PRABHUPADA’S PIONEERS
Spiritual Journeys of His Disciples of New Raman Reti.
Interviews ~ Articles ~ Photos of Their Lives in Service
compiled and edited by
Sri Devi Dasi
proofreading: Vegavati Devi Dasi.
Gopapatni Devi Dasi
Gopapatni Devi Dasi was going through a difficult time in Largo, Florida in 1975 when she saw a picture of Baby Krishna on the cover of a Back to Godhead magazine. Having just suffered a miscarriage, she fell in love with the Little Blue Boy. She was told by her devotee friend Sranti Devi Dasi this was a form of God with whom she could have a mother/son relationship. This gave Gopapatni hope, and she became interested to learn more about God and devotional service.
She attended a harinama in Tampa with her friend Sranti and devotees from the Depot Avenue temple in Gainesville, where they met one of the Radha-Damodara Traveling Sankirtan Parties. She thought how clean and uplifting these devotees seemed, compared to the obnoxious people at the concert. She identified with the people in the rowdy crowd, feeling like one of them, and decided that she wanted to become more like the devotees. On their way home that night, her highway exit was blocked off due to construction, so her friends persuaded her to spend the night at the temple. There she learned about the modes of material nature and felt at home by seeing the devotees dancing around a Tulasi Devi plant. She stayed at the temple for a week and then decided to leave behind her material life and move in. Gopapatni spent the next four years at the Gainesville temple, becoming initiated in 1976. That same year she saw Srila Prabhupada in New York for three days and got to pull the Ratha Yatra cart he was sitting on, down Fifth Avenue.
In Gainesville, her main service was participating in Women’s traveling sankirtana, along with Bhaja Govinda, Gangagati, Yasoda Mayi, Dushula, Syamapriya, and Sranti. They went to airports in Orlando, Jacksonville, the Florida Welcome Center, and many other venues and parking lots. They participated in a very austere marathon to raise funds for the downpayment of New Raman Reti. In 1978, desiring to be married, Gopapatni was traded to the Atlanta temple where she served Lord Jagannatha as the head pujari. After four years of constant service to Lord Jagannatha, still desiring to be married, she left Atlanta for Los Angeles temple.
Serving only a few months in New Dvaraka, Bhramathirta Dasa asked her to marry Kanjanalocana Dasa, a German national devotee who was the headmaster for the gurukula in Murari Sevak. She accepted the proposal and the two of them cared for the 13 children at the gurukula. In 1981, the school transferred to Miami. Gopapatni and her husband decided to move to the farm community that was budding in Alachua. Since it was not possible at that time for them to set up a mobile home on the New Raman Reti property, they moved to Gainesville. Here they welcomed two sons, Jai Rama and Jai Krsna. In 1986, wanting to be more on the preaching front and after living at New Vrindavan for a month, the family started a preaching center in Columbus Ohio, called Gopinatha’s Free Vegetarian Kitchen. This was a successful preaching outpost for quite a few years, welcoming the straight edge band Shelter and lots of young college students. After their best supportive families transferred out of state, they decided to move to Virginia.
Choosing economic development at this time, both Gopapatni and Kanjanalocana pursued college degrees. After graduating from Old Dominion University, one day Kanjanalocana unexpectedly fell while working. Shortly thereafter he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. After five years of suffering and struggling with the disease, Kanjanalocana left his body in 2002 at the age of 47. Gopapatni feels very fortunate and grateful to have spent 20 years together, and was very inspired by the way he left – chanting “Hare, Hare, Hare!” Although it was a difficult time for her, the way he left his body gave her impetus and deeper conviction to revive her own Krishna consciousness. In many ways, and in his physical death, Kanjanalocana was a guru to her.
Soon after the death of her mother in 2003, Gopapatni found Krishna.com and saw Alachua’s Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and Radhe Shyam on the webcam and heard of plans to install Krishna Balarama. Her husband used to tell her how he used to night dress Krishna and Balarama in Vrindavan when he was a brahmachari, calling it “the sweetest service he ever did!” Reconnecting with old devotee friends inspired her to move back to Gainesville and New Raman Reti in 2005. Here, she night dressed Radhe Shyam, offered aratik and put to sleep all Their Lordships almost every weekend for nine years.
Gopapatni prabhu feels that through the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and the kindness of Radhe Shyam, she has been allowed to come here to serve Them and continue in her devotional service for many years to come. Desiring to serve Srila Prabhupada, she is also a steady book distributor at many of our book tables.
To read the complete book please click here: (51MB pdf file)
https://www.alachuatemple.com/files/PDFs/SP_Disciples_of_Alachua_2021.pdf