Sri Varaha-dvadasi
Giriraj Swami

Today is Varaha-dvadasi, the appearance day of the boar incarnation, Varahadeva. To celebrate His appearance, we shall read one verse about Him from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Seven: “Scheduled Incarnations with Specific Functions.” TEXT 1                        brahmovaca yatrodyatah ksiti-taloddharanaya bibhrat     kraudim tanum sakala-yajna-mayim anantah antar-maharnava upagatam adi-daityam     tam damstrayadrim iva vajra-dharo dadara TRANSLATION […]

Sripada Ramanujacharya’s Disappearance Day
Giriraj Swami

Today is the disappearance anniversary of Sripada Ramanujacharya, the principal acharya in the Sri, or Lakshmi, sampradaya. In a letter dated November 22, 1974, Srila Prabhupada wrote, “We find great shelter at the lotus feet of Sri Ramanujacharya because his lotus feet are the strongest fort to combat the Mayavadi philosophy.” And in the early […]

Sripada Madhvacharya’s Disappearance Day
Giriraj Swami

Today is Sripada Madhvacharya’s disappearance day. Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, Chapter 9, describes him: TEXT 245 madhvacarya-sthane aila yanha ‘tattvavadi’ udupite ‘krsna’ dekhi, tahan haila premonmadi TRANSLATION Caitanya Mahaprabhu next arrived at Udupi, the place of Madhvacarya, where the philosophers known as Tattvavadis resided. There He saw the Deity of Lord Krsna and became mad with […]

Srila Prabhupada at Advaita Bhavan
Giriraj Swami

This story was heard from the pujari at Sri Advaita Acharya’s house in Shantipur, West Bengal. He came to the ISKCON Chaitanya Chandrodoya Mandir, in Mayapur, with a copy of the Back to Godhead article about Srila Prabhupada entitled “A Lifetime in Preparation.” Just recently an amazing realization occurred to me that I wanted to […]

Sri Advaita Acharya’s Appearance Day
Giriraj Swami

jaya jaya sri-caitanya jaya nityananda jayadvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vrnda We are gathered here to celebrate the appearance day of Sri Advaita Acharya. Advaita Acharya is an incarnation of Maha-Vishnu. In terms of pastimes, He appeared before Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and thus was considered an elder by Mahaprabhu. He was actually older than Lord Chaitanya’s own father. […]

Srila Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami’s Appearance Day
Giriraj Swami

Today is the appearance day of Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami and many other acharyas and associates of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami was born in a very aristocratic family in Bengal. His father and uncle, Govardhana and Hiranya Mazumdar, were wealthy landlords, or zamindars; they were almost like kings in opulence. But although […]

Sri Pundarika Vidyanidhi’s Appearance Day
Giriraj Swami

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Chapter 10, Text 14: TEXT pundarika vidyanidhi—bada-sakha jani yanra nama lana prabhu kandila apani TRANSLATION Pundarika Vidyanidhi, the third big branch, was so dear to Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu that in his absence Lord Caitanya Himself would sometimes cry. PURPORT In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (54), Srila Pundarika Vidyanidhi is described as the father of […]

Srila Prabhupada’s Inconceivable Struggle: “The Individual Endeavor Must Be There”
Giriraj Swami

A talk by Giriraj Swami at the conclusion of a meeting held in his honor at the residence of Lalita Sakhi dasi (Smt. Lalita Piramal), in the presence of HH Radhanath Swami and devotees from Juhu and Chowpatty. Srila Prabhupada is so great we cannot even begin to estimate his greatness. In one sense he […]

Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s Appearance Day
Giriraj Swami

For Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s appearance day, I thought to read a verse and purport about him from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Chapter Ten, “The Branches of the Caitanya Tree”: TEXT 105 sri gopala bhatta eka sakha sarvottama rupa-sanatana-sange yanra prema-alapana TRANSLATION Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, the forty-seventh branch, was one of the great and exalted branches […]

Srila Jiva Gosvami’s Disappearance Day
Giriraj Swami

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Chapter Ten describes the branches of the tree named Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. TEXT 1 sri-caitanya-padambhoja-   madhupebhyo namo namah kathancid asrayad yesam   svapi tad-gandha-bhag bhavet TRANSLATION Let me repeatedly offer my respectful obeisances unto the beelike devotees who always taste the honey of the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. If even […]