Jayapataka Swami (); born on April 9, 1949) is a

Vaishnava Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

swami Swami ( ; sometimes abbreviated sw.) in Hinduism is an honorific title given to a male or female ascetic who has chosen the path of renunciation (''sanyāsa''), or has been initiated into a religious monastic order of Vaishnavas. It is used eith ...

and a religious leader for the

International Society for Krishna Consciousness The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known Colloquialism, colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Gaudiya Vaishnava Hinduism, Hindu religious organization. ISKCON was found ...

(ISKCON).Eternal odyssey through people’s hearts
The Telegraph, Calcutta, 16 February 2004 He is a senior disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. In 2004 he was one of the initiating spiritual masters, ( ISKCON Gurus), a member of the Governing Body Commission (GBC),Police chief flags off Jagannath rath yatra
"

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

", Saturday, 14 January 2006 and a divisional trustee for the

Bhaktivedanta Book Trust The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. ISKCON was founded in 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktived ...

(BBT). He is one of the senior-most sannyasis in the Hare Krishna movement.

Honorifics

* His Holiness * Maharaja * Guru

Early years

Jayapataka Swami was born in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

as Gordon John Erdman II to Gordon John Erdman and Lorraine Erdman (Golich). He attended

St. John's Northwestern Military Academy St. John's Northwestern Military Academy (SJNMA) was founded in 1884 as St. John's Military Academy (SJMA) in Delafield, Wisconsin, by the Rev. Sidney T. Smythe as a private, college preparatory school. In 1995, Northwestern Military and Naval Ac ...

and

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

. There, as a fresh enrollee, he was influenced by a guest lecture on the life of

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

that he lost all interest in his studies and began searching for a spiritual teacher. After some time of searching he concluded he would have to go to India to find his teacher. Before leaving for India, Gordon came across some

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna may refer to: * International Society for Krishna Consciousness The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known Colloquialism, colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnav ...

devotees, doing

kirtan Kirtana ( sa, कीर्तन; ), also rendered as Kirtan, is a Sanskrit word that means "narrating, reciting, telling, describing" of an idea or story, specifically in Indian religions. It also refers to a genre of religious performance arts ...

and distributing ''

Back To Godhead The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. ISKCON was founded in 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktived ...

'' magazine. Shortly after he visited the San Francisco

ISKCON The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. ISKCON was founded in 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktive ...

center, where he met Jayananda das who introduced him to the Ratha Yatra. His first service in ISKCON was to help build the Ratha Cart. From there he travelled to Montreal, Quebec, Canada where he met Srila Prabhupada. John took first

initiation Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation ...

in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and was given the name 'Jayapataka dasa'. Soon after he was awarded 2nd initiation in New York. While in Montreal, Jayapataka dasa was engaged in the service of printing books and dispatching them to other ISKCON temples around the world. Later, on the instruction of Srila Prabhupada, Jayapataka went to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

to open a temple there. When Jayapataka dasa took over the Toronto center as president he wrote to Srila Prabhupada enquiring about his service and was told by him to go to India.

References

External links

Jayapataka Swami's Official Website
{{Authority control Converts to Hinduism International Society for Krishna Consciousness religious figures 1949 births Living people Indian Hare Krishnas Indian Hindu monks Brown University alumni Religious leaders from Milwaukee 20th-century Hindu religious leaders 21st-century Hindu religious leaders