Mahā-mantra Dās is the spiritual name of Ricardo Pelaez Botero, a web developer, digital editor, and publisher best known as the founder and curator of BhaktiLib.com, a multilingual digital library dedicated to preserving, organizing, and disseminating the literary heritage of the Vaishnavism tradition. His first encounter with Bhakti-yoga took place at the age of thirteen, when he received a book written by Śrīla Prabhupada. Although he crossed paths with devotees several times in the years that followed, he considers that the proper time for embracing devotional life had not yet arrived. That decisive moment came in 1999 after his first visit to the Govinda's restaurant in Manizales, Colombia, where his journey into Bhakti truly began. On December 24, 1999, in Medellín, Colombia, he received spiritual initiation from Pramadvaiti Swami, formally entering the Guru-paramparā. During the initiation ceremony, while each disciple was asked what they contemplated when thinking of Krishna, he alone received a different instruction. Instead of asking the customary question, his Guru bestowed upon him the name Mahā-mantra Dāsa, encouraging him to carry the holy name everywhere—a mission he has sought to fulfill through technology and the worldwide distribution of devotional literature. For several years he served the international devotional community through the Sunday Chat, helping distribute its publications and occasionally providing simultaneous interpretation from Spanish into English. At the same time, he pursued a professional career in information technology and web development, gradually placing those skills at the service of spiritual outreach. Deeply inspired by the teachings of Śrīla Prabhupada and the example of Haridasa Thakura, he has dedicated much of his service to making authentic Vaishnava literature more accessible. His work includes editing devotional books, producing scholarly metadata, designing book covers, organizing thematic indexes, and developing digital tools that facilitate the study of works such as the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the Bhagavad-gītā, the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, and the writings of the Seis Goswamis. As the creator, curator, and principal developer of BhaktiLib.com, he regards the project as an expression of Seva, aiming to provide readers, practitioners, and researchers around the world with a carefully organized multilingual library devoted to the preservation and study of the literary heritage of Vaishnavism. Through this service, he hopes to contribute to the transmission of Bhakti-yoga for future generations.

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