His
Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-acarya
of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness,
appeared in 1896, in Calcutta, in a Vaishnava family.
In 1922, Srila Prabhupada, then
Abhay Charan, met his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Saraswati Goswami, for the first time in Calcutta. Bhaktisiddhanta
Saraswati, took a liking to Abhay and told him to devote
his life to teaching Vedic Knowledge; more specifically
to preach Lord Caitanya's message to the English speaking
world. Although, Abhay accepted, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
within his heart as his spiritual master, it was not
until 1932 that he became initiated.
In 1936 Srila Prabhupada wrote
his spiritual master requesting if there was any particular
service that he could render. Srila Prabhupada received
a reply to that letter containing the same instruction
the he had received in 1922: 'Preach Krishna consciousness
to the English speaking world'. His spiritual master
passed away from this world two weeks later; thus leaving
these final instructions engraved on Srila Prabhupada's
heart. These instructions were to form the focus of
Srila Prabhupada's life.
Srila
Prabhupada wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita and
assisted the Gaudiya Matha in its work. In 1944, during
the Second World War, when paper was scarce and people
had little money to spend, Srila Prabhupada began a
magazine called Back to Godhead. Single-handedly, he
would write, edit, oversee the layout, proof-read and
sell the copies himself. This magazine is still being
published today.
In 1950 Srila Prabhupada adopted
the vanaprastha (retired) life; thus retiring from home
and family life, in order to devote more time to his
studies. In 1953 he received the title Bhaktivedanta
from his Godbrothers. He travelled to Vrindavana, where
he lived very humbly at the Radha-Damodara temple. He
spent several years there studying the scriptures and
writing.
In 1959 he took sannyasa, the
renounced order of life. It was then, while staying
at Radha-Damodara temple that he started on his masterpiece:
translation and commentary of the Srimad-Bhagavatam
in English. He also wrote Easy Journey to Other Planets.
Within a few years, he had written three volumes of
English translation and commentary for the first canto
of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Once again, single handedly, he
bought the paper and gathered funds, to print the books.
He sold the books himself and through agents in the
larger Indian cities.
He
now felt ready to carry out his spiritual master's orders
and decided to start by taking the message of Krishna
consciousness to America, convinced that other countries
would follow suit. Obtaining free passage on a freight
ship, called the Jaladuta he finally arrived in New
York in 1965. He was 69 and practically penniless. All
he possessed was a few copies of the Srimad-Bhagavatam
and a few hundred rupees.
He had had a very difficult crossing,
suffering two heart attacks and once arrived in New
York he didn't know which way to turn. After a difficult
six months, preaching here and there, his few followers
rented a storefront and apartment in Manhattan. Here,
he would regularly give lectures, kirtana and distribute
prasadam. People from all walks of life, including hippies,
were drawn here; in search of that missing element from
their lives and many became part of 'Swamiji's' following.
As people became more serious,
Srila Prabhupada's followers used to hold regular kirtanas
in the parks. The lectures and Sunday feast days became
renowned. His young followers eventually took initiation
from Srila Prabhupada, promising to follow the regulative
principles and chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra
daily. He also reinstated the Back to Godhead magazine.
In July 1966, Srila Prabhupada
established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
- ISKCON. His aim was to use the society to promote
Krishna Consciousness throughout the world. In 1967,
he visited San Francisco and started an ISKCON society
there. He then sent his disciples all over the world
to spread Caitanya Mahaprabhu's message and open new
centres in Montreal, Boston, London, Berlin, and other
cities in North America, India, and Europe. In India,
three magnificent temples were initially planned: Vrindavana,
the Krishna Balaram temple with all its ancillary facilties;
Bombay, a temple with an educational and cultural centre;
and in Mayapur, a huge temple with a Vedic planetarium.
Srila
Prabhupada produced all of his books bar the three written
in India within the next eleven years. Srila Prabhupada
slept little and would spend the early morning hours
writing. He would write almost daily between 1:30 and
4:30 a.m. He dictated his text, which his disciples
then typed and edited. Srila Prabhupada would translate
the original texts from Sanskrit or Bengali, word by
word, and gave a complete commentary.
His works include Bhagavad-gita As It Is, the multi-volume
Srimad-Bhagavatam, the multivolume Caitanya-caritamrta,
The Nectar of Devotion, Krsna: The Supreme Personality
of Godhead, Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Teachings of
Lord Kapila, Teachings of Queen Kunti, Sri Isopanisad,
The Nectar of Instruction, and dozens of small books.
His writings have been translated
into over fifty languages. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust,
established in 1972 to publish the works of His Divine
Grace, has thus become the world's largest publisher
of books in the field of Indian religion and philosophy.
Despite his heavy literary schedule, Srila Prabhupada
did not let his writing stand in the way of his preaching.
In just twelve years, despite his advanced age, he circled
the globe fourteen times on lecture tours that took
him to six continents.
His days were filled with writing, teaching his followers
and the public, and with guiding his growing society,
until the day he departed from this world. Before departing
from this world Srila Prabhupada gave many instructions
to his disciples to follow in his footsteps and to continue
the preaching
and spreading of Krishna Consciousness all over the
world.
He departed this world on November
14 1977.
In the short time he spent in
the west, he preached continuously, established 108
temples, wrote more than sixty volumes of transcendental
literature, initiated five thousand disciples, founded
the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, began a scientific academy
(the Bhaktivedanta Institute) and other trusts related
to ISKCON.
Srila Prabhupada was an extraordinary
author, teacher, and saint. He managed to spread Krishna
Consciousness all over the world, through his writing
and preaching. His writings comprise of many volumes
and are the basis of Krishna consciousness not only
for his disciples but for his grand-disciples, affiliated
members of the disciplic succession, and for the public
at large.