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.
Dhruva Maharaja Dasa
Dhruva Maharaja Dasa was a hitchhiking hippie in the early 1970’s when he met the devotees in Berkeley, California. Being of college-age, he could easily blend into various college campuses. At UC Berkeley, the devotees of the Radha-Damodara Traveling Sankirtan Party bus invited him to their program. They would set Sri Sri Radha-Damodara upon a makeshift altar and sing bhajans to Them. After a bhajan was complete, Vishnujana Swami would comment on its meaning and tell a little about the authors: Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Narottama Dasa, Jayadeva Goswami, etc. Dhruva Maharaja became captivated by these explanations as well as Tamala Krsna Gosvami’s classes, the music, the food, incense, Deities, and the depth of philosophy –and so he never left. He remained with RDTSKP and gradually evolved to distributing books in various airports: Chicago, Atlanta, New York, Boston, St.Louis, Louisville, Minneapolis, and Kansas City.
Shortly after Srila Prabhupada’s departure in 1977, Dhruva Maharaja became temple commander of the Krishna-Balarama Mandir in Vrindavan. In 1981, he resided at Srila Prabhupada’s rooms at Radha-Damodara temple. During that time, he met several local Vaishnavas and developed an interest to learn more about Vraja Mandala and parikrama. A few years, later he participated in Lord Chaitanya’s 500 th Anniversary Padayatra around India, beginning in Dvaraka and walking to Cochin in South India. After participating in and leading many padayatras during those years, in 1985 Dhruva Maharaja met and married his wife, Samapriya Devi Dasi. The couple returned to the U.S. and continued to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books, and gradually phased into other seasonal businesses as well.
They have spent the last 29 years traveling back and forth between the U.S. and India: Vrindavan (1985-89), Mayapur (1990-94), and Jagannatha Puri, where they built a home in 1994 and continue to visit up to the present. During this time, he also wrote and published two books on the holy dhamas: Vrindavana Dhama Ki Jaya! and Jaya Jagannatha!
After returning to Alachua from Puri in 2009, Dhruva Maharaja began developing e-courses to teach Srila Prabhupada’s books online, at his website, SadhusangaOnline.com. Over the years the program has evolved to include e-courses on: Introduction to Spiritual Wisdom from India, Sri Isopanisad, Nectar of Instruction, Bhagavad Gita, and Srimad Bhagavatam. A few years ago, he and his wife conducted a japa workshop at Bhakti Bhavan Alachua, and are now busy developing a similar online japa workshop in hopes of reaching more people around the planet via the internet.
Dhruva Maharaja prabhu stays inspired in Krishna consciousness by understanding that bhakti acts towards his eternal benefit. If he doesn’t complete a task or surrender something in this lifetime, he will have to do it in another - so he may as well take care of it now. There is nothing in this world worthy of more attention.
To read the complete book please click here: (51MB pdf file)
https://www.alachuatemple.com/files/PDFs/SP_Disciples_of_Alachua_2021.pdf