Swami B. V. Tripurari

Questions on today’s Swami call: Dear Guru Maharaja. My husband does not identify as a Vaishnava, but he is supportive of my practice and also approves of me teaching our children about bhakti. I think of him as a Vaishnava and serve him prasadam. However, he does not like food without onion, and according to deity worship standards, onions should not be offered to Sri Krishna. Can I still serve m...

Questions on today’s Swami Call: Can you share some advice to encourage our children in Krishna consciousness, especially pre-teens? If we are not the actual doers of action (as per Bhagavad-Gita 3.27), do we have free will? Pranams, Guru Maharaja. Regarding the title and artwork of your upcoming book, ”Birds of the Same Feather”, using the analogy from the Upanishad’s of two birds in the tree, is...

Questions on today’s Swami Call: Did Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s teachings reach the whole world during his manifest lila on Earth? Good morning, Maharaja. Pranama. What is the difference between Sri Krishna and the sages’ glorification of him? What is the difference between the unmanifest and the manifest lilas of Sri Krishna? Dear Guru Maharaja, can you tell us something about the extraordinary de...

Questions on today's Swami Call:  In what ways could the Brahma-vimohan-lila be an entry point for those desiring servile (dasya-) or friendly love (sakhya-rati) for Sri Krishna? Dear Maharaja; in the Bhagavad-Gita, Sri Krishna says he spoke this knowledge to the sun god. How come there is no Surya vaishnava sampradaya? (Comments from Sajjan about the Kumara sampradaya, the sun god, and the up...

Questions on today’s Swami Call: What do the terms chaya- and pratibimba-bhakti-abhasa mean? I fear death since I became a mother, as I wouldn’t be able to care for my children if I died. How can I turn fear into trust? Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura said both that attaining anartha-nivrtti will automatically awaken one’s svarupa and that one needs to focus on artha-pravrtti to attain per...

Questions on today’s Swami call: If jivas have different origins, such as Maha-Vishnu (for those in samsara) or Lord Balarama (for eternal associates of Sri Krishna), would a jiva going from the material world to Vaikuntha, could this be seen as changing nationality, or is it rather like becoming a world citizen? Throughout my life I have been attracted to both Gaudiya Vaishnavism and Advaita Veda...

Questions on today’s Swami call: Sometimes it seems that even spiritually powerful devotees have gone astray theologically. How can this be? What constitutes sadhu sanga? Srila Sridhara Maharaja says that devotees need to prepare themselves for times when Sri Krishna will appear indifferent to them. Why are such experience necessary? Would Srila Haridas Thakura’s getting beaten up in different mar...

Questions on today’s Swami call: Are there demigods in the unmanifest lilas in the spiritual world? What is the interrelation between Bhagavan, Brahman, and the jivas? It is said that chanting the holy name will purify us, but it is also said that we need to chant purely for the practice to be effective. Can you explain this seeming contradiction? Please, would you elaborate on the sixth verse of...

Questions on today’s Swami call: It appears that Gaura-lila is a meeting place for devotees from different spiritual realms. Is this so only in the pastimes manifest in the world (prakata-lila) or also in the spiritual world (aprakata-lila)? Are there devotees with the love of servitude (dasya-rati) as their dominant emotion (sthayi-bhava) in Vraja-lila? Do the pastimes of separation draw jivas in...

Questions on today's Swami call: Is it common to have stronger feelings for one's own guru than for Sri Krishna? Today being Sri Radhastami, is there anything you would like to share about Srimati Radharani or any recommendations for reading and chanting on this day? Also, if you have any particular recommendations for those aspiring for manjari-bhava or priya-narma-sakha-bhava, I would be...

Questions on today’s Swami call: Dandavats pranama, Guru Maharaja. What keeps the vibhinnamsa-jiva separate from Sri Krishna in liberation? Would you like to share some verses that you like to meditate on? Where can I find the story about the hunter who was purified by Narada Muni’s association and chanting of the holy name? What verses do you like to meditate on for japa? Pranama, Maharaja. Can o...

Questions on today’s Swami Call: Would you like to say something about Srila Prabhupada on the occasion of his appearance day? I heard that Srila Sridhara Maharaja would not perform the Jhulan Yatra festival with his deities as it’s too elevated. What are your thoughts on this? What is the scriptural basis for referring to Lord Balarama as the original guru? Why are some deities of Sri Sri Krishna...

Questions on today’s Swami call: Can we break free from our material confinement at once, or do we need to collect many moments of clarity to stay in clarity permanently? Have you always had the fortune to be in the association of devotees? Could you share any guidance on practicing sadhana in solitude? (comment from Bijaya Kumara about Trana Karta Dasa’s book “O’Hare Krishna Airport”) Could you s...

Questions on today’s Swami call: Do circumstances like what kind of country we live in and where we live in that country make a difference for our spiritual practice? For example, I have heard that living in the countryside, especially in a Western developing country, may pose obstacles. It is said to be an offense to preach the glories of the holy name to the faithless. Does this also include sim...

Questions on today’s Swami Call: Dandavats, Guru Maharaja. What is your response to members from other sampradayas questioning the validity of ours? What is the difference between labeling a teaching as valid siddhanta for others although we do not follow it ourselves and labeling a teaching as apa-siddhanta? We have heard from you that the Kama-gayatri is a form of the Brahma-gayatri and that it...

Questions on today’s Swami Call: Pranams dear Guru Maharaj. I am curious if Krishna’s words “think of me” in Bhagavad-Gita 9.34 can be also understood as “be with me”? Sometimes I have moments in japa when I feel I want to just stay and be more present, rather than continue chanting at that specific moment. Jay Guru Maharaja! I have a question regarding Vaishnava aparadha. Could someone’s difficul...

Questions on today’s Swami Call: How can I improve my japa, considering that I do not have very much time for it every day? Hari bol. Pranams, Guru Maharaja. Are our fears rooted in the prospects of experiencing the opposites of the qualities of the self (sat cit ananda)? Jaya Gurudeva. Hari bol. What does the soul actually do if it takes the path of Arciradi after death? Should the jivas follow L...

Questions on today’s Swami call: 0:00 News. 1:16 How can one control their anger? 5:50 What does it mean that an ajata-ruci raganuga sadhaka can serve Sri Krishna directly? 9:16 Can you give examples from the lila of how the stages of prema appear in different orders in sakhya- and madhurya-rasa respectively? 20:32 Can a devotee enter the lila as a well-wisher of Sri Sri Radha Krishna in terms of...

Questions on today’s Swami call: 0:00 Is there any benefit to practice of bhakti if the understanding of it is covered by any of the three modes of nature? 5:49 To what extent do brahmavadis understand or accept the three aspects of the absolute (Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan), particularly the form of Bhagavan? 12:26 Pranama, Maharaja. Have you had the occasion to advice devotee couples in sit...

Questions on today’s Swami call: 0:00 Pranama, Guru Maharaja. The Upadesamrta instructs that we should be both eager and patient. How can we keep up the eagerness when progress is slow? 12:57 On the occasion of the Panihati festival, can you please share about your experience of visiting Panihati with Srila Prabhupada? 18:40 Can we become free from the fear of death already as sadhakas? 24:14 How...

Questions on today’s Swami call: 0:00 News 2:59 It is described that Sri Krishna and Lord Balarama changed into Vasudeva and Sankarsana when they left Vrindavan for Mathura. Did the cowherd boys also change when they went to attend the wrestling match in Mathura? 11:30 Is the change from Sridama sakha to Garuda a change in tattva? 17:00 Good morning, Maharaja. How should we understand the teaching...

Questions on today’s Swami call: 0:00 Pranama, Guru Maharaja and assembled devotees. How does a neophyte devotee cultivate steady detachment from the material world? 13:00 Why did Lord Vishnu ask Lord Shiva to spread the mayavada doctrine? 21:09 Sri Vrindavan Das Thakura is identified with both Srila Vyasadeva and the cowherd boy Kusumapida. How does that work? 32:48 Is the Brahma-Vimohan-Lila hap...

Questions on today's Swami Call: 0:00 Dandavats, Gurudeva. What is the best prayer to Lord Narasimhadeva? 6:04 Can you elaborate on how Giriraja Govardhana appears in different ways to different devotees? 20:29 Do chapters 82-84 in the tenth canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam correspond with the Ramananda Samvad and Brhad-Bhagavatamrta with regards to bhakti-tattva? 28:38 Can you explain Srila Jiv...

Questions on today’s Swami call: 0:00 News. 0:38 What’s the difference between sastra-yukti and sastra-nipuna? 10:05 Can you expand on the teaching that most jivas in the spiritual world are nitya-siddha tatastha-sakti-jivas? 35:37 How can we speak our truth to worshippers of the devas and devis without offending or discouraging them? 51:59 It is said that we should not disturb people with jnana i...

Questions on today’s Swami call: Is it correct that one should only attend to the sound of the holy names during japa, or could one also engage in visualization? Do priya-narma-sakhas engage in play fighting with Sri Krishna? How do the stages of bhakti from sraddha to prema correspond to the levels of adhikara from kanistha to uttama? Dandavat pranams and good morning, Guru Maharaja. In Bhakti Ra...