Jayapataka Swami

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Acāryapāda
Jayapataka Svāmī
Title	Tridandi Swami
Personal
Born	Gordon John Erdman II may 9, 1949 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Religion	Hinduism
Citizenship	Indian
School	Vaiṣṇavavāda
Lineage	Brahma-Madhva-Gauḍīya Sampradāya
Sect	Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavavāda
Monastic name	Jayapataka Svāmī ji
Organization
Philosophy	Achintya Bheda Abheda
Religious career
Teacher	A. C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī
Predecessor	A. C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī
Initiation	Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Dikṣa 1968 Montreal, Canada by Bhaktivedānta Swāmī
Ordination	Gauḍīya Sannyāsa, 1970, Calcutta, by Bhaktivedānta Swāmī
Post	ISKCON Sannyasin, ISKCON Guru-Ācārya, ISKCON Governing Body Commissioner

Jayapataka Swami (born 9 April 1949 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is a Vaishnava swami and a religious leader for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). He is a senior disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Presently he is one of the initiating spiritual masters, (ISKCON Gurus), a member of the Governing Body Commission (GBC), and is a divisional trustee for the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT).

Honorifics

• His Holiness
• Srila Acaryapada
• Paramahamsa
• Maharaja
• pure devotee

Biography

Early years

Jayapataka Swami was born as Gordon John Erdman II to Gordon John Erdman and Lorraine Erdman (Golich). He attended Brown University. There, as a fresh enrollee, he was influenced by a guest lecture on the life of Buddha 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 devotees, doing kirtan and distributing 'Back To Godhead' magazine. Shortly after he visited the San Francisco ISKCON 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 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 Swami Maharaj 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 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

• White, Barbara-Sue (1994), Turbans and traders: Hong Kong's Indian communities, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-585287-7
• Mahamaya Devi Dasi (1999), Ganga Safari: Ganga River Boat Adventure with Jayapataka Swami, Holy Cow Books, ISBN 0-9704530-0-0
• Mukherjee, Manju Mohan (2002), Hippies in India: a study of sub-cultural system, Bibhasa, ISBN 81-87337-12-5
• Satsvarūpa Dāsa Gosvāmī (1982), Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta: a biography of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. Vol. 4, In Every Town and Village: Around the World 1968–1971, Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, ISBN 0-89213-115-2
• Satsvarūpa Dāsa Gosvāmī (1983), Srīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta: a biography of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. Vol. 5, Let There Be a Temple: India/Around the World 1971–1975, Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, ISBN 0-89213-119-5
• Satsvarūpa Dāsa Gosvāmī (1983), Srīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta: a biography of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. Vol. 6, Uniting Two Worlds: Around the World / Return to Vrindavana 1975–1977, Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, ISBN 0-89213-106-3
• Duva, Jesús (5 September 1989), "El lider de Hare Krishna acuchillado pide protección porque teme un nuevo atentado", El País
• "Guru brings message of spiritual healing", New Straits Times, 30 May 2000, archived from the original on 26 October 2012
• "Feed the hungry, is ISKCON motto", The Times of India, 7 December 2001
• "Krishna Consciousness centre delights devotees", New Straits Times, 21 December 2001, archived from the original on 26 October 2012
• "Janmashtami fete from August 17", The Times of India, 27 July 2003
• "Mantras, bhajans at Rath yatra", The Indian Express, 17 November 2003
• "March into love, peace and harmony – 'Hare Ram Hare Krishna' rents air as Iskcon takes out Rathyatra", The Telegraph, 7 February 2004
• "Eternal odyssey through people's hearts", The Telegraph, 16 February 2004
• "ISKCON chief for city", The Hindu, 7 March 2004
• "ISKCON followers take out rally", The Hindu, 11 March 2004
• "Krishna temple to be built in Moscow", The Hindu, 11 March 2004
• "Hindu philosophy misunderstood: ISKCON chief", The Hindu, 12 March 2004, archived from the original on 25 January 2013
• "Over 300 foreign delegates to attend ISKCON 'utsav'", The Hindu, 15 March 2004
• "Foreign devotees take part in Krishna festival", The Hindu, 17 March 2004
• "Police chief flags off Jagannath rath yatra", The Hindu, 14 January 2006
• "Bhakti transcends racial barriers", The Hindu, 23 March 2006
• "Rath yatra inaugurated", The Hindu, 31 March 2006
• "ISKCON's 'Lotus temple' inauguration on Jan. 31", The Hindu, 19 January 2007
• "Tirupati Lotus Temple opened", The Hindu, 1 February 2007
• "ISKCON team to spread spiritualism", The Hindu, 10 March 2007
• "ISKCON rath yatra tomorrow", The Hindu, 21 March 2007
• "Nutshell: Rath yatra", The Hindu, 28 December 2007
• "Devotees converge on Temple City", The Hindu, 20 February 2008
• "'Gokulashtami' celebrated with zeal", The Hindu, 25 August 2008
• "Baca va a la India para rodar un filme espiritual", Telam, 14 February 2009, archived from the original on 31 May 2011
• Rangarajan, A.D. (3 April 2009), "Spellbinding show", The Hindu

External links

• Jayapataka Swami's Official Website