Mahan Of The Day:- Srila Prabhupada

Srila Prabhupada

His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was born in 1896 in Calcutta, India. He first met his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami, in Calcutta in 1922. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, a prominent devotional scholar and the founder of sixty-four branches of Gaudiya Mathas (Vedic institutes), liked this educated young man and convinced him to dedicate his life to teaching Vedic knowledge in the Western world. Srila Prabhupada became his student, and eleven years later (1933) at Allahabad, he became his formally initiated disciple.

At their first meeting, in 1922, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura requested Srila Prabhupada to broadcast Vedic knowledge through the English language. In the years that followed, Srila Prabhupada wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita and in 1944, without assistance, started an English fortnightly magazine.

Recognizing Srila Prabhupada's philosophical learning and devotion, the Gaudiya Vaisnava Society honored him in 1947 with the title "Bhaktivedanta." In 1950, at the age of fifty-four, Srila Prabhupada retired from married life, and four years later he adopted the vanaprastha (retired) order to devote more time to his studies and writing. Srila Prabhupada traveled to the holy city of Vrndavana, where he lived in very humble circumstances in the historic medieval temple of Radha-Damodara. There he engaged for several years in deep study and writing. He accepted the renounced order of life (sannyasa) in 1959. At Radha-Damodara, Srila Prabhupada began work on his life's masterpiece: a multivolume translation and commentary on the 18,000-verse Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana). He also wrote Easy Journey to Other Planets.

After publishing three volumes of Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada came to the United States, in 1965, to fulfill the mission of his spiritual master. Since that time, His Divine Grace has written over sixty volumes of authoritative translations, commentaries and summary studies of the philosophical and religious classics of India.

In 1965, when he first arrived by freighter in New York City, Srila Prabhupada 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. Under his careful guidance, the Society has grew within a decade to a worldwide confederation of almost one hundred asramas, schools, temples, institutes and farm communities.

In 1968, Srila Prabhupada created New Vrndavana, an experimental Vedic community in the hills of West Virginia. Inspired by the success of New Vrndavana, then a thriving farm community of more than one thousand acres, his students founded several similar communities in the United States and abroad.

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. The school began with three children in 1972, and by the beginning of 1975 the enrollment had grown to one hundred fifty.

Srila Prabhupada also inspired the construction of a large international center at Sridhama Mayapur in West Bengal, India, which is also the site for a planned Institute of Vedic Studies. A similar project is the magnificent Krsna-Balarama Temple and International Guest House in Vrndavana, India. These are centers where Westerners can live to gain firsthand experience of Vedic culture.

Srila Prabhupada'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 eleven 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.

In the last ten years of his life, in spite of his advanced age, Srila Prabhupada circled the globe twelve times on lecture tours that have took him to six continents. In spite of such a vigorous schedule, Srila Prabhupada continued to write prolifically. His writings constitute a veritable library of Vedic philosophy, religion, literature and culture.

Srila Prabhupada left us a veritable library of Vedic philosophy and culture. Highly respected by scholars for their authority, depth, and clarity, his books are used at colleges and universities around the world.

The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust publishes his works in over 50 languages.

Find out more about the kind and compassionate person that Srila Prabhupada was, and how he was able to change so many lives and accomplish so much in such a short time.

Books written Srila Prabhupada:

His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada was uniquely qualified to translate and teach Vedic knowledge. He was the representative of a well-documented disciplic succession of Vedic authorities. By providing guidelines for the practical implementation of the sublime Vedic teachings, Srila Prabhupada has for the first time successfully implanted genuine Vedic culture in the West.

The books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada are highly respected by students, scholars and laymen alike. His works are now widely used in college courses and seminars in diverse subjects, including philosophy, religion, world literature, history, and the social sciences. The following is a list of the books he wrote:

Bhagavad-gita As It Is (see scholarly reviews of this book)

Srimad-Bhagavatam (see scholarly reviews of this book)

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (see scholarly reviews of this book)

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Nectar of Devotion, Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu

Nectar of Instruction, Upadesamrta

Easy Journey to Other Planets

Civilization and Transcendence

Krsna Consciousness The Topmost Yoga System

KRSNA, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers

Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of Devahuti

Teachings of Queen Kunti

Krsna, the Reservoir of Pleasure

Science of Self Realization

Path of Perfection

Life Comes from Life

The Perfection of Yoga

Beyond Birth and Death

On the Way to Krsna

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Raja-Vidya: The King of Knowledge

Elevation to Krsna Consciousness

Krsna Consciousness, The Matchless Gift

Message of Godhead

Light of the Bhagavata

Sri Isopanisad

Journey of Self-Discovery

Laws of Nature: An Infallible Justice

Transcendental Teachings of Prahlada Maharaja

A Second Chance: The Story of a Near - Death Experience

Mukunda-mala-stotra

Narada-bhakti-sutra

Dharma: The Way of Transcendence

Quest for Enlightenment

Beyond Illusion & Doubt

Gitar Gan (Bengali)

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 and with guiding his growing society, until the day he left 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.

His life history from his earliest days to his passing away in 1977 is vividly described in his biography, the Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta, by Satsvarupa Goswami.