Lokanatha Swami was born in 1949 in Aravade, a village in Maharashtra, India. While attending college in 1971 he saw Srila Prabhupada and his disciples at ISKCON’s first pandal program in Bombay. Srila Prabhupada gave him harinama initiation in 1972, making him one of his first Indian disciples, and gave him sannyasa in December 1975.

In 1976, on Srila Prabhupada’s order, he organized a padayatra from Vrindavan to Mayapur. He later expanded this service worldwide in his role as Padayatra Minister, a post he continues to hold. He served as the temple president of ISKCON Delhi from 1978 through the mid-1980’s. Then he became the regional secretary for Delhi and Maharashtra. He now oversees the development of several ISKCON projects in those places.