Author Archives: H.H. Ramai Swami

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is the reservoir of all beauty. All beautiful things emanate from Him, and His personal form is so attractive that it steals the eyes away from all other objects, which then seem devoid of … Continue reading →

“Sri Baladeva is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. He is equal in supremacy to the Supreme Godhead, yet wherever Krsna appears, Sri Baladeva appears as Krsna’s brother, sometimes elder, sometimes younger” (SB 10.1.24p).  “In His vaibhava-prakasa feature, Lord Krsna … Continue reading →

Rupa Goswami appeared in 1489. Chief among the six Goswamis of Vrndavana who directly followed Lord Caitanya, he was renowned as a great scholar and devotee of Lord Krsna. Together with his elder brother, Sanatana Goswami, he once served as a high-ranking officer … Continue reading →

In Vraja, Gauri Das Pandit was Subala, one of the twelve Gopals. He is one of Nityananda Prabhu’s dearest associates.  (Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika 128) Gauri Das’s first residence was in the village known as Shaligram. Later he moved to Ambika Kalna in Burdwan … Continue reading →

Srila Vamsi Das babaji, previously known as Bhairab Chandra, had appeared in the year 1859, in the village of Majeedpur, which was formerly part of Bangladesh. He was the eldest of seven siblings, and being the son of a poor … Continue reading →

Shri Raghunandana Thakura made his appearance within this world in Shri Khanda.  In his home he became acquainted with the worship of Shri Gopinatha from an early age. One day his father, Mukunda Dasa, who was a doctor, had to … Continue reading →

The Klungkung area of Bali is the smallest regency on the island with only two hundred thousand people. By Krsna’s mercy there are about 120 devotee families who come regularly to the temple. For a long time there was no … Continue reading →

While in Bali I was able to go out and visit the newly completed Visnu Garuda monument in the Nusa Dua area. This is the fourth highest of its kind in the world standing at 120 metres tall. An amazing … Continue reading →

It was great to go over to Lombok, which is the next island over from Bali, to visit the devotees. There are two centres there, one being a nice facility in the city of Mataram and the other our temple … Continue reading →

The leaders from ISKCON Indonesia assembled in Denpasar for the annual general meeting of the society. They came from Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Lombok, and Bali where we have centres. There were about 45 or so who attended and reports … Continue reading →

The Denpasar Jagannatha Rathayatra festival was attended by at least two thousand devotees. It was held over two days in a prominent park of the city where there is a big museum that attracts a lot of tourists. Local people … Continue reading →

The devotees from Radha Rasesvara temple made a replica Gundica temple for Their Lordships, Jagannatha, Balarama and Subhadra Devi, while They were away from the main altar. Then they celebrated the return Rathayatra with beautiful Jagannatha lila stories, kirtan, dance … Continue reading →

Radha Gopinatha temple in Baha was another centre that organised its individual Rathayatra before the main one in Denpasar. The devotees brought Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra Devi onto a regular Ratha chariot and started out from the temple. I … Continue reading →

Every year, before the main Rathayatra festival in downtown Denpasar, each temple in Bali has their own celebration. The devotees from Jagannatha Gauranga temple organised a procession for Their Lordships, Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra Devi to the nearby beach. … Continue reading →

On another recent visit to Sydney, I led a couple of kirtan nights at Govinda’s Ashrama. As usual, there was a great crowd and everyone was enthusiastic in the chanting. At the end everyone mingled and relaxed and, of course, … Continue reading →

“Intelligent Srivasa Pandita had previously been Narada Muni, the best of the sages. Srivasa’s younger brother, Sriman Rama Pandita, had previously been Narada’s close friend Parvata Muni” (Gaura Ganodesh Dipika 90.)  “It was in Srivasa Pandita’s house that Sri Chaitanya … Continue reading →

His Holiness, Tamal Krishna Goswami, was one of the foremost disciples of his Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada once said; “I have many intelligent disciples but two are most intelligent, Ramesvara das and Tamal Krishna Goswami. Goswami … Continue reading →

In the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā it is stated that Vakreśvara Paṇḍita was an incarnation of Aniruddha, one of the quadruple expansions of Viṣṇu (Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Aniruddha and Pradyumna).  He could dance wonderfully for seventy-two continuous hours. When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu played in … Continue reading →

Syamananda Prabhu, a disciple of Hrdaya Caitanya, established the temple of Sri Radha-Syamasundara in Vrndavana. Sri Syamananda, Srinivasa and Narottama Dasa Thakura are eternal associates of Sri Gaurasundara. For the purpose of preaching the holy message of Sri Caitanya all over … Continue reading →

Once Bhimasena, asked the Srila Vyasadeva, the grandfather of the Pandavas, whether it was possible to return to the spiritual world without having observed fasting for Ekadasis. Bhimasena said to Vyasadeva, “O learned grandfather, my brothers Yudhisthira, Arjuna, Nakula and … Continue reading →

Ganga Puja is usually celebrated a day before Pandava Nirjala Ekadasi.  It is dedicated to Gangadevi, who descended to Earth on this day. Ganga descended to purge the cursed souls of King Bhagiratha’s ancestors.  Devotees gather at the banks of … Continue reading →

Coolangatta, on the Gold Coast, is a tourist resort town that gets hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. In the middle of the year, the township puts on a parade of vintage cars that go back to the 40s … Continue reading →

Devamrta Maharaja and I flew from the AGM in Australia to attend the AGM in New Zealand, which was held at New Varshana in Auckland. It’s always a pleasure visiting New Varshana because of the beautiful deities and temple and … Continue reading →

vedavyaso ya evasid daso vrindavano’dhunasakha yah kusumapidah karyatas tam samavishat  Vedavyasa became Vrindavan Das Thakur. Krishna’s friend Kusumapida also entered into him for special purposes. (Gaura-ganoddesha-dipika 109)  Vrindavan Das was born on the Krishna-dvadashi of the month of Vaishakh in … Continue reading →

The leaders of the Australian Yatra came to New Govardhana for the annual general meeting. This year it was held in the special seminar room above the new goshala so we had the benefit of having mother cow and bull … Continue reading →

I’ve been visiting Govindas Asrama in Darlinghurst for years and the kirtan, lecture, prasadam program is still going strong. The crowd is mixed, but mainly westerners with half regulars and half new guests. Everyone is enthusiastic to chant the Hare … Continue reading →

ugro ’py anugra evayam sva-bhaktanam nr-kesari kesariva sva-potanam anyesam ugra-vikramah Although very ferocious, the lioness is very kind to her cubs. Similarly, although very ferocious to non-devotees like Hiranyakasipu, Lord  Nrsimha-deva is very, very soft and kind to devotees like … Continue reading →

Even though our New Gokula farm is about two hours drive from Sydney and about an hour from Newcastle, many people visit, even through the week. I was there for a Sunday program and around one hundred guests came through … Continue reading →

This year’s Rathayatra in Brisbane was held down town again with the beginning and end point being King George Square.  The parade went through the city streets for about an hour and Their Lordships, Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra Devi rode … Continue reading →

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

Vedavyasapriya Maharaja and I were invited to Gokule and Natasha’s engagement celebration at Southport, Queensland. They are both from devotee families, one side from Fiji and the other side from India. I have known them both since they were young … Continue reading →

It’s always a pleasure visiting our Perth temple. Although a long way across to the west coast of Australia, the devotees are enthusiastic to receive visitors. I was able to attend three or four Bhakti Vrksa and Namahatta programs where … Continue reading →

I was fortunate to be visiting Adelaide temple when my god-brother, His Holiness, Navayogendra Maharaja was there. It was Maharaja’s first visit to Australia and everyone was happy to have his transcendental association. Maharaja is usually based in Kashmir, India, … Continue reading →

The dynasty of Maharaja Raghu is glorified because Lord Ramacandra appeared in that family. Lord Ramacandra appeared in the Iksvaku, or Raghu dynasty. He became King during Treta-yuga, but because of His good government, the age was like Satya-yuga. Lord … Continue reading →

While travelling to Sydney and Melbourne temples, I was able to go to some nama hatta home programs. Bhakti das and Bhakti devi dasi invited me to their weekly Bhagavad-Gita course, which they study chapter by chapter. Their presiding home … Continue reading →

I attended another fund raising dinner for the new temple project in Vineyard, West Sydney. The ground breaking ceremony was held the week before on the new land and although I was unable to attend, the devotees reported that it … Continue reading →

While I was in Brisbane recently, I caught up with my old friend and god-brother, Bhanu Maharaja, who was on a tour of Australia and New Zealand. Maharaja gives wonderful classes and I enjoy listening to his scholarly presentation of … Continue reading →

Srivasa Pandit represents the marginal living entity (tatastha shakti ). The devotees headed by Srivasa are described as Lord Chaitanya’s smaller limbs (His face, eyes, hands, disc, other weapons)  They all took part in Sri Gaurasundara’s pastimes. With them, Lord Gauranga … Continue reading →

The devotees at Southport on the Gold Coast celebrated Gaura Purnima on the weekend after the actual day. This, of course, was to enable those who work during the week to attend the function fully. Attendance started off a little … Continue reading →

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is none other than Supreme Lord Sri Krishna, who appeared in this Kali-yuga to inaugurate the Yuga dharma for this age – Sankirtana, the congregational chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared … Continue reading →