Author Archives: H.H. Giriraj Swami

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Bhagavat-gita 15.7 at the Atma Bhakti Yoga Center in Dallas. “Our origin is Krishna and so our natural love is for Him and He has natural love for us. In fact one of the great sages has said that the two most basic necessities for the living entity are to […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 8.90. “Even a devotee of the Personality of Godhead Narayana cannot actually understand the transcendental attractive features of Krsna. Indeed, a devotee of Krsna who is attached to the sublime attractive features of the Lord does not consider Narayana very important. When the gopis sometimes saw Krsna […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.7.23. “If we try to enjoy the property of God without God, we will be vanquished, sooner or later. Once, Srila Prabhupada compared the Western countries to Ravana, who was in possession of Sita, or Laksmi, the goddess of fortune. He said that just as Lord Ramachandra crossed […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 9.10.20. There are two kinds of strength — daiva and purusakara. Daiva refers to the strength achieved from the Transcendence, and purusakara refers to the strength organized by one’s own intelligence and power. Transcendental power is always superior to the power of the materialist. Depending on the mercy of the […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.81 6-7. “Duryodhana  was affronted that Krishna did not accept his invitation to enjoy a royal banquet with him. So, Krishna explained to him. ‘There are only two reasons to accept an invitation to eat. One is if you are hungry, and the other is if the invitation is extended […]

Today is Sri Rama-navami, the appearance day of the Personality of Godhead Ramacandra. It is also the fortieth anniversary of the opening of Srila Prabhupada’s Krsna-Balarama temple in Vrindavan. In his purport to Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 16.281, Srila Prabhupada explained why he established the temple. “Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally renovated Vrndavana-dhama and advised His chief disciples, Rupa and Sanatana, […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.10. “When one gets Krishna consciousness or spiritual consciousness, one is fully satisfied and doesn’t want anything else. In the beginning most people have some material desires because they don’t know about Krishna and love for Krishna so they may have material desires or desires is to be released […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.12 during the Sunday Feast in Houston. “We should know in perfect consciousness that human life is bestowed upon the conditioned soul to achieve spiritual success, and the easiest possible procedure to attain this end is to chant the holy name of the Lord. In the previous verse, […]

Rtadhvaja Swami and Giriraj Swami spoke at a home program. “Srila Prabhupada’s motto was, ‘Everything for Krishna and nothing for me.’ So, that is perfection and we should work towards that. If within our house we have the motto everything for Krishna and nothing for me (meaning nothing independent of Krishna), and in this body […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam  9.14.1. “Rupa Goswami’s Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu or The Nectar of Devotion, lists six characteristics of pure devotional service. One is kleshagni or relief from distress, and another is subhada which means it bestows auspiciousness. These two characteristics come at the stage of sadhana-bhakti. There are others that come at the stage […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.17 “The  devotees in Hong Kong had arranged for a Rolls-Royce to pick up Srila Prabhupada at the airport. One of the reporters that came to the press conference asked him. ‘You are supposed to be a spiritual person, why are you riding in a Rolls-Royce car?’ Srila Prabhupada replied. […]

———————- Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Caitanya-caritamrta Antya-lila chapter 8. isvara-puri gosañi kare sripada-sevana svahaste karena mala-mutradi marjana Translation: Isvara Puri, the spiritual master of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, performed service to Madhavendra Puri, cleaning up his stool and urine with his own hand. —CC Antya 8.28 Giriraj Swami: You can see the contrast — Ramachandra […]

Giriraj Swami presented a seminar titled ‘Secrets of Success — and Failure — in Devotional Service’ based on the Nectar of Instruction. “Mercy means the Lord can give mercy or not give as He pleases. But, our business as devotees is to make ourselves fit candidates to receive the Lords mercy. One of the main qualifications is […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.4.18. “Though a person be even the most sinful man, he can at once be purified by systematic contact with a pure Vaisnava. A Vaisnava, therefore, can accept a bona fide disciple from any part of the world without any consideration of caste and creed and promote him […]

TOVP Interview by Giriraj Swami from Derek Carter on Vimeo.

———— Prahaladananda Swami, Bhakti Charu Swami, Radhanatha Swami and Giriraj Swami participated in the questions and answers session. “Getting things done is important. But the spirit and the unity of the community is what will give substance to what you get done. We can build a temple but people are not going to be Krishna […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.16.4. “Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura  says that if one does speak about others while under the influence of devotional impediments, such as envy, pride, hatred, or the desire for position, then one commits an offense at the feet of bhakti-devi. So, for the sake of the institution we may have […]

“We have been given the opportunity to get the holy name but if we maintain material attachments in our heart we will not be able to accept the gift fully. To really accept the gift we have to cleanse our heart of material attachments and motives then there will be room for the holy name. […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila, chapter 7. In distributing love of Godhead, Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates did not consider who was a fit candidate and who was not, nor where such distribution should or should not take place. They made no conditions. Wherever they got the opportunity, the members of […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Antya-lila 8 ayi dina-dayardra natha he mathura-natha kadavalokyase hrdayam tvad-aloka-kataram dayita bhramyati kim karomy aham Translation: “O My Lord! O most merciful master! O master of Mathura! When shall I see You again? Because of My not seeing You, My agitated heart has become unsteady. O most beloved […]

—————————————————- First Initiation Mauritius Rajeev Envadoo – Arjuna Sakha dasa Amita Putoo – Ananda Gopika dasi Gaitree Seemungtoo – Gokulesvari dasi Meera Lokonoparano – Mukhara dasi Sunitha Caussey – Malini dasi Durban Amit Ramjee – Acarya Srinivasa dasa Carmin Ramjee – Govinda-mohini dasi Chandrika Kassie – Candramukhi dasi Reshina Sheodass – Rasika dasi Vrindavan Suhas […]

“Ultimately Krishna wants to hear some love within our chanting. He wants to hear our heart. He is not really interested to hear some material mumbling. Krishna wants to hear the call of our heart. Therefore the definition of this last offense is that somebody who is chanting without priti—without paying attention, without giving importance to […]

Devotee: Because we have times when we are strong and times when we we are weak we should make arrangements in our lives so that we are protected against our tendencies to become weak. Giriraj Swami: Very practical. Once, Jayadvaita Swami and I were speaking to the temple president in Spain at night and he […]

Giriraj Swami: The palace at Govardhana was owned by the Maharaja of Chatarpura and after discussing with Tamal Krishna Goswami we decided to try and get the property. Tamal Krishna Goswami suggested that I go and see the king with a local lawyer. We didn’t know what to expect but we went to Chatarpura and the king […]

My dear Srila Gurudeva, Please accept my prostrated obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Thank you for the wonderful day today, spent at your samadhi at your palace at Govardhana. Thank you for the association of wonderful loving godbrothers, united in their love for you and Srila Prabhupada. Thank […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.24.30 on Sivaratri day in Vrindavan. “Why did Lord Rama worship Lord Siva? Srila Prabhupada gives the answer that Krishna likes to worship and serve His devotees. Krishna drove the chariot of Arjuna — it doesn’t mean that Arjuna is supreme but, it means that Krishna likes to […]

Giriraj Swami, accompanied Mukhara Devi’s husband Gopal Acharya dasa, her son Sakhi Sharan dasa and daughter in law Sveta Manjari dasi to the Ganges where they immersed her ashes in the river. During the program Sveta Manjari sang  Vasanti-rasa, Sri Rupa Manjari Pada and Mama Mana Mandire. Giriraj Swami sang Ye Anilo Prema-dhana and everyone shared memories and […]

From: Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir / Date: 7 February 2015 Speaker: Giriraja Swami A small group of devotees went to Madras. We were the first devotees from ISKCON to go. Thinking back on that period and being here in Mayapur, I cannot help but think of Bhavananda Prabhu, who was part of that small party. […]

On his arrival in Vrindavan, Giriraj Swami met with some devotees and shared an account of his time in Kolkata and Mayapur. “In Mayapur Yadubara prabhu was showing the trailer for his feature documentary film about Srila Prabhupada called Acharya. It will run about ninety minutes. It was very moving and impressive. I spoke with […]

The celebrations started of with puspanjali at Srila Gaura Govinda Maharaj’s samadhi, and then proceeded to a small community hall in the Mayapur grhasta complex. “Srila Gaura Govinda Maharaja told me there were three things that were causing him distress. He said. “One, is that I want to preach to the preachers—when I see devotees falling down […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.3.33-35. “By offenceless chanting of the holy name ones heart will be infused with the desire to serve and the mood of compassion that is the basis for the desire to preach. Srila Prabhupada had that faith in the holy name. Because of his faith in the holy name, […]

“After the tremendous success of the pandal program in Bombay, Srila Prabhupada wanted to put on a similar program in Kolkata. So he sent Tamal Krishna Goswami and I from Bombay. When we got to Kolkata, Tamal Krishna Goswami said. ‘You raise the money and I will spend it.’ So, I said. ‘Allright.’ — Giriraj Swami ——————————————————————————————- […]

Ajay Gauranga Dasa
Anuradha Priya Devi Dasi
Krishna Kanhaiya Das
Pandit Gadadhar Das
Partha Sarathi Das
Priti Purvakam Devi Dasi
Priya Manjari Devi Dasi
Vrindavan Vilasini Devi Dasi

Giriraj Swami and Radhanatha Swami accepted disciples for first and second initiation. ” —————————————–

“Chanting sincerely means that one feels oneself to be very fallen and in need of mercy. Ones chanting should be infused with prayer for mercy. There are many prayers by our previous acharyas that exemplify the mood of dainya or humility. There is one — Amara jivana by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. So, we need to chant in […]

—————- “In all the books and from all the previous acharyas we find that it is important that we are focussing on the end result — prema bhakti. Even if we are in a conditioned state, if we make anything else our goal we will be distracted and diverted. So, how to keep this focus on […]

“Gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah. My only true identity is that I am the servant of the servant  of the servant  of the servant of the Lord of the gopis — Sri Krishna. After offering this Prayer, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu invited everyone to bring Jagannatha together to Sri Vrindavan Dham . In this way he taught us what […]

———————– Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Sri Caitanya caritamrta madhya-lila 1.55 during the Ratha-yatra morning program. TRANSLATION Having shown the verse to Svarupa Damodara with great wonder, Caitanya Mahaprabhu asked him how Rupa Gosvami could understand the intentions of His mind. PURPORT We had the opportunity to receive a similar blessing from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.17 during a program at the home of Gopal Acharya dasa. “We heard the wonderful descriptions of Mukhara mataji, how she had awakened to her eternal identity and her eternal service to Radha and Krishna. We all can experience the same result if we follow the same method with […]