Radhanatha Swami

Radhanath Swami was born in the northern part of the USA in 1951. From his early childhood he was extremely detached from the luxuries and wealth of American Society. In his teenage years his heart was yearning for knowledge about God and thus he left the comforts of his home to seek the Lord. Thus began Radhanath Swami's journey which saw him spend many days in cathedrals, monasteries and synagogues.

There he undertook a careful study of the scriptures of Christianity and Judaism. One day as he was praying in a cathedral in Italy came the realization that his life be exclusively dedicated in search of God and he should never return to worldly society. His search continued until that momentous day when he was living in a cave on the Greek island of Crete that an inner voice said - "Go to India".

But Where was India ? Radhanath Swami had no idea, in fact he did not even have a map. But he had faith that if he hitchhiked in the eastern direction someday he will reach India. So he started his journey eastward which took him through the countries of the Middle East. There he applied himself to the study of the Koran, prayed in mosques and visited many holy men of the Islam faith. He kept on travelling eastward and at last arrived in India. The moment he stepped in the Holy Land of Bharata Varsha he donned the traditional robes of a sadhu.

During his travels, once he stopped in Bombay. As he was walking down the street he saw a large pandal with the sign HARE KRISHNA. It was the first day of a preaching programme organised by ISKCON in India and Srila Prabhupada was about to deliver his first lecture to a large audience in India. Srila Prabhupada sits on his Vyasasana and motions a disciple to come forward. "Bring that boy here", says Srila Prabhupada and the disciple wades through the great ocean of people around him, approaches Radhanath Swami and says "Srila Prabhupada wants you to sit near him on the stage". Radhanath Swami climbs on the stage, offers his obeisances to Srila Prabhupada and then takes the dust of his lotus feet on his head. Thereafter every morning and evening he sat at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada, hearing the immortal message of Lord Krishna.

Radhanath Swami chanced to see the Krishna book written by Srila Prabhupada and desiring to possess a copy he went out during the day to beg some money to buy it. Srila Prabhupada was very pleased that he was so eager to read his books. As the pandal programme got over he traced his steps back to the Himalayas. Then he went to the Pashupatinath Temple in Nepal to worship Lord Shiva. Now he wanted to go to Amarnath and the train stopped. Radhanath Swami saw many sadhus around him and he became curious as to what that place was. But before he could get any proper answer the train started to move. He hurried back to get inside the IIIrd class compartment which was so full that he simply could not get in. He was very sorry to see the train go, but little did he know that one of the last acts of this great drama was about to unfold on that holiest of holy places and the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna was now personally directing the scene.

That place was Sri Mathura Dham and the day was Janmastami. After witnessing the Janmastami festival he decided to stay in Vrindavan for 3 days. He arrived in Vrindavan and on the third day he suddenly contracted severe typhoid. Sri Krishna was not allowing him to leave Vrindavan. For one year he slept on the banks of the Jamuna and visited the various places of Vraja.

He eagerly sought the association of the Vrajavasis. Devotion to Sri Sri Radha and Krishna changed his heart and he decided not to leave Vrindavan for the rest of his life. At that time there was no ISKCON temple, but Srila Prabhupada had come to Vrindavan with a small group of his disciples in December 1971. Every day Srila Prabhupada took the devotees on Parikrama and gave classes and darshans. It was in this intimate setting that he realized that of all the saints, of all the religions he had ever experienced, Srila Prabhupada had the deepest love for God and compassion for the fallen souls of this world. The message which he spoke was purely based on the authority of Guru parampara.

Srila Prabhupada's teachings included every other religious conception. Radhanath Swami had ever encountered and it went further ahead. Srila Prabhupada's transcendental sound vibration entered the lotus like heart of Radhanath Swami and echoed - Devotion to Sri Sri Radha and Krishna is the ultimate platform of surrender. After becoming a soul surrendered at Srila Prabhupadas lotus feet Radhanath Swami was sent from Vrindavan to New Vrindavan (Which is a farm community in west Virginia, USA) where he was in charge of taking care of the cows and was the head pujari for the brahmacari ashram. After about eight years, he was asked to preach on the colleges in America. Every day he would give atleast 6 lectures addressing 150 students for every lecture.

He gave classes in almost all of the prominent colleges and universities of the Mid - US area. The Preaching consisted of Kirtan, lecture from the Bhagavad Gita and prasad distribution. In 1987, he was asked to help develop preaching projects in India, a service which he is doing to this present day. This dedication towards congregation preaching developed the Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Mandir at Chowpatty, Bombay and the ISKCON Belgaum temple. Under his auspices preaching programmes are developing in Kolhapur, Nasik , Nigidi. Radhanath Swami takes the devotees on spiritual yatras which are unforgettable experiences.

Devotees have visited Hampi, Pandharpur, Sri Rangam, Tirupati, Rameshwaram, Jaipur, Badrinath, Kedarinath and of course Sri Vrindavan and Sri Mayapur Dhams. Radhanath Swami is known all over the world as a very advanced Vaisnava and a wonderful Kirtan singer. Radhanath Swami’s official website http://www.radhanathswami.com

 Other web sites: 

www.radhagopinath.com
www.itsohappened.com
www.radhanathswamiphotos.com
www.radhanathswamidownloads.com
www.sacredbonding.com
www.radhanathswami.co
www.tulsibooks.com
www.radhanathswamiweekly.com
www.radhanathswami.co.uk
www.leadershipandspirituality.com
www.richardslavin.com
www.thejourneyhomebook.com
www.radhanathswamionline.com
www.radhanathswamiquotes.com
www.radhanathswami.info
www.socialfront.in
www.radhanathswami.net
www.radhanath-swami.net
www.myspiritualmaster.com
www.radhanath-swami.info
www.radhanath.com
www.radhanathswami.blogspot.com
www.radhanathswami.org
www.radhanathswamiradio.com
www.wallpapers.radhanathswmiphotos.com
www.celibatemonk.com