Jayasri Mataji.
Seeking the meaning of life as a young teenager, Jayasri visited the Hare Krishna temple for a Sunday feast in Auckland where she grew up. Upon hearing the philosophy she immediately recognised she had found the answers to all her questions.
Sometime later, working in London and being at a crossroad in life, she decided to pursue her spiritual quest. Wanting to find out more about Krishna Consciousness and not able to locate a Hare Krishna temple in London she decided to fly to Vrndavan instead where a friend had given her a temple address.
That was a year after Srila Prabhupada’s physical departure from this world. After living a year in the ashram there her diksa guru, Bhavananda Prabhu, asked her to come and serve in the Darlinghurst temple where she has resided and served ever since along with her husband Pratapana Prabhu who was the temple president there for a decade. Together they have been running the Govindas Restaurant for more than 40 years. Twenty years ago they also established a kirtan centre along with residential facilities for people wanting to go deeper in to bhakti. To support these initiatives along with many other innovative outreach programs over the past twenty years, Jayasri established a number of fashion stores around inner city Sydney.
She has been actively involved with assisting with the management of New Gokula farm for the past two years. Jayasri is now winding down her last fashion store and is focussing more of her creative and management skills at New Gokula.
Usually an annual visitor to Vrndavan each Kartik, she now says New Gokula is her Vrndavan. Rādhā Gokulananda are in a very similar mood to Rādhā Syamasundara and to be able to serve them, the cows and hear the cries of the peacocks, transports one to the land of Krishna’s pastimes.
Thank you for your service Jayasri Mataji.
This article is a part of New Gokula’s (in Millfield, Australia) July Newsletter. To read the complete newsletter please click here: https://bit.ly/3zvBvA2