Srivasa Thakura, one of the members of the Panca-tattva, lived in Navadvipa-dhama in Mayapur, near the residence of Jagannatha Misra and Sacidevi, where Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared. Later, when Lord Chaitanya began His sankirtana movement in Navadvipa-dhama, He and His other most confidential associates would meet at Srivasa-angana, the home of Srivasa Thakura, and have kirtan throughout the night. The kirtans at Srivasa-angana were ecstatic, and only the most intimate devotees of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu were allowed to enter. In fact, the nocturnal kirtans at Srivasa-angana in gaura-lila are compared to the rasa dance in krsna-lila.
In his identity in krsna-lila, Srivasa Pandita is Narada Muni, the great preacher who travels throughout the universe chanting the holy names of Krishna and enlightening the fallen souls in Krishna consciousness. So it is most auspicious that His Holiness Sridhar Swami Maharaja left on Srivasa Thakura’s appearance day—that most auspicious day—in Sri Mayapur-dhama—that most auspicious place.
We now have a special opportunity and responsibility to honor and glorify His Holiness Sridhar Swami Maharaja.
My own association with Sridhar Swami goes back to Bombay, over thirty years ago. Srila Prabhupada had requested disciples from America to come to India to help him there, and in particular with his three main projects—Bombay, Mayapur, and Vrindavan. From 1972, Sridhar Swami served Srila Prabhupada in India, mainly in Bombay.
When we got permission from the municipality to build on Hare Krishna Land in Juhu, Bombay, Srila Prabhupada wanted Sridhar Maharaja to take charge of the construction materials. Sridhar Maharaja had a hefty build, like a football player, so Srila Prabhupada thought he would be appropriate to keep track of the construction material and make sure none of it was stolen. But Sridhar Maharaja (he wasn’t a sannyasi then, so Sridhar das Brahmachari) said that he didn’t want to look after the construction material; he wanted to preach. I was the temple president in Bombay, so I was going back and forth between him and Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada again said that Sridhar Maharaja should look after the construction materials, so I went back to deliver the message to him, but Sridhar Maharaja insisted, “I want to preach!”
Maharaja had never really preached much in India before then, and we didn’t know how well he could preach to the aristocratic Indian gentlemen we were mainly approaching at that time. But he was so sincere in his desire that he became one of the best preachers in India, one of the best in the world. This story illustrates Maharaja’s sincere desire to preach, and his strong determination to serve Srila Prabhupada and the mission even in ways that he may not have found easy. Continue reading »
Giriraj Swami begins at about 1:30.
My dear Kadamba Kanana Swami Maharaja,
Please accept my prostrated obeisances at your lotus feet. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. And all glories to your wonderful service to him.
Srila Prabhupada said that when a Vaishnava departs, we feel simultaneously happy and sad. We feel happy because we know that the Vaishnava has gone to serve Krishna, but we feel sad because we will miss the Vaishnava’s association. In your case, I am also happy that you no longer have to suffer in your disease-ridden body.
You were a most worthy, beloved disciple of His Holiness Jayadvaita Swami Maharaja, who was very reserved about and selective in accepting disciples.
As Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote,
He reasons ill who tells that Vaishnavas die,
When thou art living still in sound!
The Vaishnavas die to live, and living try
To spread the holy name around!
You were a man of character and integrity. You were strong and kept your word.
And you were like a loving father in taking care of your disciple children.
I was blessed to have your association in India, Africa, and America. In India we served together in Vrindavan, in Africa we served together in South Africa, and in America we met at the Sadhu Sanga Retreat in Utah, where we had heart-to-heart talks and relished kirtan together.
You also preached in Mauritius, where I have been deeply involved. And in South Africa you specifically encouraged the black preaching, practically more than any other ISKCON leader. I am grateful to you for the support you gave to my disciple Mahaprabhu dasa in Soweto—and to so many other initiatives in relation to black preaching.
In a letter in 2021, you wrote to the devotees in South Africa, “All my prayers are with you. I have been so closely connected with you for so many years. To see that you are now in such a difficult situation is very sad. May Krishna watch over all of you.
“I left South Africa approximately one year ago, after having spent the Covid lockdown in Durban. I haven’t been away from you all for such a long time in twenty-six years. I hope that soon things will return to a relative normal.
“The material world is never meant to be our real home; the material energy will bring happiness and distress. Srila Prabhupada instructed us to make the best use of a bad bargain. Under these grim circumstances, may you find shelter in Krishna consciousness. May you find shelter in Srila Prabhupada’s books and in chanting the holy name. . . .
“I hope that soon the nightmare of all the terrible things that have happened in the last one and half year may come to an end and that we may be reunited again and chant together in kirtan and discuss matters related to Krishna and enjoy happiness in Krishna consciousness.”
During this last year in Vrindavan, I frequently visited you in your apartment, and I was struck by your elevated Krishna consciousness. We discussed many topics, including your writing projects, which would be so valuable to generations of ISKCON devotees. I was impressed by how you encouraged and engaged your disciples who came to visit you from different parts of the world—your instructions to them were brilliant and compassionate.
Considering your illness, I always thought that I should visit you at your place, but one day, you, considering my seniority, came to mine and joined me and other devotees for japa in my temple room before you and I went upstairs and spoke.
You had so much faith in and taste for chanting the holy name, both japa and kirtan. I relished chanting japa with you and singing in kirtan with you, and your kirtans at the Sadhu Sanga Retreat in Utah were most memorable.
You published a book called Kirtaniyah Sada Hari: To always chant the holy name of Krsna, which you called “a collection of short meditations on the holy name”—a compilation of excerpts from your talks along with your reflections on the holy names. You wrote, “I’ve boarded the train. I’ve got my seat, and now let the journey begin. Like that, let me get ready to chant my rounds and get into a regular rhythm just like the train—name after name in an unbroken chain with Goloka as my destination.”
You also encouraged book distribution. You wrote, “Prabhupada was reading the Krsna book and said to Srutakirti, ‘This is such a wonderful book. Anyone who reads this book will become a pure devotee! Anyone who reads one chapter of this book can become a pure devotee. Anyone who reads one page of this book can become a pure devotee. Not only that, anyone who reads one sentence can become a pure devotee.’ And then Prabhupada said, “Anyone who reads one word can become a pure devotee.’
“I met Srutakirti in Vrindavan, and we were talking about this pastime. Srutakirti said, ‘Yes, Prabhupada said it to me several times about different books—about the Krsna book, about Nectar of Devotion and other books.” Srutakirti then said, ‘Obviously, Prabhupada knew that I wasn’t reading.’
“Anyway, these books are very potent, and anyone who gets such a book is greatly benefitted. But the person who distributes the book is even more benefitted, because that person is undertaking austerity for the welfare of others and is finally learning how to stop manipulating things for their own advantage and is making a sacrifice to give out the mercy.
“In some parts of our movement, book distribution is a little out of fashion. There are many other ways to reach out to people. Times have changed, and there are other interesting strategic ways to reach people and all are good. But book distribution is like a cold shower, whereas some of these other preaching tactics are nice, warm showers. Cold showers get the blood circulation really going. We can consider that there is a special purification when doing book distribution. It is this spirit of giving the mercy to others that should be our focus.”
And you were grateful. You wrote, “Dear Vaishnavas . . . I want to express my gratitude to all of you for your kindness, prayers, and good wishes in this trying time. It has been about a month since I was diagnosed with a tumor . . . I feel greatly . . . more close to my heart following a natural path and investing in my own Krishna consciousness and sharing it through writing. . . . You are all wonderful people. I am living by your prayers and kindness.”
Dear Maharaja, how I miss you now! There was never anyone like you, and there never will be.
I pray that you will put in a word with Srila Prabhupada and his lords to bring me to you all—after I have done what they want me to do here in this world—and we will all be reunited again in service to Srila Prabhupada, the holy names, and the Vaishnavas.
Maharaja, I love you.
Your eternal, grateful servant,
Giriraj Swami
Today we continue our celebration of the appearance of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna who descended in the age of Kali in the role of a devotee. He appeared on what we now call Gaura-purnima, in the evening of the full-moon day in the month of Phalguna. At the time, there was a lunar eclipse, and as was the tradition, as was recommended in scripture, Hindus immersed themselves in the Ganges and chanted the holy names. Eclipses are considered inauspicious, and to counteract the inauspiciousness, strict followers of the Vedic scriptures stand in a sacred body of water—a river, a kunda or lake, or the sea—and chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. So, from the very beginning, Lord Chaitanya was surrounded by the chanting of Hare Krishna, and He induced people to chant Hare Krishna more and more.
Advaita Acharya and Haridasa Thakura danced in ecstasy. And on the plea of giving charity to brahmans on the occasion of the eclipse, Advaita Acharya and others distributed various gifts. All the devotees were jubilant, and they danced, performed sankirtana, and gave charity. The whole world was full of auspiciousness, and everyone was filled with transcendental bliss.
nadiya-udayagiri, purnacandra gaurahari,
krpa kari’ ha-ila udaya
papa-tamah haila nasa, tri-jagatera ullasa,
jagabhari’ hari-dhvani haya
“Thus by His causeless mercy the full moon, Gaurahari, rose in the district of Nadia, which is compared to Udayagiri, where the sun first becomes visible. His rising in the sky dissipated the darkness of sinful life, and thus the three worlds became joyful and chanted the holy name of the Lord.” (Cc Adi 13.98)
When Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was a baby, sometimes He would cry and the elders would try to pacify Him in different ways, as people do when a baby cries. They would try to comfort Him, distract Him, and please Him, but nothing worked. Soon they discovered that if they chanted the holy name of Krishna, He would become peaceful and stop crying. So thereafter, whenever He cried, they would chant, and He would immediately become happy. His appearance inspired chanting, and His activities thereafter inspired more chanting.
sei-kale nijalaya, uthiya advaita raya,
nrtya kare anandita-mane
haridase lana sange, hunkara-kirtana-range
kene nace, keha nahi jane
“At that time Sri Advaita Acarya Prabhu, in His own house at Santipura, was dancing in a pleasing mood. Taking Haridasa Thakura with Him, He danced and loudly chanted Hare Krsna. But why they were dancing, no one could understand.” (Cc Adi 13.99)
By His divine will, Krishna arranged for His associates from Goloka Vrindavan to come to earth to join Him in His pastimes as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Some associates played the parts of elders, and they took birth before He did. Advaita Acharya and Haridasa Thakura were elders, and they were friends with each other. Advaita Acharya is Maha-vishnu, and Thakura Haridasa is Lord Brahma, and Lord Brahma is a disciple and direct servant of Maha-vishnu. So, it is natural that they became close.
When the news spread that Sacimata had given birth to a baby boy, all sorts of respectable brahman gentlemen and ladies came with gifts and blessed the newborn child. Even the wives of the demigods came, disguised as the wives of brahmans, and presented various gifts. The day after the purnima, there was a great celebration at Jagannatha Mishra’s home. That day is observed today as the festival of Jagannatha Mishra, or the feast of Jagannatha Mishra, because to celebrate the birth of his son he received many visitors and well-wishers and gave presentations to them all. And in the end they all feasted.
We shall read from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Chapter Thirteen, “The Advent of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu,” beginning with the chapter summary:
“The thirteenth chapter of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta describes Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s appearance. . . . Continue reading »
We welcome you to the 
most auspicious celebration of Sri Gaura-purnima, the appearance day of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna Chaitanya. According to Vedic scriptures, the Absolute Truth is realized in three features: Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan. Impersonalist speculators want to merge and become one with God, one with t
he impersonal brahmajyoti, which is nothing but the transcendental effulgence emanating from the divine body of Sri Krishna. Beyond the impersonal Brahman is Paramatma, the Lord within the heart, and the purusa-avataras—Karanodakasayi Vishnu, Garbhodakasayi Vishnu, and Ksirodakasayi Vishnu—are the soul of the universe, the soul of creation, the soul of souls. And beyond realization of the impersonal Brahman and localized Paramatma is realization of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, who is the source of Paramatma and Brahman.
That same Krishna who appeared about five thousand years ago appeared again some five hundred years ago as Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Why is it that Krishna, who came five thousand years ago and spoke the Bhagavad-gita and exhibited so many pastimes, came again? In the authorized scripture Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Lord Krishna’s thoughts after He had manifested His pastimes on earth five thousand years ago are recorded. These thoughts explain why He came again five hundred years ago as Sri Krishna Chaitanya.
We are all sitting here by the mercy of Sri Krishna Chaitanya and His followers in disciplic succession, especially His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. And practically every activity that takes place here is based on the instructions and example of Krishna Chaitanya. You can hardly find any aspect of the Krishna consciousness movement that is not based on His teachings and precedents. So it is very important—essential—to understand Him, because without understanding Him we cannot really progress very far toward the ultimate goal of life.
We read from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Chapter Three: “The External Reasons for the Appearance of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu”:
TEXTS 13–16
Lord Krsna enjoys His transcendental pastimes as long as He wishes, and then He disappears. After disappearing, however, He thinks thus:
“For a long time I have not bestowed unalloyed loving service to Me upon the inhabitants of the world. Without such loving attachment, the existence of the material world is useless.
“Everywhere in the world people worship Me according to scriptural injunctions. But simply by following such regulative principles one cannot attain the loving sentiments of the devotees in Vrajabhumi.
“Knowing My opulences, the whole world looks upon Me with awe and veneration. But devotion made feeble by such reverence does not attract Me.”
PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada
After His appearance, Lord Krsna thought that He had not distributed the transcendental personal dealings with His devotees in dasya, sakhya, vatsalya, and madhurya. One may understand the science of the Supreme Personality of Godhead from the Vedic literature and thus become a devotee of the Lord and worship Him within the regulative principles described in the scriptures, but one will not know in this way how Lord Krsna is served by the residents of Vrajabhumi. By following scriptural injunctions one may enhance his appreciation for the glories of the Lord, but there is no chance for one to enter into personal dealings with Him. Giving too much attention to understanding the exalted glories of the Lord reduces the chance of one’s entering into personal loving affairs with the Lord. To teach the principles of such loving dealings, the Lord decided to appear as Lord Caitanya.
TEXT 19
yuga-dharma pravartaimu nama-sankirtana
cari bhava-bhakti diya nacamu bhuvana
TRANSLATION
“I shall personally inaugurate the religion of the age—nama-sankirtana, the congregational chanting of the holy name. I shall make the world dance in ecstasy, realizing the four mellows of loving devotional service.
COMMENT by Giriraj Swami
The Lord came to introduce the yuga-dharma, the recommended process for self-realization, or God realization, in the present age, and that is nama-sankirtana, the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. Continue reading »
Today is the auspicious disappearance day of Sri Madhavendra Puri, the grand spiritual master of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Madhavendra Puri’s disciple Isvara Puri was accepted by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as His spiritual master. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is Himself the origin of all knowledge—all perfect, Vedic knowledge—and He had no need to accept a spiritual master. But because He was playing the part of a devotee, to set the example for others He accepted a spiritual master. And He accepted Isvara Puri specifically because he came in the line of Madhavendra Puri and was most dear to him. Madhavendra Puri was the first to exhibit love of God in separation, specifically in the mood of the gopis in separation from Krishna after He left Vrindavan. So, Madhavendra Puri is a most important person in the history of our disciplic succession—and in the history of the world.
We shall read from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, Chapter Eight: “Ramacandra Puri Criticizes the Lord.” Ramachandra Puri was a disciple of Madhavendra Puri and a godbrother of Isvara Puri, but he developed an offensive mentality toward his spiritual master, and as a result he became so fallen that he dared to criticize Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. We begin with the chapter summary:
“The following summary of the Eighth Chapter is given by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura in his Amrta-pravaha-bhasya. This chapter describes the history of the Lord’s dealings with Ramacandra Puri. Although Ramacandra Puri was one of the disciples of Madhavendra Puri, he was influenced by dry Mayavadis, and therefore he criticized Madhavendra Puri. Therefore Madhavendra Puri accused him of being an offender and rejected him. Because Ramacandra Puri had been rejected by his spiritual master, he became concerned only with finding faults in others and advising them according to dry Mayavada philosophy. For this reason he was not very respectful to the Vaisnavas, and later he became so fallen that he began criticizing Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu for His eating. Hearing his criticisms, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu reduced His eating, but after Ramacandra Puri left Jagannatha Puri, the Lord resumed His usual behavior.”
TEXT 1
tam vande krsna-caitanyam
ramacandra-puri-bhayat
laukikaharatah svam yo
bhiksannam samakocayat
TRANSLATION
Let me offer my respectful obeisances to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who reduced His eating due to fear of the criticism of Ramacandra Puri.
TEXT 2
jaya jaya sri-caitanya karuna-sindhu-avatara
brahma-sivadika bhaje carana yanhara
TRANSLATION
All glories to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the incarnation of the ocean of mercy! His lotus feet are worshiped by demigods like Lord Brahma and Lord Siva.
TEXT 3
jaya jaya avadhuta-candra nityananda
jagat bandhila y
enha diya prema-phanda
TRANSLATION
All glories to Nityananda Prabhu, the greatest of mendicants, who bound the entire world with a knot of ecstatic love for God!
TEXT 4
jaya jaya advaita isvara avatara
krsna avatari’ kaila jagat-nistara
TRANSLATION
All glories to Advaita Prabhu, the incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead! He induced Krsna to descend and thus delivered the entire world.
TEXT 5
jaya jaya srivasadi yata bhakta-gana
sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu—yanra prana-dhana
TRANSLATION
All glories to all the devotees, headed by Srivasa Thakura! Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu is their life and soul.
TEXT 6
ei-mata gauracandra nija-bhakta-sange
nilacale krida kare krsna-prema-tarange
TRANSLATION
Thus Sri Caitanya Mah
aprabhu, at Jagannatha Puri, performed His various pastimes with His devotees in the waves of love for Krsna.
COMMENT by Giriraj Swami
The next verses describe Ramachandra Puri’s arrival in Jagannatha Puri. He came specifically to meet Paramananda Puri and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. His policy was to invite Vaishnavas and feed them prasada and by various means induce them to eat more and more—and then criticize them for eating too much. Next, Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, the author of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, explains the history of Ramachandra Puri, which contains the story of the disappearance of Sri Madhavendra Puri. Continue reading »
