Author Archives: H.H. Giriraj Swami

Giriraj Swami and Vaisesika das read and spoke from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila. “When we take up the process and make the effort to chant without offense—which means without distraction, with attention—we will see how many different thoughts pass through our mind. Those thoughts have underlying conceptions, mainly related to the body, that ‘I am the […]

I would like to share with you some incidents from today’s distribution of Life’s Final Exam at ISKCON Los Angeles. Giriraj Swami, my guru maharaja, had graced a weekend festival at New Dvaraka, celebrating the disappearance of Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja on Saturday and Maha Siva-ratri on Sunday. His new book, Life’s Final Exam: Death […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.30.38 on the occasion of Siva-ratri. “Srila Prabhupada said that there are two Sanskrit words: puja and bhakti. In puja one worships the deity to get some material benefit, and in bhakti one serves and worships only to give pleasure to the deity—without expectation of personal return. Generally people worship Siva […]

————————————————————————- Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.24.30 during the Sunday program. “Because Lord Siva is a great devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he loves all the devotees of the Supreme Lord. Lord Siva told the Pracetas that because they were devotees of the Lord, he loved them very much. Lord Siva […]

“As Srila Prabhupada often said, ‘There is nothing to be lamented.’ Even ordinary people don’t die—the soul continues; but in the case of Vaisnavas, not only does the soul continue to live but their devotional service also continues. When we were with Srila Prabhupada in Surat on his guru maharaja’s disappearance day, he said that on […]

It is the same message: “Chant Krishna’s name, worship Krishna, accept Krishna as your life and soul.” But the people Srila Prabhupada was approaching did not even know who Krishna was. The people Lord Nityananda approached in Navadvipa to chant Krishna’s name, worship Him, and accept Him as their life and soul knew who Krishna […]

—————————————————– “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 down the stairs onto the street, not knowing where he would go. […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.3.12 at the Juhu Beach temple.

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.17 at Bhaktivedanta Manor on Sunday evening. “How is it that by rising and by setting the sun decreased the duration of life of everyone except one who utilizes the time in Krishna consciousness? This is the basic instruction of the verse. It is because everyone is approaching […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 7.166-168 on Sunday morning. “We should not be swayed by romantic tales of instant enlightenment. It is stated by the previous acaryas—and here in the purport by Srila Prabhupada—that chanting the full Pancha-tattva mantra will free us from offenses and bless us to chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra […]

——————————– “The idea is to help people and spread Krishna consciousness. It happens quite often that you can have a more exclusive group of students whose training is more intensive, or you can have a more inclusive group whose education is more mixed. Both have advantages and disadvantages. But the main thing is the purity […]

————————— Giriraj Swami accepted a disciple and gave him the name Krishna Chaitanya dasa at this intimate ceremony. Krishna Chaitanya dasa’s initiation

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.3.12 at the Juhu Beach temple. “Krishna consciousness is the life of the living entity. It is the life of varnasrama-dharma. And without Krishna consciousness everything is dead: you are dead, Vedic culture is dead—everything. Srila Prabhupada said that life comes from life. The theory that life comes […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.23 during the Sunday program. “The instructions of the devotee are really just the instructions of Krishna. Krishna says, ‘Surrender unto Me,’ and the pure devotee says, ‘Surrender unto Krishna.’ So the teaching is the same. The guru is transparent. Whatever Krishna says, the devotee repeats. And whatever […]

“How is it that someone could be so much in love with so many people yet at the same time so detached? In the same sentence she expressed how much she loved her children and her grandchildren, and yet she was so completely detached. That is possible when one is completely dependent on Krishna. Pallika […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.35-36. “Here the word vilasa is very important. Vilasa refers to the activities or pastimes of the Lord. It is a prescribed duty in temple worship that not only should one visit the temple to see the Deity nicely decorated, but at the same time he should hear […]

“Srila Prabhupada wanted this temple to be opened in his presence. So much of his valuable energy and time were dedicated to opening this very temple. He fought for it, he struggled, he personally collected for it, but it was not possible to open it while he remained in this world. So these devotees—many devotees—but […]

“Bhakti means to please Krishna. A pure devotee has no selfish desire. Of course, it is good to want to have taste for the holy names, but the ultimate goal is to please Krishna. At one stage Tamal Krishna Goswami told Srila Prabhupada that he was so disturbed by all the complications here that he […]

Giriraj Swami and Bhurijana dasa spoke at a program at the home of Vrindavan Bihari dasa and Prema Manjari dasi. “Whether we are just beginning chanters or the most expert chanters chanting on the platform of prema-nama, we still should chant Krishna’s names. And we should chant the best we can, on the highest level we are […]

Giriraj Swami and Radhanath Swami spoke at the Bhaktivedanta Hospital Annual Day. “A devotee is concerned for people’s suffering. Srila Prabhupada showed his concern by giving us the message of the Bhagavatam and giving us the holy name, but he was also concerned for our health. He would sometimes nurse his disciples—such as His Holiness Giriraj Maharaja—when […]

Giriraj Swami spoke to the assembled parents, students, teachers, and other staff at the Bhaktivedanta Swami Mission School in Lokhandwala, Andheri West, Mumbai. —————————————————————————————————————————- ————————————————————– Bhaktivedanta Swami Mission School Talk

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 19.132. “Being a Rupanuga doesn’t mean dressing in a loincloth and sleeping under a tree. The real essence is, as Srila Rupa Gosvami is described: sri-caitanya-mano-’bhistam sthapitam yena bhu-tale—he established within this material world the mission to fulfill the desire of Lord Chaitanya. He understood the mission of Sri Chaitanya […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.17. “So if you spend your life in chanting and hearing the glories of the Lord in the association of devotees, your eternal life in the spiritual world is guaranteed—just like if you give money in charity, its return is guaranteed in the next life. As a legitimate […]

Life’s Final Exam: Death and Dying from the Vedic Perspective, edited by Giriraj Swami, can be purchased HERE Sections include: Cultural and Philosophical Perspectives, Caring for the Terminally Ill, The Perspective of Caregivers, The Perspective of Relatives, Hospice Care, Facing Death, and After Death. The contributors include His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Giriraj Swami, […]

“Yamuna Devi was a super-perfectionist. Generally, perfectionists are either proud, thinking that they are better than others, or eccentric. She was a super-perfectionist, but she was neither proud nor eccentric—she was humble, loving, and expert. I feel blessed that I knew her personally. Many of us here, of all different sizes, shapes, and ages, have […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhaya-lila 19.151 and Adi-lila 8.24, during the initiations of Bhakta Akash and Bhaktin Komeshnee, in which he gave them the spiritual names Akrura dasa and Kamala-sundari dasi, respectively. “Anartha-nivrtti is a very critical stage in which unwanted desires and behaviors are eradicated. Devotees can get stuck and spend a […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.1.19. “Kabhu na badhibe tomara visaya-taranga. Kabhu means ‘at any time’; visaya-taranga—’the waves of sense gratification.’ ‘You will not at any time be affected by the waves of sense gratification.’ Punarapi ei thani pabe mora sange—’rather, you will have My association again, or, you will never lose My association.’ So […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srila Prabhupada’s “Concluding Words” in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta. “I think that His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura is always seeing my activities and guiding me within my heart by his words. As it is said in Srimad-Bhagavatam, tene brahma hrida ya adi-kavaye. Spiritual inspiration comes from within the heart, wherein the Supreme […]

“The Juhu land had buildings with tenants, and the tenants’ children would run around the grounds making noise. One of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples approached him and said, ‘We have to do something to keep the children quiet.’ Srila Prabhupada replied, ‘You cannot keep the children quiet. But their tendency to make noise can be channeled […]

———————- Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Bhagavad-gita 3.34 and Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.11 during Ati Sundari dasi’s initiation ceremony. “Above them are the devotees of the Lord, who neither aspire to enjoy the material world nor desire to get out of it. They are after the satisfaction of the Lord, Sri Krsna. In other words, the […]

—————- “Do all your activities, and put the word ‘servant’ before the activity: servant-cook, servant-preacher, servant-speaker, servant-listener—whatever. Then Hari-dasa, or Giriraja Govardhana, and all your memories from here will stay with you. But if you take ‘servant’ away, you are only a preacher, only a cook, only a guru, only a disciple, and it won’t work. […]

—————————————————————————————- Introduction by Mukunda Datta dasa Kirtan by Sacinandana Swami

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 18.34. “Govardhana Hill is Krishna, but He is in the mood of a devotee. In that respect he is like Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is also Krishna in the mood of a devotee. In the mood of a devotee He is more magnanimous than in […]

—————— “Srila Prabhupada always spoke about anxiety in Krishna’s service as being spiritual. In relation to the Juhu temple, when construction materials were being stolen, he said, ‘How can I eat?’ There is a spiritual anxiety at the center of which is pleasing Krishna, and there is a material anxiety which is about pleasing me. […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.12.3 for the morning class at Bhaktivedanta Ashram. “At the end of the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna explains that this science should not be explained to those who are envious or not austere or not engaged in devotional service—in other words, that it is for devotees. But Srila Prabhupada said […]

—————— Sacinandana Swami, Giriraj Swami, and Bhurijana dasa addressed the assembled devotees on the final day of the retreat. “Every day you spend about two hours on retreat. You chant your rounds, and you do some reading. So every day each one of us goes on retreat. In that time—the time of your spiritual practice—take […]

—————————————- “In order to have the strength to engage in devotional service, we need to engage seriously in chanting and hearing about Krishna. That is why we are here—to deepen our relationship with the holy name, which means Krishna. There are technical elements—our posture, our pronunciation, our mind, our heart. But when that chanting and […]

“It is more important to chant constantly with feeling, clearly hearing each syllable, than to simply increase the number of rounds. And as paradoxical as it may sound, on your 64-round day, in some way forget the sixty-four rounds. Remember more to chant with feeling and devotion, and you will easily reach sixty-four rounds. Everything […]

————————————————————————————————– “Somehow or other we have been called here to Vrindavan. And we can see that something wonderful is behind this thin curtain. Now, the question, of course,  is how to remove the curtain. And the answer is that we don’t have the capacity to remove the curtain. But if we can chant Krishna’s names […]

“I felt such a genuine friendship with Yamuna Devi—apart from the first time I met her, when I felt very reverential toward her: ‘This is the person who sings the Govindam prayers. What should I do? Should I offer obeisances? How should I relate?’ But she immediately blasted through all that. She went, ‘Jai! Haribol!’ and […]