(If you knew Janavi, or were touched by her creations,
and would like to share a few words about Janavi to be published on this page, please click on the button)
and would like to share a few words about Janavi to be published on this page, please click on the button)
"Janavi was a very appealing child: so sensitive, imaginative and receptive."
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"I became friends with Janavi’s father, Matthew, in college and remained part of his life during his marriage to Sally and the birth of Suzie and Janavi, visiting them often, in their homes in Brooklyn and Montclair and becoming friends with the girls, sometimes chaperoning them for a weekend and hosting them in my Manhattan apartment. Janavi was a very appealing child, so sensitive, imaginative, and receptive. We formed a close bond over the years.
During her high school years, she began to show a quiet yet fierce independence. She began painting and decided to leave high school and pursue a spiritual path, despite the worry of her family. This led her to joining a spiritual group, traveling around the country, and coming to rely more and more on her own instincts. She was an adventurous person, exploring many pursuits—jewelry, photography, and alternative healing. Her decision to attend Goddard College in Vermont was a culmination of her belief in herself and gave her enormous satisfaction. I attend her graduation and was so proud of her. Her illness proceeded gradually, but relentlessly. After she could no longer cope with daily living, she moved into the ashram in Denver, and then, blessedly, Suzie offered to take her to Longmont where they both reached new heights of cooperation and healing of their relationship as they struggled to keep Janavi alive. As her physical strength diminished, her artistic and spiritual growth accelerated. The poetry, collages, and photography she produced is luminous, even more precious after her death. I keep one of her collages by my bedside —it bespeaks her loving, generous, gentle spirit." Marcia Newfield Janavi's close family friend and godmother Retired college teacher of English at CUNY (City University of New York) Children’s book author, poet |
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"Śrī Jāhnavī showed determination, compassion and care for souls. . . "
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“When Śrī Jāhnavī Devi Dasi and I first met on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, she was only around nineteen, yet we felt like old friends at a reunion, and we immediately shared principles of Bhakti Yoga. It seemed like the most natural way for us to connect, as if we had been yoga students together in previous lives. I noticed then that Sri Jahnavi was already spiritually mature in many ways.
During our years together at the ashrama, I felt as if I could see her past lives of austerity and devotion fructifying. I have fond memories of us going out together on book distribution adventures as Sri Jahnavi showed determination, compassion and care for souls. We cared for each other during those times. Our talks were of the world of mantra meditation and preparing for programs at the Bhakti Yoga Center in Denver. Later, when she was considering that her time in her body was short, we shared how to prepare our consciousness for the soul’s passing. She was in so much pain but able try her best to hear the chanting of the Holy Names. It was glorious to see her putting her heart into devotional relationship she has with her Lords Krishna and Balarama. It was amazing to feel her devotion and help her leave this world.” Nidra Devi Dasi
Bhakti yoga student and teacher for nearly 50 years Practitioner in the ISKCON Denver temple since 1976 Serving via book distribution and deity worship |
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"Śrī Jāhnavī was a genuine lover of God. . ."
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"Many years ago, Śrī Jāhnavī wrote to me, requesting spiritual guidance, and sharing with me her beautiful, artistic photography. As we corresponded, it was clear to see that she was an exceptionally talented, sincere, kind and intelligent soul, devoted to serving God, Kṛṣṇa. After some time, she asked me to formally accept her as a disciple. I felt honored by her request, and I did my best to encourage and advise her.
Her talents extended to the composing of exquisite poetry that powerfully revealed her own deep yearning for loving reunion with Kṛṣṇa and her inspired and inspiring vision of God’s presence in all the plain and lovely features of this world. Her vision, heart, and words spiritualized the natural world, and revealed her very personal, and fervent devotion to Kṛṣṇa. 
Śrī Jāhnavī had two cloth Deities — of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma — and she laughingly called them “my boys.” They were the ultimate joy of her life. She saw how the Lord, in these two forms, had actually come to her and was living with her. If she became despondent over her illness, I had only to remind her of “your boys,” and she instantly glowed with love and joy. When we spoke on skype, she would often take the Lord in her arms, and joyfully hold Him up to the camera for me to see. She was a genuine lover of God.
Śrī Jāhnavī profoundly understood that to serve the Lord, one should dedicate all of one’s God-given talents to helping other souls on their path back to our eternal consciousness. Thus, not only as an irrepressible act of self-expression, but also with moving empathy, generosity, and compassion, she laid bare her beautiful, feeling heart in words and pictures.
I did all I could to encourage and comfort her in her illness. I visited her in Denver, called and wrote to her, and arranged to publish her poems during her life with us. I miss her very much, and my appreciation of Śrī Jāhnavī steadily increases. As all who knew her have said, she is a very special, loving soul. In her apparent absence, all of her true friends must find solace and comfort in the knowledge that we are all eternal souls who will be blissfully and eternally reunited in our real home, the spiritual land of Kṛṣṇa." Hridayananda das Goswami
Śrī Jāhnavī's guru in the Gaudiya Vaishnava Bhakti Tradition |
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"Janavi was looking for the Supreme Dancer. . ."
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“Janavi came to Boulder Colorado as an 18-year-old-dance-student at the Naropa Institute. But more than a dancer, she was a seeker. Boulder was a Buddhist town, and a college town. She wasn't a college student and she wasn't a Buddhist. She was a personalist, waiting to blossom.
Janavi met devotees on the outdoor Mall in Boulder, and attended one of our twice-a-week Feast and Kirtan events. Something was triggered inside her, early on. She realized that she wasn't looking for dance, but for the Supreme Dancer. She moved into our little ashram and helped us cook, clean, chant, and teach. She was the first, and longest staying, young person to join our small crew of four. With her we were five, and with her we grew, and thrived. Jahnavi moved to Denver, our mother temple, and beyond. But in my mind, she will always be our Boulder Bhaktin. She was sensitive, inquisitive and earnest. She wanted Krishna, and she knew with conviction that this world isn't our natural place. Later she wrote of her longings and of her insights on the troubles of this world, wanting to share her thoughts, her hopes, and her pain. Janavi should have left this world later than the rest of us. But, she left before. Perhaps because she saw there is no future here. Perhaps because she knew that better things await us. Thank you Janavi, for your warmth and your friendship, your devotion to the Supreme Dancer and for your making Boulder, Boulder.” Anuttama Dasa |
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"Janavi had an unsatiated thirst for knowledge of the human spirit..."
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“Although I never came into Janavi’s physical presence, I was still given insights into the special soul she was through her artistic expression, her poems, and—primarily—through the regular telephone consultations and conversations we shared. Only over the two short years we interacted I experienced Janavi’s heightened sense of theological subject matters, her eagerness to hear poetic and philosophical expressions from the sacred classical Sanskrit literature of India, and her unsatiated thirst for knowledge of the human spirit. Although I knew Janavi at a period in her life during which she was suffering great bodily trauma and afflictions, our times together lifted us both into a world of aesthetic exuberance and inspiration. And as I had the privilege of connecting with Janavi during the final chapter of her life—as she was transitioning out of the mortal coils which tormented her so—I can now easily picture her unencumbered and free of pain. I imagine Janavi continuing on her journey into a world of pure love, pure beauty, and pure dance: The world she ardently longed for in her art and poetry!
Graham M. Schweig, PhD Author-Translator, Bhagavad Gītā: The Beloved Lord’s Secret Love Song |
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"Janavi was sweet, innocent and creative. . .""Janavi was a great warrior! Amazingly enough, she survived many years despite the challenges that surrounded her illness. She was sweet, innocent and creative. I am honored to have been her associate in this lifetime. I first met Janavi in Denver. Then our paths crossed again at the Los Angeles temple. Later, during Janavi’s final months I helped care for her and watched how attached she was to Krishna: always listening to her spiritual master lectures and engaging herself in drawing art. To Janavi, I would say: "See you soon Janavi! And when I see you, instead of holding on to my belt--as you did the last time we met-- I will be holding tight to you, so you can guide me!! Hare Krishna!"
Mahattama devi dasi (Rahla) |
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"Janavi had a profound love of nature. . . ""Several weeks before she died, I heard Janavi's poetry for the first time. I was struck by the depth of presence within her poems and decided to reach out to her, knowing that she was ill. I felt a deep pull within my heart to help her and offered to reorganize her fundraising campaign to cover medical costs. In so doing, I poured through her biography and work. What I learned is that Janavi was an artist through and through, inspired by her profound love of nature and an intimate relationship with God. In more ways than one, I became aware that she was truly my godsister. Janavi accepted my help, and I was able to rally some support. But in the end, it was Janavi who helped me far more than I helped her. And the more I continue to learn about her and her work, the more gifts I continue to receive. Thank you, dear Janavi."
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Ali Krishna Devi Dasi
Godsister
Godsister
"She was such a beautiful dancer. . . a gentle presence. . ."
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“I met Janavi in modern dance classes at the Santa Fe Community College in Santa Fe, New Mexico around the years of 1994-1997. One of our teachers, Joan Gonwa, was creating a piece, and she invited Janavi and I to join her. The three of us danced two performances of The Faces of Loss (A Work in Progress). I just watched one of the dances. (A few years ago, I had some of my VCR tapes transferred to DVDs.) It was October 25, 1996. We were part of the NM Dance Coalition's 10th Annual Choreographer's Showcase at the Armory for the Arts in Santa Fe. As I watched the performance, I was seeing and hearing and feeling and moving with Janavi again. She was such a beautiful dancer. And such a gentle presence. Thank you for that time when our paths crossed Janavi. Imagining that you are in a place now that is just full of light.” Jackie Caballero Santa Fe, NM. |
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"She was was a rare soul who saw beauty and love everywhere. . . "
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Srimati Jahnavi Devi was a rare soul who could see beauty and love everywhere, even while enduring sever physical anguish and pain from a disease that ultimately took her body. She was that rare soul who’s spiritual realizations and vision transcended the worst that nature threw at her, always seeing purely, lovingly the hand of God everywhere.
Part of my appreciation and tribute for her is to present her in her own words, in her poem “I Am Still Here” (Click here to read poem) Reading these words gives you a true glimpse of her rare spiritual inner beauty, and why I consider myself eternally her aspiring servant. Ramesvara Dasa |
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