This is an interview/testimony by Jahnudvīpa Dāsa describing his spiritual journey and close personal relationship with Jayapatākā Swami. He says he joined ISKCON in Copenhagen in 1982, was initiated in 1983 by Harikesh, served five years as a brahmachari in Copenhagen, married, visited India in the late 1980s where he first met Jayapatākā Swami, later became Jayapatākā’s śikṣā (disciplic) student after his previous guru fell away, served as Jayapatākā’s appointment secretary for several years, moved to Mayapur in 2002, and more recently received re-initiation from Jayapatākā Swami via Zoom (Jayapatākā also gave him the Gayatri mantra). He shares personal memories (swimming, wrestling, massages), a few dreams involving Jayapatākā, and reflections praising Jayapatākā’s global preaching and dedication to Srila Prabhupāda.
Questions this video answers
1982.
Initiated by Harikesh, around 1983.
Five years.
2002.
Via Zoom (Jayapatākā also gave him the Gayatri mantra during that session).
Hare Krishna. My name is Janitvip Das and I joined ISKCON in Copenhagen in Denmark in 1982. Before I met the devotees, I was actually. I was brought up in a family of pure atheism. Denmark was quite atheistic country in those days, and I had no interest in God or religion. But then when I became like around 19, I started because I couldn't understand. I got everything I want. Still, I was not satisfied. I always felt something lagging. So I started thinking about God and the higher dimensions in life. And I was reading all kinds of books from the library, philosophy and religion. I hadn't met the devotees in Copenhagen at that time. So then one day I was very frustrated and existential anxiety and I called out, oh, Jesus, please show me the way. And the very next day, my girlfriend, whom I was living with in a flat, she came home and she said, I met this weird dude downtown and he gave me this book here, I know you're interested in this crap. And she threw it at me. And that was the Science of Self Realization in Danish. So as soon as I read that book, I knew I had found God and the meaning of life. And half a year later I joined the temple in copenhagen. And then one year later, a couple of years later, I joined 82. And I think I was initiated in 83. I was initiated by Harikesh. And I was a Brahmachari for five years, Distillery Brooks in Copenhagen. And everything went well. Then I got married. And the first time I went to India with my wife and we had just had a little baby, she couldn't even walk Jhanava. And that was the first time I actually saw Guru Maharaj. That must been in the late 80s. And Guru Maharaj, he met us walking our child and he stopped and he talked to us. And he was so nice and so warm and friendly. I thought, who's that person? But. And then of course, I found out that was Javascle Raj. So then I met him several times in Coarseness. When he came to Coarseness, he went to swimming. I went in the swimming pool with him. We played and we developed a quite close relationship. He was always very fatherly and friendly to me. Then of course, as you know, Heidi Case fell away. And at that time, that was in 90, I guess. Yeah, when Heidi Cash flopped. Then I was coming up the road past the ghost yacht, and Guru Maharaj came walking in the opposite direction with some of his sannyas, godbrothers. And as soon as he saw me, he went over to me and he grabbed me in a big bear hug and lifted me over and really squeezed me tightly because he knew that my Guru had just fallen down. So at that point I took Sheldrav, Guru Maharaj, and I became his Sikcha disciple. Then after many years, I thought actually, even though as you don't have to take re initiation when you have been initiated, but I thought I would actually, because I always felt very close to Guru Maharaj. So I thought, well, I should get re initiated. So I asked him if he could re initiate me. And I remember I was up in his quarters, I had my wife Pratish, and he agreed, yes, I will. So he asked me, what should I call. I said, I'd like to keep my name Giano, but you can if you want, you can add something. He said, I can maybe add Mooney or. And he asked my wife, what do you think? And she said, he ain't no Mooney. So I told Gurmar, I leave that over to you. You choose. So then I was initiated as Diana Dweeb Das. And my first service for Guru Maharaj was that I was his appointment secretary. And that was a tough job because in those days he went from one place to another, speaking engagements, lunch, whatever. And my job was to get him out there in time to go to the next engagement. And as you know, Guru Maharaj, he likes to involve himself with people. He likes to talk to people and hear how they're doing. Sometimes I had Guru Maharaj, we had to go, Guru Maharaj, we had to go. So that was my job. And I also had to screen people who wanted to come and visit him on his roof. And I was very disliked because I was quite strict. I always asked people when they wanted to see Guru Maharaj, what do you want to see him about? And if they just wanted to see about some problems they had with their wife or with their tp, I said, no, this is not. You shouldn't load all your problems on Guru Maharaj. You can do that with other senior devotees or your gp. So I was denying many people to see Guru Maharaj and they became quite angry. So after a couple of years, I stopped that service. Since then, I haven't had any direct service to Guru Maharaj. I think he was a little disappointed when I stopped being his appointment secretary because he liked me to do it. But I just couldn't do it anymore because it made too many devotees angry at me. And I, yeah, I just couldn't take it. So I stopped. But I've always Gur Moraji has always been very friendly and kind to me. And I used to go to his roof every day and do massage his shoulders or even do yoga with him and stuff like that. But then after he had his accident, I stopped coming because I felt it was true, you know, so many people there. I couldn't have that close relationship with Guru Maharaj that I used to. So the last since Corona, actually, I haven't had much close relationship with Guru Maharaj. I went up there and saw him one time and he said, I don't think he has to say, who's this? But I think he knows who I am. He was just making a point to kind of mildly chastise me for not having been there. So he was kind of, who's this? As if he couldn't remember, but I know he could. And I paid my basis. But he was on the way to a meeting, so we couldn't talk. I'm just glad that I could pay my business to him after a long time. Two, three years since the Corona. So nowadays I don't have any close association with Guru Maharaj. But he's always in my mind and I'm always praying for his safety. And yeah, and he also, he was the one who said that I should move to Mayapur. So that I did. And we came here and 2002 and we've been here ever since. And I only because I'm basically a nonsense person, I know it's only by the mercy of Guru Maharaj that I have been allowed to stay in Mayapur. Sometimes devotees were complaining about me, different things. And at one point, Bihasya told me, because I didn't know Bihatia, who was taking notes at meetings. She told me they had told Guru Maharaj, this guy, this genuine, he's a nonsense. And Guru Maharaj had told him, just leave him alone. So I'm very grateful, Guru Maharaj, that you the sole reason I can stay in my poor. And yeah, I feel sad that we don't have more association. But I feel the association is very much in the heart. And I think about you every day. I pray for you every day. And I just hope you will be well. Of course, I know your body is not well and you have to have so many devotees taking care of you. And I admire all those devotees who have given their lives to take care of you and that you still travel all over the world and your condition is just amazing. It shows to me that you are beyond the bodily conception of life because you have always been the same, even though Your body has given you so many problems. You still keep being the same loyal Prabhupada man, and all you want to do is serve Prabhupada. Prabhupada told you to initiate many people, and you're certainly doing that. So I'm just so proud of being your disciple and being under your wing and under your shelter. I don't really know what I can say. Personal experiences. Yeah, I played in Sweden. We played in the pool. We played soccer. We had. Because you are kind of a funny person. You like to play around and you especially like to swim in the pool. We were having fights there, wrestling matches. Several osteoarties would try to get you down, but it's impossible. I was. Remember one time I was hanging on your back and trying to get you to travel over in the water. You were like solid rock. I felt like I was climbing onto a rock. You're so big and sturdy. So, yeah, I don't really know what else to say except that I love you very dearly and that I'm proud of being your disciple and proud of being under your shelter.
Do you remember the. Or do you have meeting with Guru Maharaj before initiation? And how are your initiation, if you remember any details?
Yes, that was very informal. We just went to Zoom and he initiated me and he gave me the Gayatriya at the same time. So there was no ceremony, no fire yagya or anything. We just. Me and my wife, we went to a Zoom and he did it right there. So it was a very quick thing. Uneventful. No? Yeah, there was no ceremony. He just told me, now your name is Janudweep and show me you can do this, Godri. And because he knew I was already Gajri initiated. But imagine as a matter of protocol, you have to from your new guru. So he gave me the mantra.
How do you see Guru Maharaj following Srila Prabhupada's instructions?
As I see it, he's one of the only. We all know he is basically of the initial 12 gurus, Prabhupada poetas, he's the only one still standing. Well, Frida Nandamara, also Frida and Maharaj, but he's the only who's still standing. And Prabhupada told him to initiate like 10,000 disciples. And now we know he has initiated many more. Many, many more. Sometimes Guru Maharaj get criticized for initiating all these people. I hear criticism, but I know he's not doing it for himself. He's only doing it to connect people with Krishna. You can see his whole mission in life. Wherever he travels, wherever he goes, he's not into being worshiped. He's simply into serving Prabhupada. So nobody can say that he's deviating in any way. He's doing exactly what Prabhupada told him to preach ka on a grand scale. And nobody is preaching Krishna consciousness on such a grand scale as Guru Maharaj is doing. Connecting so many people with Krishna, traveling so much. Guru Maharaj, he's even in Guinness Record Book as a person who has fly the most miles in a year or something. And even in his now weakened condition and his body is basically useless and has to be carried around still, he will not give up his service. He could easily just sit in one place and try and recuperate. We always told Guru Maharaj, can you stay in one place and take it a little easy? But it is impossible for Guru Maharaj. In that case, Covid was a blessing because he was forced to stay in my world. That was very nice. But he never sits still in one place for a long time. He does what a sandiasis should do, go out and preach. So I don't think in this country we have any devotees of his stature. I don't just say that because I'm a disciple, but just if you based on facts, pure facts, what he's actually doing and what he's accomplishing, how many projects he's engaged in, you can see that nobody comes even close to what he's doing for the preaching mission.
Thank you. Do you have any dreams or relationship with Guru Maharaj through the dreams or any personal instructions, letters?
I have dreamt of Guru Maharaj. I think only one time. We were sitting by the deathbed of Srila Prabhupada and Kurama Maharaj. She was. He was crying and I was sitting praying over Prabhupada. And then Prabhupada, he grabbed the back of my head and pressed me into his chest. And I couldn't breathe. And I woke up in a shock. But Guru Maharaj was there. Yeah, I think that's the only time I dream of. I've had several dreams of Prabhupada, but not so many. Only that one dream of Guru Maharaj. Actually, I had another dream too. I just saw Guru Maharaj. That was after the accident. And he was saying, are you okay? It was just a very short flash in that inner dream. But I remember these things. Yeah. So traits. Guru Maharaj has been there in my dreams. But Even though I don't have much personal association with Guru Maharaj, especially after Covid, I don't used to go to his roof every day. But I feel very close to Guru Maharaj in my heart. I feel he's guiding me from within. He knows even though I don't see him physically, he knows I'm close to him and praying for him and always meditating on him. I think he knows that.
Any other memory?
No. I mean I can. Over the years he says he has been such a funny person and that was especially when I was living in Sweden for some time during BBC and he would come there quite often actually and visit coarseness at BBC and he would always make jokes and he was always a very happy, outgoing person. But yeah, I can't come remember anything now. I remember one time there was elephant procession, procession and I was carrying his shoes and he would just turn his head and he gave me such a loving look. My heart was jumping in my chest. He's always shown me that he appreciates me very much and that he likes me. And this of course is a very big deal for me. But as I said, the last year, since the Corona, the last three years, I haven't. I've hardly even seen him except every day I think of him and pray for him and pray for his safety and may he be safe wherever he goes.
Okay, when you can close the interview, this is. Guru Maharaj will watch all this so you can say thank you.
Oh. To Guru Maharaj directly. Guru Maharaj, thank you for taking me under your shoulder. That was a big relief for me when I lost my first guru, Harikesh, whom by the way, I know you were good friends with. I immediately took shelter of you because I've always been, even when I was a disciple, had a case, I've always been attracted to you very much. And yeah, I'm just so happy that I'm now your disciple and that I'm under your shelter. I don't know what else to see except thank you Guru Maharaj for accepting such a low born rascal like me as your desire. Thank you.
