Srila Prabhupada
Krishna in Bhagvad Gita says whenever there is decline in religion He appears in every Yuga to re-establish the principles of ‘DHARMA’. And sometimes He sends His representative or ambassador to fulfill his objective.
About 500 years ago when Krishna appeared in Kali Yuga as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, His chief objective was to deliver the fallen souls by propagating His holy name. He established Sankirtan & the chanting of Hare Krishna Mahamantra as the Yugadharma of this Yuga . He declared that the chanting of His holy names would spread beyond the shores of India to every town and village in the world.
“pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nām” – ‘In every town and village, the chanting of My name will be heard.’
He predicted that His commander-in-chief would appear to accomplish this mission. And Prabhupad appeared to fulfill this prophecy.
Srila Prabhupada is the 32nd spiritual master descending in the glorious ‘Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Sampradaya’, which begins from Lord Krishna Himself.
Srila Prabhupad was born on 1st September, 1896 in Calcutta Known as Abhay Charan. He was educated at the Scottish Church College. While working at a small pharmaceutical business, he met and became a follower of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. In 1950, at the age of 54, he left his family to become a sannyasi and started writing commentaries on Vaishnava scriptures. Later it was instruction of his spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhant Sarasvati Thakur to ‘Preach Krishna consciousness to the English speaking world.’ Srila Prabhupada took these instructions as his life and soul.
At the age of 69 Srila Prabhupada set out to America in 1965 and established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He travelled around the world fourteen times, established more than 100 temples of Krishna and initiated more than 10000 disciples into Krishna consciousness. To revive the Krishna conscious tradition, he envisioned God-centered self-sufficient farm communities based on the principles of Simple Living, High Thinking. In 1972, he started a gurukul in Dallas, Texas – an educational institution set up according to the traditional Vedic model. He established more than 108 temples and instructed his disciples that no one should go hungry within a 10 mile radius of an ISKCON temple.
Srila Prabhupada brought the Hare Krishna Movement to the public eye by:
- chanting in the parks,
- distributing the Back to Godhead Magazine,
- conducting love feasts,
- delivering lectures from the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam in a rented store-front.
Srila Prabhupada’s most significant contributions, perhaps, are his books. He authored over 70 volumes on the Krishna tradition, which are highly respected by scholars for their authority, depth, fidelity to the tradition, and clarity. Several of his works are used as textbooks in numerous college courses. His writings have been translated into 76 languages. His most prominent works include:
Bhagavad-gita As It Is, the 30-volume Srimad-Bhagavatam, and the 17-volume Sri Caitanya-caritamrita.
These books are translated in most of the major languages and are widely distributed across the world. These books have changed the lives of millions.
According to Srila Prabhupada, Krishna Consciousness is not an arm-chair philosophy or a part-time religion; it is a way of life. He presented the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness very extensively in his books and we request everyone to make it a habit to read Srila Prabhupada’s books and be benefited by them.
Brief Biography of Srila Prabhupada :