Gurukula in Dallas

The first large Gurukula school of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness has been operating for a year on a large estate near the downtown area of Dallas, Texas. As of this writing, there are twenty boys and twenty girls attending this transcendental boarding school. The classroom atmosphere is very serious, and the teachers maintain strict discipline. The classes are so arranged that one teacher can instruct twenty students at once, even though they are at various levels of age and achievement. All the students work simultaneously on individual assignments given by the teacher, and thus the whole class works silently while the teacher at his desk privately instructs each student one at a time. For example, one student may be learning to write the very first letters of the Sanskrit alphabet. The teacher will go over the work with the student and then give him an assignment to write out. As he returns to his seat to do this, another student, who may already be writing whole verses in Sanskrit, is given further private instruction and an assignment suitable to his or her advancement. Thus all ages can be accommodated side by side in any class, and within a short time the students advance very quickly. They also take to the serious nature of the classroom with great appreciation and are very happy to engage their minds in directed study.

The teachers at Gurukula are all initiated disciples of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Jamadagni dasa Brahmacari teaches in the Sanskrit department. Rūpavilasa dasa Adhikari and his wife Candrika devi dasi are English instructors, and Jayajagadisa dasa Brahmacari and Dinatarini devi dasi are math and geography teachers. The teachers associate constantly with the children and live with them. The students' parents visit the school on semi-annual "parents' weekends," but the real instruction comes from the teachers, who have dedicated their full time and energy to this upbringing of children in Krsna consciousness. The children study six hours per day in a six-day week, and on Sunday they are free to play as they like, imitating the pastimes of Krsna and taking part in the Sunday festival that is held at the temple for the many guests who attend.