thieves. Jayadeva told them to take what
they wanted. They did so and then cut off
his hands and feet and threw him into a
pit. Jayadeva went into a trance, worship-
ping God and thinking of the irrelevance
of the body. The king happened to pass
by as the mutilated Jayadeva was singing
the songs of the Gitagovinda from the pit.
When the king got him out of the pit and
asked how he had come to have his hands
and feet amputated, Jayadeva said that he
had been born that way. The king asked
to become Jayadeva’s disciple then began
making obeisance to every devotee, giving
service and alms to every SADHU or holy
man. The thieves who had robbed Jayadeva
heard of the king’s generosity and went
to him. Jayadeva asked the king to take
special care of them. The thieves, fearing a
stategem, told the king that Jayadeva had
lost his hands and feet in another court
because of the evils he had committed
there. Krishna could not bear hearing this
calumny against Jayadeva and the earth
opened up and swallowed the thieves
before everyone’s eyes.Further reading: Lee Siegel, Sacred and Profane Dimen-
sions of Love in the Indian Traditions as Exemplified in
the Gitagovinda of Jayadeva (London: Oxford University
Press, 1978).
Jaya Sati Bhagavati, Ma (1940– )
American guru
Joyce Green was born on May 26, 1940, the young-
est of four children in a working-class Jewish family
in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York. Her father,
Harry Green, ran a stand selling hot corn, and her
mother was a legal secretary. The family was often
impoverished and the mother died when Joyce was
13 years old. Joyce attended Lincoln High School
but did not graduate. At age 15, she married Salva-
tore DeFiore, an Italian Catholic businessman. She
became a housewife and mother of three children.
In 1972, Joyce learned a yogic breath disci-
pline in a YOGA class and practiced the breath
for seven days consistently. As a result, she was
awakened to spirituality by a vision of Jesus
Christ, who told her, “Teach all ways, for all
ways are mine.” She was visited by Swami NITY-
ANANDA of Ganeshpuri, not in physical form, who
became a teacher to her. In 1973 her guru NEEM
KAROLI BABA appeared to her, also not in physical
form, and gave her teachings. As she deepened
her appreciation of the teachings of these two
Hindu masters, a group of students began to
grow around her and she became known as Ma,
or mother.
In 1976 she founded Kashi Ashram in Sebas-
tian, Florida, where she continues to teach in the
Shaivite (see SHAIVISM) lineage of Swami Nity-
ananda. The ashram is a residential community
with members living on the campus and nearby.
In addition to interfaith services, the ashramMa Jaya Sati Bhagavati (b. 1940), American guru and
founder of Kashi Ashram in Sebastian, Florida (Kashi
Church, Sebastian, Florida)Jaya Sati Bhagavati, Ma 213 J