A Leader To Look Up To

The boys have a day-to-day guide and friend in headmaster Yasodanandana Swami. In his extensive travels throughout India, Yasodanandana has addressed large gatherings and talked with local scholars on the science of Krsna consciousness. And though an American, Yasodanandana has won wide respect for his erudition and strict spiritual discipline. As the title "Swami" signifies, he is one of a select number of disciples to whom Srila Prabhupada has given sannyasa, the highest order of spiritual life-awarded for scholarship and purity. In other words, Yasodanandana Swami teaches both by what he says and by what he does.

Although a sannyasi usually spends his time traveling and preaching, Srila Prabhupada specifically asked Yasodanandana Swami to live with the Gurukula boys and tutor them. This way they benefit from both his academic instruction and his personal example. So while their counterparts in the West are idolizing some sports hero, rock star, or local gang leader, the Gurukula boys look up to Yasodanandana and hope to be like him some day.

A sannyasi stays free of family life just to devote all his energy to preaching Krsna consciousness to the larger family of mankind. Yasodanandana Swami hopes that in this respect some of the boys will follow his lead. But thanks to the spiritual background they gain at the Gurukula, even the students who marry will go on learning and speaking about the science of Krsna consciousness.

Yasodanandana Swami says that one of the most important qualifications of a spiritual leader is conviction, and that the Vrndavana Gurukula is the best place in the world to develop it. "In India it's very easy for these children to become convinced that Krsna consciousness is genuine. In the West, where Krsna consciousness seems to be something new, this conviction doesn't come so easily. But here in India, where the roots of Krsna-conscious culture go back thousands of years-and especially here in Vrndavana, where everyone is practicing (to some extent) the devotional principles-this conviction becomes strong. With this strong conviction these children will make solid spiritual leaders and benefit all humanity."