Jayananda was known for his humility, his dedication to Krishna consciousness, and for being loved by everyone. There are many stories about him which illustrate what an impression he made on others and how much he inspired them.

When one young man came to visit the San Francisco temple and asked if he could help, the temple president sent him to the trash area where Jayananda was preparing the weekly trash run. Jayananda told the young man, “I’m the garbage man around here. For years I’ve been watching garbage men carry out trash, and now Krishna is giving me a chance to do this for Him.” The young man helped Jayananda load the trash, and then accompanied him to the garbage dump.

All the while he was thinking, “If the garbage men at this temple can be so blissful, just imagine what the rest of the devotees are like!” He soon joined ISKCON and became a devotee himself.

On many occasions, members of the public would express their love for Jayananda—who had met them on the streets or while purchasing groceries or other items for the temple. One said, “That man—he’s the nicest and most pure man I’ve ever met.” Another told Chandan Acharya Dasa, “Well, I don’t know much about your philosophy, but if that Jayananda is into it, it must be all right.”

On another occasion, Murli-Krishna Dasa ran a temple vehicle into a police car, damaging the fender. The policeman came to his window, and said, “Oh, you know Johnny-ananda?” Murli said “Yes.” The policeman replied, “That’s okay then, you can go on.”

“I went to a store for some parts, for Ratha-yatra one year after Jayananda passed away, and they asked about him,” recalls Bharat Dasa. “I had to tell them the unfortunate event, that he had left our vision. I saw tears in their eyes, out of love for him, and they gave the parts free to me, in memory of him. Devotees, and people of all walks of life loved him dearly.”

Jayananda’s guru and ISKCON’s founder Srila Prabhupada also held Jayananda in great esteem and had a special place in his heart for him. Once in 1976, while speaking about Krishna to a crowded room at the New York temple, he spotted Jayananda entering and sitting down at the back, behind all the devotees.

“Come up closer, to the front,” Prabhupada told him, speaking loudly. Jayananda scooted forward a few feet. Again, Prabhupada said, “Jayananda, please come up to the front.” Always reluctant to accept praise or honor, Jayananda again moved up only a few feet. Prabhupada, however, insisted a third time that he come to the front, and all the devotees cleared a path for him, while the sannyasis at the front moved out of the way to give him a nice seat. Finally, he accepted their honor, although he always preferred to remain the servant of all the servants.

Although Jayananda was not officially a sannyasi—one in the renounced order—Srila Prabhupada addressed him as if he was, calling him “Jayananda Maharaja.”

Devotees understood why when Srila Prabhupada later explained that sanyasa means “complete surrender to Lord Krishna.”

Ten days after Jayananda had passed away at age thirty-seven on May 1st, 1977, Srila Prabhupada wrote to Ramesvara:

“Jayananda’s death is glorious… He has left his body very wonderfully, and he has been transferred to Vaikuntha… Everyone should follow the example of Jayananda. I am very proud that I had such a nice disciple. If possible Jayananda’s picture should be hung in the ratha of Lord Jagannatha, and in all of our temples a day may be set aside for holding a festival in his honor, just as we do on the disappearance day of the other great Vaishnavas.”

No other devotee was bestowed this unique honor by Srila Prabhupada, and therefore Jayananda is held in high regard in ISKCON.