SRILA PRAPHUPADA
Sri Srimad AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was born in 1896 in Kolkata, India. He first met his spiritual teacher, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami, in Calcutta in 1922.
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was a famous theologian and the founder of Gaudiya Matha (a Vaishnava movement with sixty-four centers) in India. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati liked this educated young man and persuaded him to devote his life to teaching Vedic knowledge. Srila Prabhupada became his disciple and took the initiation as his disciple in 1933.
Sri Srimad AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was born in 1896 in Kolkata, India. He first met his spiritual teacher, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami, in Calcutta in 1922.
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was a famous theologian and the founder of Gaudiya Matha (a Vaishnava movement with sixty-four centers) in India. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati liked this educated young man and persuaded him to devote his life to teaching Vedic knowledge. Srila Prabhupada became his disciple and took the initiation as his disciple in 1933.
In their first meeting, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati asked Srila Prabhupada to publish his Vedic knowledge in English. In the years that followed, Srila Prabhupada wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita and assisted Gaudya Math in its service. In 1944 he published the fortnightly magazine Back to Godhead in English. Srila Prabhupada alone wrote the articles, printed them, typed manuscripts, checked initial allocations, and even personally distributed copies. This magazine now continues to be published in various languages by His students and is distributed throughout the world.
In 1950 Srila Prabhupada retired from family life to devote more to his writing and studies. He went to the holy city of Vrindavan, where he lived in humble conditions in the historical Radha-Damodara Temple. There he engaged in deep research and writing over the years. He accepted the renounced life (sannyasa) in 1959. He began his multi-volume translation of Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana), life work of Srila Prabhupada, with full interpretation of eighteen thousand verses at the Radha-Damodara Temple. After publishing the three volumes of the Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada traveled to New York City by cargo ship.
He was actually broke, but he had the purpose of making the mission of his spiritual teacher successful. On the day he landed in America, he saw the gray haze surrounding the skyscraper buildings, scribbling the words in his diary: “My Beloved Lord Krishna, I am sure that when this transcendental message penetrates into their hearts, they will surely rejoice and thus be freed from all the unhappy conditions of life.” He was sixty-nine years old, alone and with few opportunities, but the wealth of spiritual knowledge and the dedication he displayed was an unwavering source of power and inspiration.
Harvard University theologian and author Harvey Cox writes, “At a very advanced age, when many people were resting on their laurels, Srila Prabhupada turned his attention to the command of his spiritual teacher and embarked on the arduous and arduous journey to America. Srila Prabhupada was undoubtedly one of the thousands of teachers. But on the other hand, one thousandth was perhaps one in a million.”
Srila Prabhupada founded the Krsna Consciousness Society in 1966, which later became the official name of the Hare Krsna movement. In the years that followed, Srila Prabhupada gradually attracted tens to thousands of followers, established more than a hundred ashrams and temples, and published numerous books. The success of India in transmitting its ancient spiritual culture to the twentieth-century Western world is admirable.
Srila Prabhupada sent three couples of devotees in 1968 to spread Krishna consciousness to the United Kingdom. Initially, these devotees were cared for by Hindu families who appreciated their mission, but they soon became well-known for chanting mantras on Oxford Street in London. A headline in the Times said, “Krsna Mantra Confuses London.” But the maha-mantra soon became famous.
First Beatle George Harrison, who knew Srila Prabhupada and chanted the mantra in front of the devotees who had come to England, wanted to help. He organized to produce a recording of the mantra on the Beatles’ Apple label. It entered the Top Ten in Britain and hit number one in several other countries.
When Srila Prabhupada arrived in England, she was hosted at John Lennon’s mansion in Tittenhurst, near the British Museum, while work was going on in Bloomsbury. In November 1969 Srila Prabhupada opened the first temple in Europe, the Radha-Krishna temple. The movement has grown. Once again, George Harrison wanted to help by donating a beautiful manor house in Hertfordshire that belonged to the Tudor kings. The site, now called Bhaktivedanta Manor, is the Community’s main training center in Britain. The new devotees of Krishna soon became visible in major cities around the world, as they chanted mantras in the community and distributed Srila Prabhupada’s books of Vedic knowledge. They began staging fun cultural festivals throughout the year and offered millions of plates of delicious food (known as prasada) to Krishna around the world.
As a result, ISKCON has significantly affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. One of the world’s leading authorities on Indian history and culture, A.L. Basham wrote, “The Hare Krishna movement rose up with nothing by its side in twenty years and became known throughout the Western world.
This is an important moment in the history of the Western world.” In just twelve years, despite his advanced age, Srila Prabhupada has traveled the world fourteen times on lecture tours, which has taken him to six continents. Yet this energetic program did not diminish his productive literary output. His writings constitute a veritable library of Vedic philosophy, religion, and culture.
Indeed, Srila Prabhupada’s most notable contribution is his books. He is highly respected by academics for his authority, depth and clarity, and his books are used as textbooks in many university courses.
Garry Gelade, a professor in Oxford University’s Department of Philosophy, wrote of his books: “These texts are treasures. Anyone who reads these books with an open mind in faith or philosophical persuasion cannot fail to act and be impressed.” And Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Bucknell University, Dr. Larry Shinn wrote: “Prabhupada’s personal reverence for God gave him real authority. He exhibited all the commandments of the scriptures, a strange depth of awareness and a supreme personal example, for he lived what he truly taught.” His writings have been translated into 79 languages. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) was founded in 1972 to publish the work of Sri Srimad, making it the world’s largest publisher of Indian religion and philosophy. By 2005, 450 million copies were sold in 79 languages.
Before his departure from this world on November 14, 1977, Srila Prabhupada guided the Community and saw it as a worldwide confederation of more than a hundred ashrams, schools, temples, institutes and farm communities.
Giving people jnana or knowledge is the greatest service that can be done for humanity.
That’s why we do the main good work for society by informing everyone through our writings about who God is, who they are, and what is the relationship between them.
A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Founder of Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT)
Giving people jnana or knowledge is the greatest service that can be done for humanity.
That’s why we do the main good work for society by informing everyone through our writings about who God is, who they are, and what is the relationship between them.
A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Founder of Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT)