Giriraj Swami at the Home of Prem Manjari Mataji and Vrindavan Bihari Prabhu

Host: Hare Krishna, dear devotees. On behalf of Vrindavan Bihari Prabhu and Mother Prema Mañjarī, we would like to warmly welcome you, enthusiastically welcome you to this evening’s very special program on a very, very special holy occasion. We are here this evening to commemorate a number of very auspicious events and observances. Of course, first and foremost, it is the appearance day of Sri Advaita Acharya.

Sri Advaita Acharya ki jaya!

That divine personality by whose petitioning Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was impelled to come to this planet and bestow upon us all his divine mercy. So we are very grateful to celebrate this holy occasion together. Also, we were just reminded very nicely earlier today that it is the Fifteenth disappearance anniversary of one of Srila Prabhupada’s most staunch and determined followers, P. L. Seti Ji, who passed away on this day fifteen years ago. So it is a wonderful opportunity to remember him and his service to Srila Prabhupada. Additionally, today we want to take the opportunity to dedicate this kirtan, especially today, to dedicate this event to His Grace Krishna Chandra Prabhu, a very, very beloved and dear disciple of Srila Giriraj Swamiji Maharaja from Mauritius, one of the senior-most devotees in Mauritius who sacrificed most of his life in the service of Srila Prabhupada. So, we will be very fortunate to have his son, Madhava Prabhu, here also to lead us in kirtan.

As we perform in kirtan, please remember His Grace Krishna Chandra Prabhu. And today we can pray to him. We don’t really have to pray for him, actually, because he is successful. But we can pray to him for his mercy and offer appreciation to Krishna for having shared him with us. Also, very importantly, we are also observing the wedding anniversary of Vrindavan Bihari Prabhu and Prema Mañjarī Mataji. So thank you, both of you. What a wonderful disciple team of Sri Giriraj Maharaja, facilitating all the devotees’ service. And thank you to you all for coming together. Especially, we are very fortunate to come together on this very holy event under the shelter of His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja.

His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jaya!

Of course, we are also very blessed to have the association of His Grace Madhava Prabhu, who has been in Bombay for the last couple of weeks, enlivening the devotees with his very heartfelt, genuine kirtan. So, of course, he will say something also about kirtan shortly and guide us in the mood of kirtan. But we will start the program. We will start the program with a class by His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja. And thereafter, we will have His Grace Madhava Prabhu lead us in kirtan.

Hare Krishna.

Sri Advaita Acharya ki jaya!

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jaya!

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna, my dear devotees. Welcome to this evening’s program. We will be engaging in kirtan. In the present age of Kali, the chanting of the holy names is the recommended process:

harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā

“One should chant the holy names, chant the holy names, chant the holy names of Hari, Krishna. There is no other way, no other way, no other way for success in this age of kali.”

To get the full benefit of the kirtan, we should focus our minds on the sound of the mantra. The mind will tend to wander, but as Sri Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gītā, whenever and from wherever the mind wanders, one should bring it back under the control of the self. So, during the kirtan, we should basically forget about everything else and just focus on the sound of the holy name. We chant responsively, as you know. So when Madhava is leading, you listen to him, and then you respond by chanting. And in both cases, you should fix your mind on the sound of the holy names. Srila Jiva Gosvami says that kirtan has a special potency to evoke spiritual emotions. So, we should absorb ourselves for the next hour and a half, or however much time we have, in hearing and chanting the holy names with rapt attention. Hare Krishna.

Madhava Prabhu: We thank Vrindavan Bihari Prabhu and the whole family for hosting this kirtan here. And we are very blessed and honored to have the presence of His Holiness Giriraj Swami. Can we just focus on the mantra. We are thinking of so many things, especially now it is the evening, everyone is a little hungry, probably thinking what is there to eat later. But Krishna kirtan and kṛṣṇa-prasāda go together and then kṛṣṇa-kathā. First, we need to do the Krishna-kirtan. When we do Krishna-kirtan, then the stomach chakra is open. First, we need to open the heart chakra. The heart chakra, and then later we don’t have to think what is coming. Something good is coming. That is kṛṣṇa-prasāda. So please chant very loudly. Please chant with your heart. Please focus the mind. Please bring the mind back to the mantra whenever it is going to run away. It will surely run away once in a while. I am just talking about my own mind.

And I would like to dedicate this kirtan to my father, who passed away three days ago, His Grace Krishna Chandra Prabhu. My parents gave me, my first mridanga when I was five years old. So I am here today by their grace, by their mercy, by the mercy of Aindar Prabhu. My parents sent me to Vrindavan dhāma when I was eighteen years old. I was a pretty wild kid, a teenager in Mauritius, Giriraj Swami knows very well. But by sending me to Vrindavan, that really changed my life. So, the parents are the first guru, and I am also very thankful to Aindar Prabhu, who really worked hard on me to change my consciousness and my life. And I am here today with all these wonderful Vaishnavas and Vaishnavis, trying to glorify the Lord by chanting His names and trying to spread the glories of chanting this mantra in every town and village.

[Madhava Prabhu leads the kirtan]

Madhava Prabhu: Thank you everyone for chanting so wonderfully. Today is the Thirty-seventh anniversary of Mr. Sethi. That is interesting. So everyone please say three Haribols for Prema Manjari and Vrindavan Bihari Prabhu.

Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!

Before we finish, we are going to ask Maharaja to sing the Nṛsiṁha prayer.

[Giriraj Swami sings the Nṛsiṁha prayer]

Thank you very much.

Sri kṛṣṇa-prasāda ki jaya!

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Hare Krishna!

So prasādam is waiting for you all.