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.
Divyanga Dasa
In the late 1960’s during his teenage years in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Divyanga Dasa seemed to encounter Hare Krishna everywhere. He first heard those words in the Beatles song I am the Walrus, and later in the musical Hair. He was particularly influenced by George Harrison’s album All Things Must Pass, and started chanting the mahamantra to himself after hearing the song My Sweet Lord. His life at that time consisted of going to concerts and getting high, and wherever he went he would see the devotees performing harinama or distributing books and prasadam.
In 1969, Indrabharta Dasa picked Divyanga out of a crowd and asked him to help the sankirtana party carry some things. A couple years later, that same devotee, having run out of books to distribute, gave Divyanga his own personal Bhagavad Gita As It Is. In 1973, Divyanga hitched a ride with the devotees to a Moody Blues concert. They were on the way to distribute books there, and in the van, they asked him, “Could you help us?” That was the beginning of Divyanga’s book distribution career, as he sold his concert ticket and joined the devotees on sankirtana. They went on sankirtana the next few days also, and stayed overnight at the Detroit temple. Eventually they made their way to the Cleveland temple, and Divyanga “shaved up” and joined the traveling sankirtana party there.
In Cleveland, he learned that the way to please Srila Prabhupada was to distribute his books. Divyanga took this message to heart, and was instrumental in opening up legal book distribution in airports for the entire movement. He helped to build an ACLU case for the right of an American to preach his religion in a public space - by getting arrested for twenty days in a row in the Cleveland airport. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court and the devotees won. Afterwards, many other airports followed suit in legalizing book distribution. Divyanga became the number one book distributor for the Cleveland temple. In 1975, he joined the BBT traveling sankirtana party of Tripurari Swami, headquartered at the Chicago temple. There he met his mentor, Vaisesika Dasa, and received further training from him. That book distribution operation was very organized, and Divyanga was able to triple his book distribution. They would spend 12 hours per day, seven days a week, distributing books in the Chicago airport. The party was also in constant correspondence with Srila Prabhupada through letters.
After Srila Prabhupada left his body in 1977, Divyanga felt a tremendous loss over his departure. He returned to Detroit and became the sankirtana leader there; however, he felt morose and distracted from his sadhana with his guru no longer physically present on the planet. Trying to “save him from maya” and re-engage his talents, Tripurari Swami asked him again in 1978 to join their traveling party. Srila Prabhupada also came to him in a dream that night, saying: “So, do you want to serve me now, Divyanga?” Re-inspired, Divyanga again took up Srila Prabhupada’s mission, with total dedication to book distribution, traveling with the BBT party for about a year.
Later, from 1983-92, he distributed books for the St.Louis temple, alongside his mentor, Vaisesika prabhu. That was some of the most dynamic book distribution he ever experienced. In Hawaii in 1992, he distributed $60,000 worth of books in one year. From 1993-97, he moved to Orlando with his family and distributed at the airport right up until book distribution closed there.
Desiring his son to attend the gurukula, Divyanga moved to Alachua with his family in 1997. He has been distributing books here ever since, as well as in nearby cities like Orlando and St.Augustine. Divyanga prabhu truly believes in his heart that he can help another jiva by distributing a book to him, and therefore it is his duty to continue to do so. He also sees a great need in society for these transcendental literatures, and is passionate about relieving the pain of material distress for other conditioned souls, as he remembers his own suffering condition. As stated in Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.36, “in Kali Yuga all perfection of life can easily be achieved by the performance of sankirtana.” The disciple has a debt to the spiritual master which he can never repay. However, it is his duty to try his “level best.”
To read the complete book please click here: (51MB pdf file)
https://www.alachuatemple.com/files/PDFs/SP_Disciples_of_Alachua_2021.pdf