The cabin where Shyamasundar Das, one of ISKCON’s earliest pioneers, worked on his ‘Chasing Rhinos With the Swami’ trilogy burned down last month in the Lionshead wildfire in Oregon, USA.

The wildfire began on August 16^th and has burned 204,469 acres, making it the sixth-largest fire of the past 100 years in Oregon.

“By Krishna’s grace, I managed to escape with my computer and all my research material,” Shyamasundar says.

His trilogy “Chasing Rhinos with the Swami” gives a personal, insider’s account of the pioneer days of ISKCON as Shyamasundar and other devotees assist Srila Prabhupada in spreading Krishna consciousness worldwide. The books give a palpable sense of the “anything’s possible” excitement and drive of those early days.

Volume 1 follows Shyamasundar’s experiences from 1966 to 1970 helping Srila Prabhupada establish ISKCON in San Francisco at the peak of the Hippie Revolution. It also covers how Shyamasundar, Mukunda Goswami, Malati Devi, Yamuna Devi, Janaki Devi and Gurudas brought the Hare Krishna Movement to England, met the Beatles and put out a hit record.

Volume 2, covering 1971 to 1972, describes Srila Prabhupada’s return to India with Shyamasundar and his other Western disciples, as well as his travels around the globe to Russia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and more.  

Shyamasundar has now nearly completed Volume 3, an eyewitness account of Srila Prabhupada’s 1972 – 1973 odyssey around the world, culminating with his 3-month visit to Bhaktivedanta Manor in the UK and conversations with George Harrison and other prominent figures of the time.

With his cabin destroyed in the fire, Shyamasundar is now experiencing setbacks and is reaching out to wellwishers to help fund the final stages of Volume 3 by purchasing the existing stocks of Chasing Rhinos With the Swami Volumes 1 and 2. This will help him complete the layout, enhancement of the 170 mostly-color photos, and cover design of his latest book, and maintain the series’ high standard of quality.

To help and purchase Volumes 1 and 2 in bulk, Shyamasundar Das’s Paypal address is: chasingrhinos@pamho.net

Pricing details:
VOL-1 or VOL-2: ONE BOX/18 Books = $180 ($10/per book).
TWO BOXES/36 Books = $162/per box ($9/per book).
THREE+ BOXES/54+ Books = $144/per box ($8/book).
[Note: The number of each volume can be mixed and matched, as long as they make a box: e.g. “24xVol-1+12xVol-2 = 36 books = 2 boxes,” etc.]
[Add $20/box for USPS Media Mail shipping.]