.” TEXT 18 tato jagan-mangalam acyutamsam samahitam sura-sutena devi dadhara sarvatmakam atma-bhutam kastha yathananda-karam manastah SYNONYMS tatah–thereafter; jagat-mangalam–auspiciousness for all living entities in all the universes of the creation; acyuta-amsam–the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is never bereft […]

“In whatever way we want to serve, we can pray to Lord Balarama to facilitate that service, because He serves in every possible way. And apart from the external features of the service, there is the mood of the service, which is most important. We should pray to serve without any false ego or ulterior […]