A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (
September 1 1896–
November 14 1977) was born
Abhay Charan De, in
Kolkata,
West Bengal,
India. He studied at the
Scottish Churches College, Calcutta, which was then administered by the
British. In his later years, as a
Vaishnava sadhu, he became an influential communicator of
Gaudiya Vaishnava theology to
India and specifically to the
West through his founding of the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness (popularly called "
Hare Krishna") in 1966. He has been described as a
charismatic leader (in the sense used by sociologist
Max Weber), and was successful in acquiring followers in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere.
["Unrecognized charisma? A study and comparison of four charismatic leaders: Charles Taze Russell, Joseph Smith, L Ron Hubbard, Swami Prabhupada" by George D. Chryssides. Paper presented at the 2001 International Conference The Spiritual Supermarket: Religious Pluralism in the 21st Century, organised by INFORM and CESNUR (London, April 2001)][Knot, Kim "Insider and Outsider Perceptions of Prabhupada" in ISKCON Communications Journal Vol. 5, No 1, June 1997: "In an evaluation of the nature of the guru, Larry Shinn, a scholar of religions, utilised Max Weber's analysis of charisma in order to understand Prabhupada and the issue of leadership in ISKCON. He noted that 'Prabhupada profited from two intertwined sources of authority' (1987:40), the traditional authority of the disciplic lineage, parampara, inherited from his own guru, and his own charismatic authority, derived from his spiritual attainment and presence, and that Prabhupada's guru-successors had been able to adopt 'his traditional role as initiating acarya but not [...] his status as charismatic leader'.(49) Shinn offered an analysis based on sociological rather than spiritual (Vaishnava) authority in order to make sense of the role of guru in ISKCON and the unique qualities of Prabhupada." See also Larry D. Shinn (1987), The Dark Lord: Cult Images and the Hare Krishnas in America. Philadelphia: The Westview Press.available online]Before adopting the life of a
vanaprastha, or pious renunciant, in 1950, he was married with children and owned a small pharmaceutical business. He later took
sannyasa (a vow of renunciation) in
1959.
In 1922, when Prabhupada first met his spiritual master, Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura (1874–1937), Srila Bhaktisiddhanta requested that Prabhupada spread the message of Lord
Caitanya in the
English language. In 1933 Prabhupada became a formally initiated disciple. In
1944 Prabhupada started
Back to Godhead, an English language
fortnightly, for which he acted as
publisher,
editor and
copy editor. In 1947 the Gaudiya Vaisnava Society recognised Prabhupada's scholarship with the
honorific Bhaktivedanta, indicating devotion (
Bhakti) and conclusive knowledge (
Vedanta). Beginning in 1950 he lived at the medieval
temple of Radha-Damodara in the holy city of
Vrindavan, where he began his translation work on the Sanskrit epic
Srimad Bhagavatam. His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura had always encouraged Prabhupada, "If you have any money, print the books!", referring to
Srimad Bhagavatam,
Bhagavad Gita,
Chaitanya Caritamrta, and other fundamental works.
[For these and other details of Srila Prabhupada's life, see this biography: .]He took
sannyasa (renunciant) vows in 1959 from his godbrother Sri Bhakti Prajnana Keshava Maharaja at Mathura, following which he singlehandedly published the first three volumes of his thirty-volume translation of the 18,000-verse
Bhagavata Purana and the commentary on it. He then left
India to fulfill his master's spiritual mission. In his possession were a suitcase, an umbrella, a supply of dry cereal, about seven dollars worth of Indian currency, and several boxes of books.
|
Srila Prabhupada in the West |
Prabhupada sailed to
New York City in 1965. By July 1966 he had brought Hare Krishna to the West, founding the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in
New York City. Srila Prabhupada became well known as one who truly practiced what he preached; leading by example he expanded the movement from a small group of people in New York in 1966, to an international movement incorporating many thousands of people. By the time of his death in
Vrindavan eleven years later (1977), ISKCON was a widely known expression of
Hinduism in the West.
In the twelve years from his arrival in New York until his final days he:
* circled the globe fourteen times on lecture tours that took him to six continents.
* introduced Vedic
gurukul education to a Western audience.
* directed the founding of the
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, the world's largest publisher in the field of
Vedic religious texts and commentary.
* founded the religious colony
New Vrindaban in West Virginia
* authored sixty books (many available online
here) on Vedantic philosophy, religion, literature and culture (including four in
Bengali)
* watched
ISKCON grow to a
confederation of more than 100 schools, temples, institutes, farm communities, and
ashrams.
Through his mission, Prabhupada followed and communicated the teachings of
Caitanya Mahaprabhu and introduced
bhakti yoga to a Western audience.
|
Srila Prabhupada's literary contribution. |
Prabhupada's most significant contribution, it has been said, are his books.
["I think the best feature of the Hare Krishna movement is that it is providing scholars with excellent translations of the rarest books on Krishna-bhakti [love of Krishna]." --Dr. Larry D. Shinn, President of Berea College, Kentucky, quoted on Krishna.com] Within the final twenty years of his life Prabhupada translated over sixty volumes of classic
Vedic scriptures (such as
Bhagavad Gita and
Srimad Bhagavatam) into the English language. For their authority, depth, and clarity, his books have won praise from professors at colleges and universities like Harvard, Oxford, Cornell, Columbia, Syracuse, Oberlin, and Edinburgh.
[Here is a sample of academic reviews.] His writings have been translated into seventy languages.
[The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust offers a PDF file showing which books in which languages.] The
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust was established in 1972 to publish his works.
Prabhupada spent much of the last decade of his life setting up the institution of ISKCON. Since he was the Society's leader, his personality and management were responsible for much of ISKCON's growth and the reach of his mission.
Upon Prabhupada's death on
November 14,
1977, eleven of his disciples became initiating gurus for ISKCON. Those chosen were
Tamal Krishna Goswami,
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami,
Jayapataka Swami,
Hridayananda Goswami, Bhavananda Goswami, Hamsaduta Swami, Ramesvara Swami, Harikesa Swami, Bhagavan dasa Adhikari, Kirtanananda Swami, and Jayatirtha dasa Adhikari. Of these eleven, only the first four have stayed within
ISKCON.
Since Prabhupada's death, ISKCON has been managed by the
Governing Body Commission. Srila Prabhupada created this body to handle affairs in his absence concerning the daily management and spiritual standards for the organization and its members.
Prabhupada considered
Moses,
Jesus, and
Mohammed to be empowered representatives of God. He considered them pioneers of the same essential message of dedication to God with love and devotion.
* "Actually, it doesn't matter –
Krishna or
Christ – the name is the same. The main point is to follow the injunctions of the
Vedic scriptures that recommend chanting the name of
God in this age." (from
The Science of Self-Realization, ISBN 9171494472)
|
In 1996 the Government of India issued a commemorative postage stamp in Srila Prabhupada's honor. |
In
India ISKCON has become a highly respected organization. Srila Prabhupada has been honored by the Government and praised by the highest leaders of the country.
In 1996 the Government of India recognized Srila Prabhupada's accomplishments by issuing a commemorative stamp in his honor.
Speaking at the inauguration of ISKCON's cultural center in New Delhi in 1998,
Sri Atal Behari Vajpayee, then India's prime minister, said:
"If the Bhagavad Gita, the holy text of the Hindu traditions, is printed in millions of copies and scores of languages and distributed in all nooks and corners of the world, the credit for this great sacred service goes chiefly to ISKCON. For this accomplishment alone, Indians should be eternally grateful to the devoted spiritual army of Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the Hare Krishna movement, and to his followers. . . .
"The arrival of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in the United States in 1965 and the particular popularity his movement gained in a very short span of twelve years must be regarded as one of the greatest spiritual events of the century."
[Speech by Sri Atal Behari Vajpayee, April 18, 1998. Here is the full text of the speech. (The website, however, gives the speech a wrong date--1988 instead of 1998.)]Translations with commentary
#
Bhagavad-gita As It Is (1968)#
Sri Isopanisad (1969) #
Srimad-Bhagavatam (1972-77) (multiple volumes)#
Caitanya-caritamrta (1974) (multiple volumes)#
The Nectar of Instruction (1975)Summary studies
#
Teachings of Lord Caitanya (1969)#
Krsna: The Supreme Personality of Godhead (1970)#
The Nectar of Devotion (1970)Other works published within Prabhupada's lifetime
#
Beyond Illusion and Doubt (1967)#
Easy Journey to Other Planets (1970)#
Krsna Consciousness: The Topmost Yoga System (1970)#
Beyond Birth and Death (1972)#
Perfection of Yoga (1972)#
On The Way to Krishna (1973)#
Raja Vidya: The King of Knowledge (1973)#
Elevation to Krishna Consciousness (1973)#
Krsna Consciousness: The Matchless Gift (1974)#
Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers (1977)#
Teachings of Lord Kapila (1977) #
The Science of Self-Realization (1977)Published posthumously
#
Light of the Bhagavata (1977?)#
Teachings of Queen Kunti (1978)#
Life Comes From Life (1978)#
Krsna, The Reservoir of Pleasure (1979?)#
Chant and Be Happy (1982)#
Coming Back (1983?)#
Narada-bhakti-sutra (1989?)#
Path of Perfection (1989?)#
Mukunda-mala-stotra (1989)#
A Second Chance (1991) #
Journey of Self Discovery (1991)#
Laws of Nature: An Infallible Justice (1991)#
Renunciation Through Wisdom (1992)#
Quest for Enlightenment (1993?)#
The Path of Yoga (1995)#
Message of Godhead (1996?)#
Civilization and Transcendence (1998)#
Dharma: The Way of Transcendence (1998)#
Introduction to Bhagavad-gita (2005)*
Gaudiya Vaishnavism*
International Society for Krishna Consciousness*
Bhagavad Gita As It Is*
Hare Krishna*
Krishnology*
International Society for Krishna Consciousness*
The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust*
Krishna.com - Online Book Library*
Bhaktivedanta Archives*
Lectures by Srila Prabhupada*
Prabhupada Letters*
Srila Prabhupada's translation of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam*
BBTI Company Site*
Towards Varnasrama Dharma: A Constitution for ISKCON
