Shrila Bhakti Vedanta Shridhar Swami

Shrila Bhakti Vedanta Shridhar Swami was born on 10th August, 1965. He was a devotee from his childhood. The village he was born in (not far from Jagannatha Puri, Orissa) is very close to the birthplace of Shri Raya Ramananda. Shripad Bhaktivedanta Shridhara Maharaja came to the shelter of his Gurudeva, Nitya-lila pravishta Om Vishnupada Paramahamsa Astottara-shata Shri Shrimad Bhakti Shri-Rupa Siddhanti Goswami Maharaj, at a very young age of 14in Jagannatha Puri Dhama and then joined his Math in Satasana Road called Shri Saraswata Gaudiya Ashram. When Shripad Bhaktivedanta Shridhara Maharaja (then a boy of 14)came to his future diksa-guru's temple for the very first time, he brought a big jackfruit as a donation. When Shrila BS Siddhanti Maharaja returned from a preaching tour, he at once noticed a big jackfruit in the temple. He was surprised and inquired, 'Who brought this?' Later one day when Shridhara Maharaja finally joined the temple, the devotees introduced him to his future Guru as 'the boy who brought the jackfruit'. Shripad Shridhara Maharaja joined the temple full time even against the wishes of his protesting parents and elder brother, and remained in his Gurudev's seva till his very last day. Shrila BS Siddhanti Maharaja gave him harinama and diksa initiation and the name Shripad Rasananda dasa Brahmacari. When Shrila Siddhanti Maharaja left the planet, Rasananda Prabhu began to inquire about the whereabouts of Shrila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Goswami Maharaja, as he was eager for listening to his Hari-katha. Soon after he reached Mathura and remained with our beloved Shrila Gurudeva for years in Mathura till he was handed over the responsibility of Shri Rupa-Sanatana Gaudiya Math in Vrindavan. While being in charge of Shrila Gurudeva's main temple in Vrindavan (and he is still performing that seva!) Rasananda Brahmacari Prabhu has trained literally hundreds devotees from both India and the West. His sweet name was always in full correspondence with his sweet nature and sweet Vraja harikatha and kirtan. In 2010 he took the sacred order of sannyasa from Shrila Gurudeva, his siksa guru, and now he is absorbed in preaching travelling all over the world.