giriraj swami (44)

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Join us to hear from Giriraj Swami on the Purpose #3 of ISKCON (To bring the members of the Society together with each other and nearer to Krishna, the prime entity, thus developing the idea within the members, and humanity at large, that each soul is part and parcel of the quality of Godhead, Krishna).

Video: Click here

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=87414

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Let us hear about “Srila Prabhupada Personifies Devotee Care” from a very close and a dear disciple of Srila Prabhupada, HH Giriraj Swami. He is being interviewed by HG Gauranga Das.

 

About Giriraj Swami

Giriraj Swami was born Glenn Phillip Teton, the only son of a respected Chicago attorney and judge. In March 1969, while a student at Brandeis University, he met His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (I

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Sri Guru-purnima, or Vyasa-purnima, is the divine disappearance day of Srila Sanatana Gosvami, the eldest of the Six Gosvamis of Vrndavana. The authorized poet Sri Kavi-karnapura, in his book Caitanya-candrodaya-nataka (9.34, 35, 38), quoted in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 24.348–350), tells how Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu blessed Sanatana Gosvami with His specific mercy.

gaudendrasya sabha-vibhusana-manis tyaktva ya rddham sriyam
rupasyagraja esa eva tarunim vairagya-laksmim dadhe
antar-bhakti-

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3814101009?profile=RESIZE_710xI remembered an incident from New Delhi, perhaps in 1971. Gurudas and I had gone into a shop to make a purchase, and in the mood of saving Krishna’s money, I was bargaining fiercely. But he corrected me, citing a principle from The Nectar of Devotion - “Not Giving Pain to Any Living Entity.” Srila Prabhupada had written, “This is the statement of Mahabharata: ‘A person who does not disturb or cause painful action in the mind of any living entity, who treats everyone just like a loving father doe

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Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.5.12.

“Everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord. Everyone should praise another’s service to the Lord and not be proud of his own service. This is the way of Vaisnava thinking, Vaikuntha thinking. There may be rivalries and apparent competition between servants in performing service, but in the Vaikuntha planets the service of another servant is appreciated, not condemned. This is Vaikuntha competition. There is no question of

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We shall read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Five, Chapter Eighteen: “The Residents of Jambudvipa Offer Prayers,” from the series of prayers recited by Prahlada Maharaja to Lord Nrsimhadeva. Text 8 is a very important prayer, or mantra, and in it many words are repeated twice. When something is repeated twice, it gives great emphasis. For example, one might say, “It is a terrible, terrible thing.” The repetition of “terrible” is for emphasis.

TEXT 8

om namo bhagavate narasimhaya namas tejas-teja

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Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.19 while on a Zoom conference with devotees in Spain.

“Through parental care, through remedies for different kinds of disease, and through means of protection on the water, in the air and on land, there is always an endeavor for relief from various kinds of suffering in the material world, but none of them are guaranteed measures for protection. They may be beneficial temporarily, but they afford no permanent benefit. Despite the presence

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Pandemic Invitation by Giriraj Swami

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My dear devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

During this pandemic I would like to invite you to chant with me every morning (my time), and sometimes in the evening, live on Facebook on a page called “Giriraj Swami Japa Sanga.” There is also a WhatsApp link, where I notify everyone when japa is about to begin. The link to join is:

https://chat.whatsapp.com/DRFu2NnTq1D0uJr3kAJriU

I pray that everyone is keeping at a safe distance from one another but very

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Today, in observance of Sri Rama-navami, we shall read a verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Seven: “Scheduled Incarnations.”

TEXT 24

yasma adad udadhir udha-bhayanga-vepo
margam sapady ari-puram haravad didhaksoh
dure suhrn-mathita-rosa-susona-drstya
tatapyamana-makaroraga-nakra-cakrah

TRANSLATION

The Personality of Godhead Ramacandra, being aggrieved for His distant intimate friend [Sita], glanced over the city of the enemy Ravana with red-hot eyes like those of Hara [who wa

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Rama-navami by Giriraj Swami

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A Talk by Giriraj Swami Ojai, California

The original Personality of Godhead is Krsna, and He manifests Himself in different forms. One such manifestation is Lord Ramacandra. When Krsna appeared in His original form He acted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whereas when He appeared as Rama He acted as the ideal king. In fact, the pastimes of Lord Rama display ideals in many ways. Lord Rama appeared as the son of King Dasaratha, and Dasaratha acted as the ideal father and king. Rama acted

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Gaura Purnima

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By Giriraj Swami

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared on the full-moon day of the month of Phalguna in Sri Navadvipa-dhama in western Bengal. He manifested His pastimes on earth for forty-eight years. For the first twenty-four years, in Navadvipa, He played the role of a child, then of a youth, and then of a married man; for the next six years He traveled throughout India and preached; and for the final eighteen years He resided in Jagannatha Puri. Every year at the time of caturmasya, the four mon

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Hearing His Holiness Niranjana Swami’s wonderful talk, I felt we were being elevated to the spiritual world. He quoted from Visnujana Maharaja. Visnujana had a program in which he went by boat along the Ganges River, in Bengal, and chanted the holy names all day, stopping at villages along the way and chanting and speaking and distributing books about Krsna. Once, when I was in Los Angeles recovering from being sick in India, Srila Prabhupada received an issue of Back to Godhead with an artic

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Fifty years ago, on December 26, 1969, in Boston, Srila Prabhupada awarded me second initiation. He said, “Sucih means purified. And another meaning of sucih is brahman. A brahman means purified. Those who are going to be sacred-threaded today should remember that they are being accepted as sucih, as brahman. After chanting for six months or one year, it is supposed that he has already become purified. Now he should be recognized that he is purified. So this sacred thread means recognition. Sac

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On 11 Dec, Badrinarayan Swami and two other devotees from San Diego spent the afternoon with us in Carpinteria, and I had a wonderful time with him. Associating with him outside a temple setting, I became aware of many wonderful qualities and abilities in him for the first time. He is brilliant and truly a great asset to Srila Prabhupada’s mission, to which he is completely committed and devoted. And he has a real taste for Krishna consciousness.

Source: http://www.girirajswami.com/?p=15231

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A Transcendental Visit by Giriraj Swami

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Hridayananda das Goswami stayed with me in Carpinteria over the weekend, and we had many enlivening and enlightening conversations. I could really appreciate Srila Prabhupada’s statement that Maharaja has a “transcendental brain.” He is intent on serving Srila Prabhupada’s mission, especially in America, and our common interest is to please Srila Prabhupada and become Krishna conscious by his divine grace.

I pray for the association of Srila Prabhupada’s sincere, committed, and affectionate fol

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Last night I finished hearing Radhika Ramana dasa’s wonderful seminar on “The Glories of Srimad-Bhagavatam,” delivered at ISV in September 2015. I highly recommend it to all devotees.

dharmah projjhita-kaitavo ’tra paramo nirmatsaranam satam
vedyam vastavam atra vastu sivadam tapa-trayonmulanam
srimad-bhagavate maha-muni-krte kim va parair isvarah
sadyo hrdy avarudhyate ’tra krtibhih susrusubhis tat-ksanat

“Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Bhaga

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Chastened and Humbled by Giriraj Swami

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Listening to Srila Prabhupada’s talk on Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.35, given in Bombay on December 4, 1974, I felt chastened and humbled by his description of surrender and pure devotion, as exemplified by Sri Prahlada:

“Krishna says (Gita 18.66),

sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah

[Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.] The qualification is: unless one is s

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On Sunday, September 15, in Dallas, in the presence of Sri Sri Radha-Kalachandji, Srila Prabhupada, and their followers, I was pleased to officially connect eight devotees to Srila Prabhupada and the guru-parampara through hari-nama initiation. Rajesh Sharma became Radha-vallabha dasa, Seema Sharma became Srimati dasi, Deo Pun became Divya Nama dasa, Manju Pun became Manjari dasi, Syamasundara Dasshort became Syama-vallabha dasa, Maria (Maggie) Caldwell became Madhuri Gopika dasi, Vanitha Sukum

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Giriraj Swami read and spoke on Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.23:

“O King Rahugana, the perfectional stage of devotional service, or the paramahamsa stage of life, cannot be attained unless one is blessed by the dust of the feet of great devotees. It is never attained by tapasya [austerity], the Vedic worshiping process, acceptance of the renounced order of life, the discharge of the duties of household life, the chanting of the Vedic hymns, or the performance of penances in the hot sun, within cold wa

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Visiting Rajani Priya Dasi by Giriraj Swami

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Yesterday eight of us Kuntidevi, Lavanga Manjari, Nanda Kishore, Kandarpa Manjari (his wife), Gopal (their son), Srimati (their daughter), Jivan Mukta, and I visited Rajani Priya Dasi (Rose Forkash) at Mission Terrace Convalescent Hospital, where she is staying temporarily. She was as Krishna conscious as ever and told us how she is getting staff, patients, and visitors to chant Hare Krishna. She explains the philosophy behind it and gives them pieces of paper with the maha-mantra written on it

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