Bhurijana Dasa

Bhurijana Dasa began chanting Hare Krsna in early 1968 while still a student at the University of Buffalo. A few months later he met his spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, at the first Hare Krishna temple, on Second Avenue in New York City. He was initiated by Prabhupada later that year. In 1969 Prabhupada asked Bhurijana Dasa to help pioneer the Krishna consciousness movement in Japan. A year later, in December of 1970, Bhurijana Dasa married Jagattarini Devi Dasi, and together they opened ISKCON’s first Hong Kong center. During the next six years, he was fortunate to meet Srila Prabhupada in Hong Kong, Manila, Mayapur, Vrindavan, Melbourne, Auckland, Fiji, and Honolulu.

In 1976, during their last meeting, Srila Prabhupada asked Bhurijana Dasa to help develop ISKCON’s educational system. Bhurijana Dasa then worked in primary education and curriculum development and later conducted teacher-training courses in Vrindavan.  

While teaching at the Gita-Nagari farm community, Bhurijana Dasa wrote curriculum for elementary and high school academics, some of which in adapted form is still used in ISKCON schools to the present. Also while at Gita-Nagari, he and Jagattarini Dasi created and performed many puppet shows, which became the basis of the Gita-Nagari Puppet Theatre video series that has provided devotional entertainment for hundreds of devotee children.   

In 1987 Bhurijana Dasa helped establish the Vrindavan Institute for Higher Education (VIHE), where he taught courses in sastra, teaching, and writing. He organized ISKCON’s first Bhakti-Sastri course, covering Bhagavad-gita As It Is, The Nectar of Devotion, The Nectar of Instruction, and Sri Isopanisad.   

In 2001 Bhurijana Dasa was instrumental in inaugurating the VIHE’s Govardhana retreats, which have since become a yearly event attended by devotees from around the world. In 2002 he helped organize for the VIHE the Bhakti-Vaibhava course (a study of the first part of the Bhagavata Purana) and co-taught the first six cantos of Srimad-Bhagavatam. In 2007 he co-taught the first Bhaktivedanta course, which covers cantos seven through twelve of Srimad-Bhagavatam.   

Bhurijana Dasa has written several books, including The Art of Teaching, Surrender Unto Me (a study of the Bhagavad-gita), Studying Srimad-Bhagavatam, My Glorious Master (a memoir of his time with Srila Prabhupada).