A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami (IAST: Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Bhakti-vedānta Svāmī; 1 September 1896 – 14 November 1977[1]) was an Indian Gaudiya Vaishnava guru who founded ISKCON,[2] commonly known as the "Hare Krishna movement".[1][3][4] Members of ISKCON view Bhaktivedanta Swami as a representative and messenger of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.[5]

"Bhaktivedanta" redirects here. For the college under same name, see Bhaktivedanta College.

His Divine Grace

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Prabhupāda
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami in Germany, 1974
Personal
Born
Abhay Charan De

(1896-09-01)1 September 1896
Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died14 November 1977(1977-11-14) (aged 81)
Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh, India
Resting placeSrila Prabhupada's Samadhi Mandir, ISKCON Vrindavan
27.57196°N 77.67729°E / 27.57196; 77.67729
ReligionHinduism
DenominationVaishnavism
SectGaudiya Vaishnavism
Notable work(s)Bhagavad-Gītā As It Is, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (translation), Caitanya Caritāmṛta (trans.)
Alma materScottish Church College, University of Calcutta[1]
Monastic nameAbhaya Caraṇāravinda Bhakti-vedānta Svāmī
TempleGaudiya Math, ISKCON
PhilosophyBhakti yoga
Religious career
Period in office1966–1977
InitiationDiksha, 1933 (by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati)
Sannyasa, 1959 (by Bhakti Prajnan Keshava)
PostFounder-Acharya of ISKCON
Websiteprabhupada.krishna.com

Born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in a Suvarna Banik family,[6] he was educated at the Scottish Church College.[1] While working at a small pharmaceutical business,[7] he met and became a follower of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. In 1959, after his retirement, he left his family to become a sannyasi and started writing commentaries on Vaishnava scriptures.[8] As a travelling Vaishnava monk, he became an influential communicator of Gaudiya Vaishnavite theology across India and the Western world through his leadership of ISKCON, founded in 1966.[9][10] He was well regarded by a number of American religious scholars but was criticised by anti-cult groups.[11]

He has been described by his followers as a charismatic leader, who was successful in acquiring followers in many Western countries and India.[12][13][14] After his death in 1977, ISKCON, the society he founded based on a form of Hindu Krishna Bhakti using the Bhagavata Purana as a central scripture, continued to grow.

Biography

Early life

Prabhupada was born Abhay Charan on 1 September 1896 in Calcutta.[1] He was also called Nandulāl. His parents, Gour Mohan De and Rajani De, were devout Vaishnavas and resided in Calcutta.[15]

Abhay Charan studied at the Scottish Church College. He is said to have refused his degree in response to Gandhi's calls to challenge British rule.[1] In 1919, at the age of 22, he was married to Radharani Devi, who was then 11 years old, in a marriage arranged by their parents. At 14, Radharani Devi gave birth to their first son.[16]

Religious journey

In 1922, he met his spiritual master, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, in Prayagraj. He was asked to spread the message of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the English language.[17] In 1933 he became a formally initiated disciple of Bhaktisiddhānta. In 1944, he started the publication called Back to Godhead,[18][19] for which he was writer, designer, publisher, editor, copy editor and distributor.[20]

In 1947, the Gaudiya Vaishnava Society gave him the title Bhaktivedanta, (bhakti-vedānta).[21] He became known by the honorific Prabhupāda.[22]

From 1950 onwards, he lived at the medieval Radha-Damodar mandir in the holy town of Vrindavan, where he began his commentary and translation work of the Sanskrit work Bhagavata Purana.[23] His guru, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, had always encouraged him to publish books[24] referring to the need for the literary presentation of the Vaishnava culture.[25]

Renunciation

Prabhupada also lived at Gaudiya Matha at Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, where he wrote and edited the Gauḍīya Patrikā magazine. While there he donated the statue of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu which stands on the altar beside those of Radha Krishna (named Śrī Śrī Rādhā Vinodavihārījī). In September 1959, he was initiated as a sannyasi by his friend Bhakti Prajnana Keshava and was given the title of Swami. He published the first book of Bhagavata Purana.[26]

Mission to the West
Main article: International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Prabhupada's Palace of Gold in West Virginia, USA in 1982

Prabhupada was the first Hindu preacher to take advantage of the removal of national quotas by the 1965 Immigration Act of the United States.[27] In July 1966, he founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in New York City.[2] He defended the name, arguing that Krishna included all other forms and concepts of God.[28] In 1967, a centre was started in San Francisco.[29][30] He travelled throughout America with his disciples, popularising the movement through street chanting (sankirtana), book distribution and public speeches. George Harrison of The Beatles produced a recording with some of the devotees in London and helped establish the Radha Krisna Temple in that city.[31]

Over the following years, his role as preacher and leader of the Krishna consciousness movement took him around the world several times setting up temples and communities in other countries.[32] By the time of his death in Vrindavan in 1977, ISKCON had become an internationally known expression of Vaishnavism.[29]

Through his mission, he followed and preached the teachings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and introduced bhakti yoga to an international audience.[32][33] Within Gaudiya Vaishnavism this was viewed as the fulfilment of a long time mission to introduce Caitanya Mahaprabhu's teachings to the world.[34]

In India

Beginning his public preaching mission in India, he founded the League of Devotees in Jhansi in 1953.[35] On his return to India in 1971, he oversaw the construction of temples in Mumbai,[36] Mayapur and Vrindavan. He started a chain of ISKCON schools.

Bhaktivedanta Swami died on 14 November 1977 at the age of 81, in Vrindavan, India. His body was buried in Krishna Balaram Mandir in Vrindavan.[1]

Teachings

Religion

Prabhupada said:

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.[37]

Other typical expressions present a different perspective, where he pointed out that "today I may be a Hindu, but tomorrow I may become a Christian or Muslim. In this way faiths can be changed, but dharma is a natural sequence, a natural occupation or a connection and it can not be changed, because it is permanent, according to him".[38] While the ISKCON theology of personal god is close to Christian theology, both personal and monotheistic, being a preacher of bhakti and a missionary he sometimes would add that "already many Christians have tasted the nectar of divine love of the holy name and are dancing with karatalas (hand-cymbals) and mridangas (drums)".[39]

His approach to modern knowledge was similar to that of sectarian Orthodox Judaism, where the skills and technical knowledge of modernity are encouraged, but the values rejected. "Whatever our engagement is, by offering the result to Krishna we become Krishna conscious".[40] Similar to many traditional religions, he considered sexuality and spirituality as conflicting opposites.[41]

Monuments
Statue of Prabhupada at Radha Damodar Mandir in Vrindavan
Samadhi of Prabhupada in Vrindavan.

A number of samadhis or shrines to Bhaktivedanta Swami were constructed by the members of ISKCON, with those in Mayapur and Vrindavan in India being notable. Prabhupada's Palace of Gold, built by the New Vrindavan community in 1979, was intended to be a residence for Bhaktivedanta Swami, but has now developed into a tourist attraction.[42]

In 1996 the Government of India issued a commemorative stamp[43] and in 2021, a Rs 125 commemorative coin in his honour.[44]

Books and publishing

Bhaktivedanta Swami's books are considered to be among his most significant contributions.[45][46] During the final twelve years of his life, Bhaktivedanta Swami translated over sixty volumes of classic Hindu scriptures (e.g. Bhagavad Gita, Chaitanya Charitamrita and Srimad Bhagavatam) into the English language.[38] His Bhagavad-gītā As It Is was published by Macmillan Publishers in 1968 with an unabridged edition in 1972.[47][48][49] It is now available in over sixty languages around the world with some of his other books available in over eighty different languages.[18][33]

The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust was established in 1972 to publish his works.[2][50]

In February 2014, ISKCON's news agency reported reaching a milestone of distributing over half a billion books authored by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada since 1965.[51]

Bengali writings
  • Gītār Gān (in Bengali). c. 1973.
  • Vairāgya-vidyā (in Bengali). 1977.
A collection of his early Bengali essays, which were originally printed in a monthly magazine that he edited called Gauḍīya Patrika. Starting in 1976, Bhakti Charu Swami reprinted these essays in Bengali language booklets called Bhagavāner Kathā (Knowledge of the Supreme) [from 1948 & 1949 issues], Bhakti Kathā (The Science of Devotion), Jñāna Kathā (Topics of Spiritual Science), Muni-gānera Mati-bhrama (The Deluded Thinkers), and Buddhi-yoga (The Highest Use of Intelligence), which he later combined into Vairāgya-vidyā. In 1992, an English translation was published called Renunciation Through Wisdom.[52]
  • Buddhi-yoga (in Bengali).
  • Bhakti-ratna-boli (in Bengali).

Translations with commentary

Summary studies

Discography

Other works
Part of a series on
Vaishnavism
Supreme deity
Vishnu / Krishna / Rama
Important deities
Dashavatara
Other forms
  • Dhanvantari
  • Guruvayurappan
  • Hayagriva
  • Jagannath
  • Mohini
  • Nara-Narayana
  • Prithu
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Consorts
Related
Holy scriptures
Puranas
Sampradayas
  • Sri (Vishishtadvaita)
  • Rudra (Shuddhadvaita)
  • Kumara (Dvaitadvaita)
  • Brahma (Tattvavada or (Dvaita)), Acintyabhedabheda)
Others
  • Ekasarana Dharma
  • Mahanubhava
  • Pranami
  • Radha Vallabha
  • Ramsnehi
  • Sant Mat
  • Swaminarayan
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  • Chaitanya
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  • Jayatirtha
  • Jiva Goswami
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  • Purandara Dasa
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Related traditions
  • Bhagavatism
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  • Balmiki
  • Kabir panth
  • Dadu panth
  • Mahanam

References
  1. Jones, Constance (2007). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. New York: Infobase Publishing. pp. 77–78. ISBN 978-0-8160-5458-9.
  2. Goswami et al. 1983, p. 986
  3. Who's Who in Religion (2nd ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Marquis Who's Who. 1977. p. 531. ISBN 0-8379-1602-X. Prabhupada, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, leader, Hare Krishna Movement. Founder, Internat. Soc. for Krishna Consciousness, 1965.
  4. J. Gordon Melton, Hare Krishna at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  5. Satsvarupa dasa Goswami (1968). Prabhupada: Messenger of The Supreme Lord. India: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust Publications. pp. vi. ISBN 978-8189574307.
  6. "Interview with Srila Prabhupada's Grand-Nephew - Sankarsan Prabhu". bvmlu.org. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  7. Rhodes 2001, p. 178
  8. Goswami 2002, Vol.1 Chapter 9
  9. Klostermaier 2007, p. 217
  10. Ekstrand & Bryant 2004, p. 23
  11. Vasan & Lewis 2005, p. 129
  12. Chryssides, George D. (2012). "Unrecognized charisma? A study and comparison of five charismatic leaders: Charles Taze Russell, Joseph Smith, L Ron Hubbard, Swami Prabhupada and Sun Myung Moon". Max Weber Studies. 12 (2): 185–204. doi:10.15543/MWS/2012/2/4. JSTOR 24579924.
  13. "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..."status as charismatic leader" Knott 1997, Chapter: Prabhupada and role of guru
  14. Shinn 1987, p. 49
  15. Goswami 2002, Vol. 1 Chapter 2
  16. "Srila Prabhupada's marriage". Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  17. Goswami 1984, p. xv
  18. Cole & Dwayer 2007, p. 34
  19. Goswami 1984, p. xviii
  20. Goswami 2002, Vol. 1 Chapter 5
  21. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Satsvarupa dasa Goswami (1998) The secrets of transcendental love, ISBN 0-89213-273-6, p. 73: "The spiritual harmony of knowledge and devotion is well expressed in the phrase bhakti-vedānta"
  22. Chattopadhyay, Aparna (2004). Pearls of Spiritual Wisdom. Pustak Mahal, India. p. 37. ISBN 81-223-0858-9.
  23. White, Charles S. J. (2004). A Catalogue of Vaishnava Literature on Microfilms in the Adyar Library. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 81-208-2067-3.
  24. Goswami 2002, Vol.1 Chapter 4 "Āmār icchā chila kichu bai karānā: "Standing by Rādhā-kuṇḍa and beholding his spiritual master, Abhay felt the words deeply enter his own life – "If you ever get money, print books."
  25. Goswami 2002, Vol. 1 Chapter 4
  26. Goswami 2002, Vol.1 Chapter This momentous hour of need
  27. Jones 2007, p. xxxvi
  28. Ekstrand & Bryant 2004, pp. 120–122
  29. Vasan & Lewis 2005, p. 128
  30. Cole & Dwayer 2007, p. 22
  31. Cole & Dwayer 2007, p. 23
  32. Smith, David Nichol (2003). Hinduism and modernity. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell Pub. p. 178. ISBN 0-631-20862-3.
  33. "The matrix of principal published translated works. Bhaktivedanta Book Trust offers a 2006 summary PDF file showing which books translated in which languages" (PDF). Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
  34. Cole & Dwayer 2007, p. 5
  35. League of Devotees article prabhupadaconnect.com
  36. Cole & Dwayer 2007, p. 27
  37. Bhaktivedanta 2003
  38. Cole & Dwayer 2007, p. 25
  39. Cole & Dwayer 2007, p. 6
  40. "Charisma and Religious Innovation: Prabhupada and the Founding of ISKCON". ISKCON Communications Journal. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 31 May 2008. (self published)
  41. Cole & Dwayer 2007, p. 224
  42. Shinn & Bromley 1987, p. 124
  43. "prabhupada.krishna.com". www.krishna.com. Archived from the original on 26 March 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2014. see "Commemorative Stamp" section, including image
  44. "PM Modi releases special commemorative coin on ISKCON founder's 125th birth anniversary". Times of India. 1 September 2021.
  45. Sharma 1981, p. 971
  46. "Scholars reviews of Srila Prabhupada's books". www.acbspn.com. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  47. Maheswar Neog Professor Maheswar Neog Felicitation Volume (1990)
  48. Bhaktivedanta Swami, A. C. (1968). The Bhagavad-gita As It Is, first edition. New York: Macmillan.
  49. Rosen, S. "The Macmillan Miracle". www.krishna.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2008. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
  50. Shinn & Bromley 1989, p. 53
  51. Smullen, Madhava (12 February 2014). "BBT reaches half a billion books distributed since 1965". ISKCON News. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  52. His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1992). Renunciation Through Wisdom [Vairagya Vidyā]. Translated by Bhakti Charu Swami. Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. pp. vii–viii. ISBN 0-947259-04-X. LCCN 95120622. OCLC 30848069.
  53. Das. "The Happening Album: "Krishna Consciousness" | krsnaTunes". The Bhaktivedantas. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  54. Das. "Gopinatha single, Govinda LP | krsnaTunes". The Bhaktivedantas. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  55. Das. "KRSNA Meditation Album | krsnaTunes". The Bhaktivedanta. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  56. Fackler, P. Mark; Lippy, Charles H., eds. (1995). Popular Religious Magazines of the United States. Greenwood Press. pp. 58–60. ISBN 0-313-28533-0.

The Inspirational story of Srila Prabhupada: Penguin Publishers [1]

Further reading
  • Goswami, Satsvarupa dasa (2002). Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta Vol 1–2 (2nd ed.). Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. ISBN 0-89213-357-0.
  • Ekstrand, Maria; Bryant, Edwin H. (2004). The Hare Krishna movement: the postcharismatic fate of a religious transplant. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-12256-X.
  • Rhodes, Linda (2001). The challenge of the cults and new religions. Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan. ISBN 0-310-23217-1.
  • Vasan, Mildred; Lewis, James P. (2005). Cults (contemporary world issues). Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-85109-618-3.
  • Cole, Richard; Dwayer, Graham (2007). The Hare Krishna movement: forty years of chant and change. London: I. B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-407-7.
  • Goswami, Satsvarupa dasa (1984). Prabhupada: he built a house in which the whole world can live (abr ed.). Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. ISBN 0-89213-133-0.
  • Harvey Cox; Larry D. Shinn; Thomas J. Hopkins; A.L. Basham; Shrivatsa Goswami (1983). Gelberg, Steven J (ed.). Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna: five distinguished scholars on the Krishna movement in the West. New York: Grove Press.
  • Klostermaier, Klaus K. (2000). Hinduism: a short history. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. ISBN 1-85168-213-9.
  • Klostermaier, Klaus K (2007). A survey of Hinduism (3rd ed.). New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-7081-7.
  • Bhaktivedanta, A. C. (2003). The Science of self-realization. Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. ISBN 91-7149-447-2.
  • Shinn, Larry D (1987). Bromley, David G (ed.). "The future of an old man's vision. ISKCON in the twenty-first century". The Future of New Religious Movements: 123–140. ISBN 978-0-86554-238-9.
  • Knott, Kim (1997). "Insider and outsider perceptions of Prabhupada". ISKCON Communications Journal: 5: 1.
  • Knott, Kim (2005). "Insider/outsider perspectives in the study of religions". In Hinnells, John (ed.). The Routledge companion to the study of religion. Routledge. p. 243. ISBN 978-0-415-33311-5.
  • Shinn, Larry D. (1987). The dark lord: cult images and the Hare Krishnas in America. Philadelphia: Westminster Press. ISBN 0-664-24170-0. OCLC 15017927. OL 2737873M.
  • Goswami, Srivatsa; Dasa Goswami, Satsvarupa; Cox, Harvey; Hopkins, Thomas J.; Judah, J. Stillson (1983). "Review: Srila Prabhupada-Lilamrta". Journal of Asian Studies. 42 (4): 986–988. doi:10.2307/2054828. ISSN 0021-9118. JSTOR 2054828. S2CID 164018245.
  • Sharma, Jagdish Saran, ed. (1981). Encyclopaedia Indica. OCLC 8033900. OL 13760440M.
  • Shinn, Larry D; Bromley, David G (1989). Krishna consciousness in the West. Lewisburg [Pa.]: Bucknell University Press. ISBN 0-8387-5144-X.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Prabhupada.
  1. "Sing, Dance and Pray: The Inspirational story of Srila Prabhupada". Singdancepray.com. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
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