Author Archives: H.H. Ramai Swami

Born in Bengal in 1945, Bhakti Charu Swami spent most of his early life in the city of Calcutta. In 1970, he left India to study chemistry in Germany. Coming across Vedic literatures while in Germany, he discovered the richness … Continue reading →

Sri Sanatana Goswami appeared in 1488, five years before Sri Rupa Goswami, in a Sarasvata brahmana family in Bengal. Sanatana and his two brothers, Rupa and Anupama, were always absorbed in bhava bhakti from early childhood. Remembering Vrndavana, they named … Continue reading →

Hera Panchami is a unique festival associated with famous chariot festival of Puri. ‘Hera’ means to ‘see’ and ‘Panchami’ means the ‘fifth day’. It is celebrated at Gundica temple on the fifth day from the start date of the chariot … Continue reading →

Sri Svarupa Damodara is an eternal associate and friend of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Previously his name was Sri Purushottama Acarya. He lived in Navadvipa. He always stayed with Mahaprabhu.   When Sriman Mahaprabhu took sannyasa, he became half-mad.  He went to … Continue reading →

Sivananda Sena, the twenty-fourth branch of the Caitanya tree, was an extremely confidential servant of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Everyone who went to Jagannatha Puri to visit Lord Caitanya took shelter and guidance from Sri Sivananda Sena. Srila Sivananda Sena has … Continue reading →

From the time that he was a boy, Gadadhara Pandita was always in the association of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sri Gadadhara Pandita’s father’s name was Sri Madhava Misra; his mother’s name was Sri Ratnavati Devi.  They lived close to the … Continue reading →

On September 2nd, 1838 on a Sunday in the ancient village of Biranagara (Ulagrama) located in the district of Nadia, Thakura Bhaktivinoda took his birth in the family of Raja Krishnananda Datta, who was a great devotee of Lord Nityananda.  … Continue reading →

Adi-lila 10: The Trunk, Branches and Sub-branches of the Chaitanya TreeText 17-19 Vakresvara Pandita, the fifth branch of the tree, was a very dear servant of Lord Chaitanya’s. He could dance with constant ecstasy for seventy-two hours. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu … Continue reading →

khola-becataya khyatah panditah shridharo dvijahasid vraje hasya-karo yo namna kusumasavah(Gaura-ganoddesha-dipika 133) One of the twelve Gopals in Krishna lila was named Kusumasava. He appeared in Gaura-lila as Sridhara Pandit, who was given the nickname khola-beca, “bark-seller.” Sridhara Pandit was a resident … Continue reading →

Sri Mukunda Datta was born in the Cattagrama district, in the village of Chanhara, which is under the jurisdiction of the police station named Patiya. This village is situated ten krosas, or about twenty miles, from the home of Pundarika … Continue reading →

The holy day of Pandava Nirjala is very special. The word Nirjala means without water and Ekadasi means the eleventh day of the lunar month. On this sacred day, devotees of the Lord observe a fast without consuming water, offer prayers … Continue reading →

Ganga Devi emanates from the lotus feet of Lord Krishna and she compassionately appeared in this material world pleased by the austerities of Maharaj Bhagiratha. As she flowed down from the heavenly planets, Lord Shiva took her in his matted … Continue reading →

From her childhood Princess Sachi devi, the daughter of King Naresh Narayana of Bengal, showed unalloyed devotion to Lord Sri Krishna. She even refused to marry on account of her genuine attachment to Krishna. After her father’s demise she ruled … Continue reading →

Recently, I gave a class via the Brisbane Temple facebook page. Devotees have been giving classes every Saturday since the CoVid 19 restrictions came into place. I spoke mainly on Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s song, “Suddha Bhakata.”  As Prarthana and Prema … Continue reading →

Sri Vrindavan Das Thakura’s mother’s name was Sri Narayani Devi. Narayani Devi was the daughter of Srivas Thakura’s brother. When Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu revealed his divinity in the house of Srivasa, showing his true self to the assembled devotees … Continue reading →

Before Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu met Ramananda Raya, Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya told the Lord that no other devotee’s knowledge of Radha-Krishna’s madhurya rasa [devotion in the mood of love] compares with Ramananda Raya’s. Although Lord Caitanya was a lot younger than forty year old … Continue reading →

“Madhavendra Puri’s body was completely full of divine love; so were his followers. He displayed uncommon love of God. Seeing a dark blue raincloud, he would fall down unconscious. Day and night he was intoxicated from drinking the ambrosia of … Continue reading →

Lord Narasimha is the fourth incarnation of Lord Maha Vishnu who incarnated to kill the demon Hiranyakashipu and save his devotee Prahlada. According to the Bhagavata Purana, Lord Maha Vishnu in his avatar as Varaha killed the demon Hiranyakshya. Hiranyakshya’s brother … Continue reading →

Sri Nityananda’s two wives, Sri Vasudha and Sri Jahnava Devi, are expansions of Lord Balarama’s eternal consorts Varuni and Revati. Srila Thakura Bhaktivinoda offers this prayer to Jahnava Mata in Kalyana-kalpa-taru:  “Oh Jahnava Devi! By the power of your divine … Continue reading →

Maharaj Bhagiratha had, after great penances, been successful in bringing the most purifying Mother Ganges, whose waters wash the lotus feet of the Lord and are therefore his charanamrita, from the heavenly planets to this earth for the purpose of … Continue reading →

Gadadara Pandit was a childhood friend of Nimai and both were students in the same ‘Tol’ or school. Gadadhar’s parents Madhav Mishra and Ratnawati were natives of Chattagram district but later on moved to Navadwip. Gadadhara Pandit was born in … Continue reading →

Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur was born in Mamgachi in Navadwip, West Bengal. His mother was Sri Narayani Devi, the niece of Srivasa Pandita, an ardent follower of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Srila Vrindavana Das Thakur’s father, Vaikunthanatha Vipra, was from Sylhet in … Continue reading →

Sri Abhirama Gopal Thakura  was also known as Sri Rama Das. He was a great Devotee of Lord Nityananda.  On the order of Nityananda Prabhu, he became a great acharya and preacher of Gaudiya Vaishnavism.  He was a very influential … Continue reading →

As Lord Jesus Christ said, we should hate the sin, not the sinner. That is a very nice statement, because the sinner is under illusion. He is mad. If we hate him, how can we deliver him? Therefore, those who … Continue reading →

Srila Shyamananda Prabhu was a great devotee of Lord Chaitanya. He was a contemporary of the great Acharyas Srinivasa Acharya and Narottama Dasa Thakura. The three were eternal associates of Lord Chaitanya incarnated to spread His teachings after the Lord’s … Continue reading →

A long time ago, there lived a king named Dasharath of the Iksvaku dynasty who ruled the kingdom from the beautiful city of Ayodhya, on the banks of river Sarayu. He was a generous and intelligent king loved by his … Continue reading →

Ramanujacharya was born around 1017 in Sri Perumbudur village. His father was Kesava Samayaji and his mother was Kantimathi. He married Rashambal around 1036. A few days after the wedding, his father died and He went with his mother and … Continue reading →

After my stay at Sydney temple, Kaliya Krsna from New Gokula drove me up to our farm in the Hunter Valley. Like many parts of Australia, which were affected by months of drought, so too was New Gokula. Fortunately, the … Continue reading →

Govinda Ghosh, Madhava Ghosh and Vasudeva Ghosh were three brothers, and their sankirtana, congregational chanting, pleased the Lord very much. Sri Govinda Ghosh was known for his sweet kirtans at the annual Jagannatha Ratha-Yatra festival. He and his two brothers, … Continue reading →

Narahari Priya and Sruti just moved into a new home in the Wyndham area of south west Melbourne. They installed a beautiful deity of Lord Gauranga and later want to have Radha and Krsna. I was asked to come to … Continue reading →

“In the company of My devotees I shall appear on earth and perform various colourful pastimes.” Thinking thus, the Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna Himself, descended at Nadia early in the Age of Kali. Thus the lionlike Lord Caitanya has … Continue reading →

Before Lord Caitanya appeared He sent His eternal associates like Sri Advaita Acarya, Sri Jagannatha Misra, Saci Mata, Madhavendra Puri, Isvari Puri to earth. Sri Madhavendra Puri took initiation from Sri Laksmipati Tirtha in the Madhvacarya sampradaya.  He had many but … Continue reading →

After the ISKCON Leadership Sanga finished, the GBC meeting in Mayapur continued on. As always, there were a lot of different subjects and issues to discuss and luckily, by Krsna’s mercy, we were able to finish off nicely. I chaired … Continue reading →

Every year at the Mayapur festival, there is a kirtan mela, which features well known kirtan leaders from around the world. It starts in the morning, after the program and goes into the evening until 10.00pm. Many thousands of devotees … Continue reading →

The Iskcon Leadership Sanga is held in Mayapur every two years and is arranged by a sub-committee of the GBC called the Strategic Planning Team. This year about eight hundred devotees from around the world attended. The sanga went for … Continue reading →

Thousands of devotees from around the world celebrated the opening of the pujari room floor at the Temple of Vedic Planetarium in Mayapur. This area of the temple, which will be used for making jewellery, clothes and other paraphernalia for … Continue reading →

The organisation development committee is a sub-committee of the GBC, which made a presentation on the first day of the GBC meeting in Mayapur. There are around twenty members of this committee and they are very active through the year … Continue reading →

When Lord Krishna appeared in Navadvipa as Lord Chaitanya, Balarama appeared with Him as Lord Nityananda. He took birth in Ekachakra, a small village in present-day West Bengal in the year 1474.  His father, Hadai Ojha and mother Padmavati, were … Continue reading →

The management at New Varshana had the Holi celebration a little earlier than the actual date. This year it fit in very nicely with the long weekend and Auckland day on the Monday. There were an estimated eight to ten … Continue reading →

For the last few years, devotees at New Varshana have organised an open day for the general public to come and sample sumptuous prasadam from stalls around the temple grounds. Krsnacandra prabhu told me that there were around 16 stalls … Continue reading →