His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
appeared in this world in 1896 in Calcutta, India. He first
met his spiritual master,
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī, in Calcutta in 1922. Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, a prominent
religious scholar and the founder of sixty-four Gauḍīya Maṭhas
(Vedic institutes), liked this educated young man and
convinced him to dedicate his life to teaching Vedic
knowledge. Śrīla Prabhupāda became his student, and eleven
years later (1933) at Allahabad he became his formally
initiated disciple.
At their first meeting, in 1922,
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura
requested
Śrīla Prabhupāda
to
broadcast Vedic knowledge through the English language.
In the years that followed, Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote a
commentary on the
Bhagavad-gītā, assisted the Gauḍīya Maṭha in its work and, in
1944, without assistance, started an English fortnightly
magazine, edited it, typed the manuscripts and checked the
galley proofs. He even distributed the individual copies and
struggled to maintain the publication. Once begun, the
magazine never stopped; it is now being continued by his
disciples in the West and is published in nineteen languages.
Recognizing Śrīla Prabhupāda’s philosophical learning and
devotion, the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Society honored him in 1947
with the title “Bhaktivedanta.” In 1950, at the age of
fifty-four, Śrīla Prabhupāda retired from married life,
adopting the vānaprastha (retired) order to devote
more time to his studies and writing. Śrīla Prabhupāda
traveled to the holy city of Vṛndāvana, where he lived in very
humble circumstances in the historic medieval temple of
Rādhā-Dāmodara. There he engaged for several years in deep
study and writing. He accepted the renounced order of life
(sannyāsa) in 1959. At Rādhā-Dāmodara, Śrīla
Prabhupāda began work on his life’s masterpiece: a multivolume
translation of and commentary on the eighteen-thousand-verse
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa). He also wrote
Easy Journey to Other Planets.
After publishing three volumes of the
Bhāgavatam, Śrīla Prabhupāda came to the United
States, in 1965, to fulfill the mission of his spiritual
master. Subsequently, His Divine Grace wrote more than sixty
volumes of authoritative translations, commentaries and
summary studies of the philosophical and religious classics of
India.
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In 1965, when he first arrived by freighter in New York
City, Śrīla Prabhupāda was practically penniless. It was
after almost a year of great difficulty that he established
the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in July
of 1966. Before his passing away on November 14, 1977, he
guided the Society and saw it grow to a worldwide
confederation of more than one hundred
āśramas, schools, temples, institutes and farm
communities.
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In 1968, Śrīla Prabhupada created New Vrindaban, an
experimental Vedic community in the hills of West Virginia.
Inspired by the success of New Vrindaban, now a thriving
farm community of more than one thousand acres, his students
have since founded several similar communities in the United
States and abroad.
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In 1972, His Divine Grace introduced the Vedic system of
primary and secondary education in the West by founding the
Gurukula school in Dallas, Texas. Since then, under his
supervision, his disciples have established children’s
schools throughout the United States and the rest of the
world. As of 1978, there are ten Gurukula schools worldwide,
with the principal educational center now located in
Vṛndāvana, India.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda also inspired the construction of several
large international cultural centers in India. The center at
Śrīdhāma Māyāpur in West Bengal is the site for a planned
spiritual city, an ambitious project for which construction
will extend over the next decade. In Vṛndāvana, India, is
the magnificent Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma Temple and International
Guesthouse. There is also a major cultural and educational
center in Bombay. Other centers are planned in a dozen other
important locations on the Indian subcontinent.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda’s most significant contribution, however,
is his books. Highly respected by the academic community for
their authoritativeness, depth and clarity, they are used as
standard textbooks in numerous college courses. His writings
have been translated into twenty-eight languages. The
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, established in 1972 exclusively 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.
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In just twelve years, in spite of his advanced age, Śrīla
Prabhupāda circled the globe fourteen times on lecture tours
that took him to six continents. In spite of such a vigorous
schedule, Śrīla Prabhupāda continued to write prolifically.
His writings constitute a veritable library of Vedic
philosophy, religion, literature and culture.
Srila Prabhupada Chronology
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Birth 1986 :
Srila Prabhupada was born Abhay Charan De on 1st
September 1896 in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, at about
4pm to father Gaura Mohan De and mother Rajani Devi.
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Marriage 1918 : Enters married life with Radharani Datta.
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Meets his future spiritual master 1922 : Meets for the first time Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Thakura – his future initiating spiritual master – who
asks him to preach Lord Chaitanya’s mission in the Western
countries.
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Visits his spiritual master 1925 : Visits Vrindavan (the holy land where Lord Krishna spent
his childhood) for the first time and hears more from
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami.
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Receives initiation 1933 : Receives formal initiation from his spiritual master
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami.
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Visits his spiritual master 1935 : Travelled to Vrindavan to see his spiritual master, Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami, who gave him two
essential instructions: print books and build temples.
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Publishes ‘Back to Godhead’ magazine 1944 : Starts writing and publishing ‘Back to Godhead’
magazine.
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Receives title ‘Bhaktivedanta’ 1947 : Receives the honorary title of ‘Bhaktivedanta’ from his
God-brothers in the Gaudiya Math.
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Receives title ‘Bhaktivedanta’ 1947 : Receives the honorary title of ‘Bhaktivedanta’ from his
God-brothers in the Gaudiya Math.
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Awarded sannyasa 1959 : Awarded sannyasa (the renounced order of life) in Mathura
by one of his God-brothers, His Holiness B.P. Kesava
Maharaj.
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Voyage to the USA 1965 : Voyage to the USA aboard the Jaladuta ship lasting one
month, during which time he suffers two heart attacks.
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Arrives in America 1965 : Historic arrival in America. The ship Jaladuta docks at
Commonwealth Pier, Boston.
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Incorporates the International Society for Krishna
consciousness (ISKCON) 1966
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Bhagavad-gita As It Is abridged edition published by
Macmillan 1968
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Establishes the Governing Body Commission (GBC) 1970 : Srila Prabhupada establishes the Governing Body
Commission, the ultimate managing authority of ISKCON.
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Establishes the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) 1972
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Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita 1974 : Completes the translation of Sri Caitanya Caritamrita into English
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Opens Sri Sri Krishna Balarama Temple in Vrindavan 1975 : Later to be his final resting place.
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Departure from the material world 1977 : At the age of 81, Srila Prahupada left the material world
in Vrindavan, India.
