Author Archives: H.H. Giriraj Swami

“My father was always very loving to all of us. He was always our well-wisher. Whatever we did, he was there to support us. Whenever we came he would want to have a kirtan. It didn’t matter if it was just for five minutes. He would just do it real quick. It didn’t matter what […]

My dear Madhudvisa Prabhu, I am feeling your separation so much right now. My mind is flooded with memories of our service to Srila Prabhupada together, not the least of which was our meeting in the last months and remembering his glorious qualities and activities. All the circumstances surrounding your departure were auspicious. As was […]

Once again their Lordships Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra descended with the spiritual world and their associates and devotees to bless all the living entities in Venice Beach. Giriraj Swami attended the festival and hosted a questions-and-answers session, posted below. “We are persons. When the soul leaves the body, the body is dead—it is just a […]

Sarvatma das lead sweet kirtan and Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Bhagavad-gita 12.5. “A person in Krishna consciousness, engaged in devotional service, simply by the guidance of the bona fide spiritual master, simply by offering regulative obeisances unto the Deity, simply by hearing the glories of the Lord, and simply by eating the remnants […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.7.33 during the morning class. “Lord Siva said, ‘My dear beautiful Parvati, have you seen the greatness of Vaisnavas?’ He was referring to Citraketu. ‘Although you are beautiful and glorious, you cannot compete with the beauty and glory of devotees who are servants of the servants of the Supreme […]

Rtadhvaja Swami, Jayadvaita Swami, Giriraj Swami, and other devotees and guests were present at this ceremony, in which Giriraj Swami awarded second initiation to Krishna Kirtan Das, from Ventura, and first initiation to Brent Pyeatt, from Bellingham, WA, who received the name Balabhadra Das, and to Nick Pritchard, from LA, who received the name Narottam […]

Here is another inspiring exchange with Srila Prabhupada about Hare Krishna Land, Juhu. —GS Tamala Krsna: You always came out victorious—always. I have never seen you defeated. In Bombay it was absolutely impossible. It seemed to be impossible. Prabhupada: Nobody encouraged—not a single man. Who could see that such a big project would come up? […]

While gathering and reviewing information for writing about Srila Prabhupada and Juhu, I came across an interesting conversation with him that I thought to share with you. —GS Hrdayananda: Your Bombay project is very impressive. We’ve just taken a tour. Prabhupada: Therefore I persistently took that place. Nobody encouraged me, “He is all . . .” […]

After the conveyance of the Juhu land—Hare Krishna Land—was finally signed in 1973, Srila Prabhupada declared, “It was a good fight. Someone should write a book about it.” Srila Prabhupada had already given me the direct instruction to write, and I thought that I would be the person to write that book. In fact, I […]

“Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote something like one hundred and four books. Anyone who has tried will know that it is difficult to publish even a small pamphlet perfectly. And Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote more than one hundred books—some of them very long. You can understand from these descriptions how elevated some of the subjects were and […]

–             “All the circumstances surrounding her departure were auspicious: She left on the same tithi (date) as Tamal Krishna Goswami—which was the same tithi as Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji’s disappearance—and at the same time of day. And when she was brought outside, there were so many auspicious signs. For example, a […]

Giriraj Swami and Tamal Krishna Goswami’s brother and sister-in-law, Kalachandji das and Sraddhanjali dasi, shared memories and realizations of Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaja via Skype with devotees in Israel. “My understanding is that like everything else he did his entering academia was not out of a personal preference but out of what he saw as necessary […]

Giriraj Swami and devotees in Carpinteria and Durban shared memories and realizations of Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaja via Skype. “One of the main things I learned from Goswami Maharaja was that love is not just sentimental words and offering obeisances and garlands but it is expressed in the details of one’s service—details like serving one […]

Giriraj Swami and Bhakti Charu Swami spoke on Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.4.18 during the Sunday festival in New Dvaraka. “Krishna considers who is qualified and who is not, and accordingly He gives His mercy. But Srimati Radharani did not consider the qualification of a person to receive mercy or not. She gives without consideration of qualification. Therefore Krishna […]

Giriraj Swami and Bhakti Caru Swami spoke during the festival in Laguna Beach. “Jagat Purusa Prabhu would cook in Bombay in extremely austere conditions. One day it was so hot he could hardly stay on his feet; he felt like he was going to collapse. He was so hot and sweaty—and you are not supposed […]

———————– Romapada Swami and Giriraj Swami spoke during the ceremony. “As Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself described, naham vipro na ca nara-patir napi vaisyo na sudro naham varni na ca grha-patir no vana-stho yatir va kintu prodyan nikhila-paramananda-purnamrtabdher gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah ‘I am not a brahmana, I am not a ksatriya, I am not a vaisya or […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.22. “When I first visited the temple in Boston, the deity worship seemed odd—it was very foreign to my experience and culture. And I had learned in the Ten Commandments: ‘Thou shalt not make graven images.’ Still, I was intrigued, and I liked everything else—but the deity worship […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.17. “Generally we think, ‘Old age—how terrible; disease—how terrible.’ But if those serve as an impetus to our Krishna consciousness and thus help us realize our eternal, blissful life with Krishna, they are favorable. So we should learn to take every situation as Krishna’s mercy—as an opportunity to […]

“I looked at our friend with an expression that asked, ‘What is happening here?’ He looked me straight in the eyes and said, ‘I am a devotee of Krishna, and all my family members are devotees of Krishna. My family has worshiped Lord Krishna for many generations. Actually, I was just testing you. And you did […]

“I had the idea that you didn’t choose your guru but that he was already there and he just had to manifest himself to you. And I even had a vague mental impression of what he looked like—and he didn’t have hair. All the other swamis I had met had long hair. I had gone […]

“I asked Purusa-sukta Prabhu whether he had ever discussed with Bhakti Tirtha Swami what his mood was while chanting japa. Bhakti Tirtha Swami had told him, ‘I always like to chant near Srila Prabhupada’s vyasasana, and my prayer is that he will kick me in the head with his lotus feet.’ That was Bhakti Tirtha Swami’s mood: […]

 At the Sadhu Sanga Retreat, Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.21. “The mind can tell us things like, ‘All this chanting is a nuisance. It is getting in the way of our sense gratification.’ The mind can give us the same kind of message as the demons outside of us give: ‘Why should you […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.23. “Srila Prabhupada was speaking about varnasrama-dharma—brahmacari, grhastha, vanaprastha, sannyasa, brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, and sudra. Someone challenged, ‘You have described this hierarchy of different categories, so where do you fit in?’ He assumed that Srila Prabhupada had presented the explanation to establish himself at the top. Srila Prabhupada was silent, then […]

———————– Rtadhvaja Swami, Gunagrahi das Goswami, Hanumat Presaka Swami, Radha Raman Swami, and Giriraj Swami spoke at the ceremony. Prabha Ajmani became Krishna Priya dasi, David Garvin became Dayal Nitai dasa, Ravi Jadhaw became Radha Vinod dasa, Ganesh Pillai became Gauranga Chandra dasa, Anish Pillai became Nilamadhava dasa, and Mohini Patel became Madhuri Radha dasi—and Kalpataru dasi […]

—————— Jayadavaita Swami, Rtadhvaja Swami, Deenabandhu Prabhu and Giriraj Swami spoke on Lord Nrsimhadeva then Rtadhvaja Swami and Giriraj Swami initiated new disciples. “I first heard about Lord Nrsimhadeva and Prahlada Maharaja in 1968 when I joined the society. We used to recite the Nrsimha-stotra for Srila Prabhupada’s health because he had gone back to […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.18.9 during the morning program. “The mercy of Lord Nrsimhadeva is manifest in different ways: There are internal demons and external demons, and He is fully competent and inclined to vanquish both. As preachers we face both internal and external demons, and being sincere in our service we […]

“We have so much to learn from Mother Archa Vigraha. When we read about the people in the Srimad-Bhagavatam and Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, they may seem far away. They were different people; they lived in a different time and in a different culture. Even our recent a acharyas are in a different category. Srila Prabhupada is in […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 4.105-161. TEXT gopinatha amara se eka-i anga haya inhake candana dile habe mora tapa-kshaya TRANSLATION “There is no difference between My body and Gopinatha’s body. They are one and the same. Therefore if you smear the sandalwood pulp on the body of Gopinatha, you will naturally also […]

The Mayapur Temple of Vedic Planetarium (TOVP), under construction, recently opened an office in the ISKCON Juhu temple, at Hare Krishna Land in Mumbai. In honor of the occasion, and to further the cause, I thought to share an excerpt adapted from my article “Memories of Sridhar Swami” in my book Many Moons. In November […]

——————————————————— “Low self-esteem means that you consider yourself insignificant—that you have no value. Humility means that you consider yourself an insignificant servant of Krishna and that you have no value independent of Him. Generally, people with low self-esteem think about themselves a lot—how bad they are. In the eleventh canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam there is a […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.6. “Loving devotional service to Krishna is not a part-time job. It is continuous. Srila Prabhupada said that the closest thing in the material world to love for Krishna is a mother’s love for her child. It is not a part-time job; it is 24/7. Loving devotional service […]

Post by Prema Sindhu Dasa Ids. Giriraj Swami leading kirtan during the procession. Giriraj Swami spoke at the festival site after the Ratha-yatra procession. “Then I realized that Srila Prabhupada was my my guru, and I bowed down and surrendered to him. Ever since then I have been trying to serve him. If I could […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 1.46–81. “At the Ratha-yatra, Lord Chaitanya recited the following verse: seita parana-natha painu yaha lagi’ madana-dahane jhuri genu ‘I have gotten that Lord of My life, for whom I was burning in the fire of lusty desires.’ (Cc Madhya 1.55) “All the scriptures proclaim that the gopis’ […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Bhagavad-gita 3.37. “Somehow we have come from Krishna into material contact, and our pure love has become lust. But if we go back to Krishna, that lust can be returned to its original state of pure love. We can go back to Krishna by coming in touch with Him […]

“The Lord, Sri Krishna, says, daivi hy esa guna-mayi mama maya duratyaya mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te ‘This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.’  (Bg 7.14) “One who surrenders to Krishna […]

It is stated that in Satya-yuga demons and devotees lived on different planets; in Treta-yuga demons and devotees lived on the same planet but in different families—like Dasarstha and Janaka on the one hand and Ravana on the other; in Dvarapa-yuga devotees and demons appeared in the same family—like the Kauravas and the Pandavas; and […]

———————— Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.21 during the Sunday program in Houston. “The common man who is puffed up with his material position and does not bow down before the Deity of the Lord in the temple, or who defies temple worship without any knowledge of the science, must know that his […]

Rtadhvaja Swami and Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Kabe Habe Bolo by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. “This is the aspiration of the devotee who is making advancement—to relish the ecstasy of the holy name. Not as a selfish desire, but as a sign that Krishna and the acharyas are pleased, that they have granted him admittance […]

“We were all at the departure gate, and Srila Prabhupada went down the ramp to board the airplane. All the devotees were crying. I asked Arundati dasi, ‘Why are all the devotees crying?’ She replied, ‘Because Srila Prabhupada is leaving.’ Then I had a doubt: maybe this is the one thing about Krishna consciousness that […]

“The rabbi quoted a little story from Jewish literature. ‘A student was going to live with the rabbi, and a friend asked him, “Why?” He replied, “So I can see how he ties his shoes.” ‘ The idea is that if someone is spiritually elevated—and what to speak of Srila Prabhupada, who was on the […]