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.
Jayagauri Devi Dasi
Being averse to seeing animals suffer, I renounced meat at age14. I remember my mother taking me to a chicken ranch where she would “pick out a chicken” for dinner, which the ranch hand then slaughtered in front of us. I was horrified and sobbing at this scene. Since my parents were favorable to yoga and finding one’s path, I was supported in my vegetarian lifestyle.
While attending university in my native Brazil, I would eat at a macrobiotic restaurant which attracted a crowd interested in healing modalities and finding one’s purpose. It was there that I met a flute-playing hippie who told me of “these very nice people in Sao Paulo” who played music and danced in the streets, and who had a temple. The following day we took a bus there. As I entered the gate in my “hippie regalia,” the devotees all paid obeisances to me – that puzzled me. That same morning I was given a sari to wear, a Sri Isopanisad to read, and was filled in on all the rules and regulations. I was happy that the cleanliness standard was even stricter than at my home - here we washed the floor after rolling our sleeping bags, and cleaned the bathroom after each use.
I fell in love with Srila Prabhupada because he was able to answer my countless questions through his elucidating purports of Sri Isopanisad. I never went back home! That was February 2, 1976. Later on I realized that I had been chanting Hare Krishna with George Harrison long before I met the devotees. My life changed completely, as I left everything behind to follow Srila Prabhupada. I remember during one guru puja looking at his picture, feeling his presence, and then accepting him in my heart as my gurudeva.
We all had to surrender, and I had a white Volkswagen Beetle that the devotees made sure I “surrendered” to the BBT. A month and a half later, the temple president arrived from India with Gaura Nitai Deities, and he engaged me in buying all necessary paraphernalia for the installation. He allowed me to use my car to get around. We made outfits, decorated umbrellas, and everything turned out beautiful and auspicious. On Gaura Purnima 1976, two blue Volkswagen vans beautifully painted with Hare Krishna logos traveled from Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro for a big celebration at a tropical public park. There was lots of prasadam, kirtan and a lecture; it was a colorful and attractive venue for the public. In preparation for the festival, we had performed harinama daily in Copacabana and Ipanema, inviting people and distributing books. Later I also distributed books in Sao Paulo and vicinity, which is a big city like New York.
I got married to Mahavira Dasa, the temple president, and we were off to Bhaktivedanta Manor, near London. My services there included making garlands and vases for Sri Sri Radha Gokulananda’s altar, cleaning Srila Prabhupada’s quarters daily, and starting a nursery school. I was fortunate to have Saci Devi Dasi (Karandhara’s wife) as a next door neighbor, who took the time to instruct me on the philosophy of Krishna consciousness. Our rooms were above the goshala, and the atmosphere very calm and serene. Bhaktivedanta Manor has a big orchard and it was my first time seeing an apple tree.
Following my husband on service missions, we traveled to Frankfurt and on to Paris. We went to meet Srila Prabhupada at the farm in Noeuvelle Mayapur for the installation of Sri Sri Krishna Balarama. I got my first initiation in a beautiful ceremony under the ancient oaks. That was my first experience receiving Srila Prabhupada’s “intense look.” When I said the four regulative principles in Portuguese, he looked to his sides to see if anyone understood, then he looked at me with a mystical, intense look, and I felt he could see directly into my soul, as well as my past, present and future lives, and all my anarthas. I felt acknowledged by him, and out of his great compassion he accepted me as his disciple. There is an article in a 1976 Back to Godhead which shows the beautiful setup for the ceremony, as well as us devotees from all over Europe with Srila Prabhupada in front of Château d’Oublaise. From there we went to Barcelona to find a suitable place for a temple. Back at the Manor we got tickets to India. Upon arrival in Vrindavan, to our joyous surprise we saw Srila Prabhupada sitting under the tamala tree in the courtyard of the temple. Jaya! Full dandavats! During Kartik in 1976 in Vrindavan, I received brahmana initiation. I was a young devotee and didn’t know about taking daksina as an offering for the occasion, so the other two devotee ladies also waiting to go in were kind enough to share some fruits on a banana leaf with me. When we were called in, they pushed me to go first. I entered the room and Srila Prabhupada was discussing supper with Arundati Devi Dasi. I stood there frozen holding the offering in my hands.
When we were alone, Srila Prabhupada asked me “Is that for me?” This simple question put me at ease and enabled me to function again. He then invited me to sit by his left side and I received the gayatri mantra in my right ear. Sitting so close to my gurudeva, enveloped in his bright and powerful aura, hearing his voice so close to my ear vibrating the mantra, and seeing his lotus finger pointing to the words, I felt surcharged with a powerful energy. That moment in time I carry forever in my heart! I felt the spiritual reality, a palpable transcendence, because the pure devotee had shared space with me.
My services in Vrindavan included making Srila Prabhupada’s guru puja garlands, caring for his Tulasi plants, preparing his noon massage area, and sewing for Sri Sri Krishna Balarama with Saktimati Devi Dasi. My daughter Revati was born in Vrindavan, the third ISKCON child born there. We called her “Brijabasi” for fourteen days after her birth, and then during a visit to the Radha Kunda’s Revati Balarama Temple, we named her after the temple.
From Vrindavan we went to Brazil. At first we lived at the temple ashram in Rio de Janeiro. Then on to Brasilia with a group of householders, where we rented a house as a base for preaching. From there we moved the family and established a temple in Belo Horizonte, where I served as pujari for Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and did the bhoga run – returning with a station-wagon full to the brim with donations.
In 1978, we moved to Sao Paulo, the BBT headquarters. There my son Gokulananda, aka Nando, was born. My husband formed a sankirtana group to fund the farm project on a beautiful area high in the Mantiqueira Mountains. That is how the Nova Gokula farm project was born, and when my son was two months old, we moved there. We had primitive accommodations, but the spirit of dedication to Srila Prabhupada’s mission was very strong in all of us, and therefore the austerities did not bother us too much.
In 1979, at the peak of the guru upheaval, we left the farm and established a very successful restaurant in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. It was called “The Vegetarian,” and from this prasadam project we introduced many to Krishna consciousness. We held Sunday feasts at our house and also initiation ceremonies for the new devotees. Some of the devotees from that time now live in Alachua!
Then one beautiful day Hridayananda Maharaja came for a two-week visit to ask my husband to save the BBT and Nova Gokula. We sold the restaurant to another devotee and moved to Nova Gokula farm where we built a house near the temple. By then I had three children and cooked the mangala sweets and 4:00 PM offerings daily and began translation of Srila Prabhupada- lilamrta for the BBT. Then the Miami Beach temple needed help as the building was in dire need of renovation. So my husband moved the family to Miami in mid-1983. I established a nursery school there and took care of all the children, freeing mothers to go on sankirtana. I had a 12-year-old helper at the nursing school, Srimad Bhagavatam (he lives in Hawaii now), son of the late Prajapati Dasa. We took the children on field trips to the zoo, parks, and we had a program of morning beach time with chapati snacks provided with a smile by Cakradhara Dasa (also living in Alachua now), the cook at the Miami temple. All this was done with no remuneration, so when it was time for my children to attend school, we moved to Canada where we could work.
We arranged an apartment near the Toronto Temple, and there my first service was making garlands. There was a community of householders living in Warkworth, Ontario, and we moved there to join that group. The idea was good, but not much happened in terms of outreach. We were one of only three families left by the end of a couple years. We then moved to the quaint little town of Ancaster, Ontario. From there we sold everything and went to Brazil for two years 1990-1992. There we were instrumental in the transfer of land donated by Satrukotivinasa Dasa to ISKCON, which is a beautiful retreat center in the mountains outside of Rio de Janeiro. Srila Prabhupada named it Vrajabhumi.
We moved to the Alachua/Gainesville area in December of 1992. In this community I raised five children and have served as pujari, seamstress, teacher and book distributor. I worked for the Women’s Ministry when Sudharma Devi Dasi was the minister, also as a science teacher at the Vaishnava Academy for Girls. I offered yoga classes to devotees upstairs at the old Govinda’s Restaurant in Alachua for three years. Later on I offered classes at the OmYoga Studio, aka Ayurvedic Health Retreat, in the city of Alachua.
While teaching yoga in Gainesville 1994 – 2018, under my original name Jenny Roberts, I had many students who were nurses, doctors, accountants, and working professionals. I held courses for deepening their yoga practice in my home, such as workshops on chakras, pranayama, yoga sutra. Through these courses they were introduced to aspects of bhakti yoga and Bhagavad-Gita, and we discussed philosophy and self-help methods for elevating consciousness. We still keep in touch, and one of them is currently chanting Hare Krishna on beads! Now it is time for grandchildren, and the little ones are a joy in my life.
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