Life and Precepts

 
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu: His Life and Precepts.
The glories of the Lord, in the transcendental seventy-five percent portion of the Lord's internal potency, are stated in the Padma Purana (Uttara-khanḍa). It is said there that those planets in the spiritual sky, which comprises the seventy-five percent expansion of the internal potency of the Lord, are far, far greater than those planets in the total universes composed of the external potency of the Lord. In the Caitanya-caritamrta, the total universes in the external potency of the Lord are compared to a bucketful of mustard seeds. One mustard seed is calculated to be a universe itself. In one of the universes, in which we are now living, the number of planets cannot be counted by human energy, so how can we think of the sum total in all the universes, which are compared to a bucketful of mustard seeds? And the planets in the spiritual sky are at least three times the number of those in the material sky. Such planets, being spiritual, are in fact transcendental to the material modes; therefore they are constituted in the mode of unalloyed goodness only. The conception of spiritual bliss (brahmananda) is fully present in those planets. Each of them is eternal, indestructible and free from all kinds of inebrieties experienced in the material world. Each of them is self-illuminating and more powerfully dazzling than (if we can imagine) the total sunshine of millions of mundane suns. The inhabitants of those planets are liberated from birth, death, old age and diseases and have full knowledge of everything; they are all godly and free from all sorts of material hankerings. They have nothing to do there except to render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Narayana, who is the predominating Deity of such Vaikuntha planets. Those liberated souls are engaged incessantly in singing songs mentioned in the Sama-Veda (vedaiḥ sahga-pada-kramopanisadair gayanti yam samagaḥ). All of them are personifications of the five Upanisads. Tripad-vibhūti, or the seventy-five percent portion known as the internal potency of the Lord, is to be understood as the kingdom of God far beyond the material sky; and when we speak of pada-vibhūti, or the twenty-five percent portion comprising His external energy, we should understand that this refers to the sphere of the material world. It is also said in the Padma Purana that the kingdom of tripad-vibhūti is transcendental, whereas the pada-vibhūti is mundane. Tripad-vibhūti is eternal, whereas the pada-vibhūti is transient. The Lord and His eternal servitors in the transcendental kingdom all have eternal forms which are auspicious, infallible, spiritual and eternally youthful. In other words, there is no birth, death, old age and disease. That eternal land is full of transcendental enjoyment and full of beauty and bliss. This very fact is also corroborated in this verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam, and the transcendental nature is described as amrta; and as it is described in the Vedas: utamrtatvasyesanaḥ. The Supreme Lord is the Lord of immortality, or in other words, the Lord is immortal, and because He is the Lord of immortality He can award immortality to His devotees. In the Bhagavad-gita also (Bg. 8.16) the Lord assures that whoever may go to His abode of immortality shall never return to this mortal land of threefold miseries. The Lord is not like the mundane lord. The mundane master or lord never enjoys equally along with his subordinates, nor is a mundane lord immortal, nor can he award immortality to his subordinate. The Supreme Lord, who is the leader of all living entities, can award all the qualities of His personality unto His devotees, including immortality and spiritual bliss. In the material world there is always anxiety or fearfulness in the heart of all living entities, but the Lord, being Himself the supreme fearless, also awards the same quality of fearlessness to His pure devotees. Mundane existence is itself a kind of fearfulness because in all mundane bodies the effects of birth, death, old age and disease always keep a living being compact in fearfulness. In the mundane world, there is always the influence of time, which changes things from one stage to another, and the living entity, originally being avikara or nonchangeable, suffers a great deal on account of changes due to the influence of time. The changing effects of the eternal time are conspicuously absent in the immortal kingdom of God; it is therefore to be understood that there is no influence of time and therefore no fear whatsoever. In the material world, so-called happiness is the result of one's own work. One can become a rich man by dint of one's own hard labor, and there are always fear and doubts as to the duration of such acquired happiness. But in the kingdom of God, no one has to endeavor to attain a standard of happiness. Happiness is the nature of the spirit, as it is stated in the Vedanta-sūtras: anandamayo 'bhyasat-it is by nature full of happiness. Happiness in spiritual nature always increases in volume with a new phase of appreciation; there is no question of decreasing the bliss. Such unalloyed spiritual bliss is nowhere to be found within the orbit of the material universe, including the Janaloka planets, or, for that matter, the Maharloka or Satyaloka planets, because even Lord Brahma is subjected to the laws of fruitive actions and the law of birth and death. It is, therefore, stated here: duratyayaḥ,   (More...)
Advaita Prabhu married in the beginning of the Fifteenth Century sakabda. When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted to visit the village of Ramakeli while going from Jagannatha Puri to Vrndavana during the sakabda years 1433 and 1434, Acyutananda was only five years old. The Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya-khanḍa, Fourth Chapter, describes Acyutananda at that time as panca-varsa vayasa madhura digambara, "only five years old and standing naked." Therefore it is to be concluded that Acyutananda was born sometime in the year 1428. Before the birth of Acyutananda, Advaita Prabhu's wife, Sitadevi, came to see Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu at His birth. Thus it is not impossible that she had the other three sons by Advaita within the twenty-one years between 1407 and 1428 sakabda. In an unauthorized book of the name Sitadvaita-carita published in Bengali in the unauthorized newspaper Nityananda-dayini in 1792 sakabda, it is mentioned that Acyutananda was a class friend of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. According to Caitanya-bhagavata, this statement is not at all valid. When Caitanya Mahaprabhu accepted the renounced order of sannyasa, He came to the house of Advaita Prabhu at Santipura in the year 1431 sakabda. At that time, as stated in Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya-khanḍa, Chapter One, Acyutananda was only three years old. The Caitanya-bhagavata further states that the naked child, the son of Advaita Prabhu, immediately came and fell down at the lotus feet of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The Lord immediately took him on His lap, although he was not very clean, having dust all over his body. Lord Caitanya said, "My dear Acyuta, Advaita Acarya is My father, and thus we are brothers."    (More...)
In his Amrta-pravaha-bhasya, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura gives the following summary study of the Third Chapter. After accepting the sannyasa order at Katwa, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu traveled continuously for three days in the Raḍha-desa and, by the trick of Nityananda Prabhu, eventually came to the western side of Santipura. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was induced to believe that the River Ganges was the Yamuna. When He was worshiping the sacred river, Advaita Prabhu appeared with a boat. Advaita Prabhu asked Him to take His bath in the Ganges and took Him to His own house. There, at the house of Advaita Prabhu, all the Navadvipa devotees, along with mother Sacidevi, came to see Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This house was located at Santipura. Mother Sacidevi cooked for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu, and at that time there were many joking exchanges between Advaita Prabhu and Nityananda Prabhu. In the evening there was a mass sahkirtana at the house of Advaita Prabhu, and mother Sacidevi gave Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu permission to leave. She requested Him to make Jagannatha Puri, Nilacala, His headquarters. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu granted His mother's request and, followed by Nityananda, Mukunda, Jagadananda and Damodara, left Santipura. Bidding farewell to mother Sacidevi, they all proceeded toward Jagannatha Puri, following the path of Chatrabhoga.    (More...)
Most of His contemporary biographers have mentioned certain anecdotes regarding Chaitanya which are simply records of His early miracles. It is said that when He was an infant in His mother's arms, He wept continually, and when the neighbouring ladies and His mother cried Haribol! He used to stop. Thus there was a continuation of the utterance of Haribol in the house, foreshowing the future mission of the Hero. It has also been stated that when His mother once gave Him sweetmeats to eat, He ate clay instead of the food. His mother asking for the reason, He stated that as every sweetmeat was nothing but clay transformed, He could eat clay as well. His mother, who was the consort of a pandit, explained that every article in a special state was adapted to a special use. Earth, while in the state of a jug, could be used as a water pot, but in the state of a brick such a use was not possible. Clay, therefore, in the form of sweetmeats was usable as food and not clay in its other states. The Lad was convinced and admitted His stupidity in eating clay, and agreed to avoid the mistake in future.    (More...)
In His eighth year, He was admitted into the tol of Gangadas Pandit in Ganganagar close by the village of Mayapur. In two years He became well read in Sanskrit Grammar and Rhetoric. His readings after that were of the nature of self-study in His own house, where He had found all-important books belonging to His father, who was a pandit himself. It appears that He read the Smriti in His own study and the Nyaya also, in competition with His friends who were then studying under the celebrated Pandit Raghunath Shiromani.    (More...)
Now, after the tenth year of His age, Chaitanya became a passable scholar in Grammar, Rhetoric, the Smriti and the Nyaya. It was after this that His elder brother Vishwarup left his house and accepted the asram (status) of a sanyasi (ascetic). Chaitanya, though a very young Boy, consoled His parents, saying that He would serve them with a view to please God. Just after that, His father left this world. His mother was exceedingly sorry, and Mahaprabhu, with His usually contented appearance, consoled his widowed mother.    (More...)
It was at the age of 14 or 15 that Mahaprabhu was married to Lakshmi Devi, the daughter of Ballabha Acharya, also of Nadia. He was at this age considered one of the best scholars of Nadia, the renowned seat of Nyaya philosophy and Sanskrit learning. Not to speak of the smarta pandits, the naiyaiks were all afraid of confronting Him in literary discussions. Being a married man, He went to Eastern Bengal on the banks of the Padma for acquirement of wealth. There He displayed His learning and obtained a good sum of money.    (More...)
His biographers have given us a detail of the journey. He first went to Kurmakshetra, where He did a miracle by curing a leper named Vasudev. He met Ramananda Rai, the governor of Vidyanagar on the banks of the Godavari, and had a philosophical conversation with him on the subject of Prembhakti, loving devotion. He worked another miracle by touching (making them immediately disappear) the seven Tal trees, through which Ramchandra, the son of Dasarath, had shot His arrow and killed the great Bali Raj. He preached Vaishnavism and nam-samkirtan, chanting of the Holy Names of God, throughout the journey. At Rangakshetra He stayed for four months in the house of one Venkata Bhatta in order to spend the rainy season. There He converted the whole family of Venkata from Ramanuji Vaishnavism into Krishna bhakta, along with the son of Venkata, a boy of ten years named Gopal, who afterwards came to Vrindaban and became one of the six Gosvamins or Prophets serving under their leader Sri Krishna Chaitanya. Trained up in Sanskrit by his uncle Probodhananda Saraswati, Gopal wrote several books on Vaishnavism.    (More...)
India has always been known as a holy land long before the advent of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who originated the Hare Krsna movement 500 years ago. Lord Ramacandra, who was the incarnation of the Supreme Lord in the role of the perfect king, actually walked on this land millions of years ago when it extended as the kingdom of the whole world. His activities are recounted in the Ramayana, which is accepted by all transcendental authorities as authentic scripture. The most pious and learned devotees of the Lord have resided in India and taught there. The appearance of the incarnation of Lord Buddha was foretold in the First Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Chapter Three, verse 24, written 2,000 years before Buddha's birth: "In the beginning of the Kali-yuga, the Lord will appear as Lord Buddha, the son of Anjana, in the province of Gaya, for the purpose of deluding persons envious of the faithful theist." India is therefore the land where the religion of Buddhism sprang forth. For his special mission, Lord Buddha rejected the Vedas, and therefore the authority of the scriptures had to be reaffirmed. This was done by the great spiritual master Sahkaracarya, who drove Buddhism from the land of India by his brilliant explanations based on the Vedic literature. According to Srimad-Bhagavatam Lord Krsna is Himself the source of all the incarnations. The self-same Lord Krsna appeared in His original form, also on Indian soil, 5,000 years ago when He exhibited full-fledged activities as the Personality of Godhead in the provinces of Vrndavana and Mathura. As it is said, God is great. The true vision of His pastimes and His greatness was then displayed to all living entities on this planet, and it is all recorded in the book Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. It is even stated in a recent book called the Aquarian Gospel that Lord Jesus Christ declared by the New Testament of the Holy Bible to be the son of God, also spent some time in India and worshiped in Jagannatha Puri. India is naturally pious, and throughout the villages of India the people still remain God conscious. But this present age is an impious age. It can be checked only by dependence on the Lord and His devotees and by following the benediction of this age. The leaders of India have in recent history rejected the transcendental culture of the Vedas, which points out that everything is actually spiritual. This material world is simply temporary and is inherently miserable, due to birth, death, disease and old age. The human form of life is therefore meant for realizing God, even by working at one's occupation; the whole society has to aim at realization of God through its activities. Instead of following this path, called varnasrama-dharma, the Indians, influenced by the attraction of foreign city life, have rejected their original culture and tried to be happy by following the materialistic ways of the great countries of the West such as the United States. The danger in their rejecting this Krsna consciousness while in the human form of life is expressed in the Bhagavad-gita. One may slip down to the lower forms of life in the future births. We are all spiritual by nature, but we have become covered, like a mirror becomes covered by dust. Especially for this age, Lord Caitanya, the incarnation of Krsna who is appearing as a devotee in order to teach, has given a very simple method. Everyone should chant the holy name of God, and everyone can do it in any position of life. He has especially stated that anyone born in India has the responsibility to take up this chanting and spread it, and He has quoted scripture to state that there is no alternative for spiritual realization in this age than chanting the holy name of God. It is therefore concluded that spiritual life is urgently needed, and this method should be taken. It is very easy and is being taught by Krsna Himself, yet it has been rejected in India. By the line of disciplic succession, the Brahma-sampradaya has passed down this information; despite the corruption of the present age, it remains pure and intact. Since the incarnation of Lord Caitanya, the spiritual masters in this line are Rūpa Gosvami, Raghunatha, Jiva, Krsnadasa, Narottama, Visvanatha, Jagannatha, Bhaktivinode, Gaura Kisora, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and now His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Although the teachings are intact, unfortunately the philosophers of the impersonal school have misinterpreted the Vedic philosophy to deny the existence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They have given all attention to the impersonal aspect and thus have wreaked havoc. This is not a theoretical disagreement on theology, but it concerns all humanity. If there is no understanding that God is the Supreme Person, then people in general are led to believe that there is no God, or they are told that if there is any spiritual existence at all, then this implies that every man is God, and that he can do as he likes, without worshiping the supreme authority of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the impersonal philosophy of the Absolute Truth there is no ultimate love. There is no reason to stay on the spiritual platform; therefore intoxication and sex life enter and take over, and both the impersonalist teachers and their students glide to the hellish path. There are real spiritual individualities and spiritual activities according to the Bhagavad-gita, but if one does not take to them then one must take to material individuality, which is temporary and leads to lower births. Seeking to become one with the Supreme in nirvana is not a substitute for the permanent positive happiness which the spirit soul is seeking. One has to engage in spiritual life in service of the Supreme Lord under the direction of a spiritual master, or else he must return to the material platform. Thus it is stated that in order to wipe out impersonalism and to present an easy to perform process of devotional service to the people in this age, Lord Caitanya appeared. In Bhagavad-gita Lord Krsna states, "Just surrender to Me," but Lord Caitanya was even more merciful. His movement is simply joyful. His program is listening to Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, chanting Hare Krsna and feasting on prasadam (spiritual food). The Krsna consciousness movement is not a Hindu or national culture, but it is the worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is the father of all living entities. The attainment of the eternal, peaceful, happy state of loving service taught by Lord Caitanya can bring the solution to all the problems of life that has not been attained by technology, politics or modern science. Srila Prabhupada, on the order of his spiritual master, and due to the solid teachings of the order of his spiritual master, came to the United States in 1966 to teach this message. Due to Srila Prabhupada's all-attractive transcendental nature as spiritual master and due to the solid teachings of scriptures and the cleansing experience of chanting the mahamantra, and eating prasadam, spiritual foodstuffs, this message quickly gained support. Temples began opening here in the United States in 1966, and now, in 1970, with 50 temples open, when Srila Prabhupada returned to India his reception was overwhelmingly favorable.    (More...)
At the age of sixteen or seventeen Caitanya traveled to Gaya with a host of His students, and there He took spiritual initiation from Īsvara Puri, a renounced devotee and a disciple of the renowned Madhavendra Puri. Upon His return to Nadia, Nimai turned religious preacher. Indeed, His religious nature became so strongly represented that Advaita Prabhu, Srivasa, and others, who had before the birth of Caitanya already accepted the path of devotion were astonished at the change of the young man. He was now no longer a contending logician, a wrangling debater, and a criticizing rhetorician. Now He swooned at the name of Krsna and behaved as an inspired man under the influence of His religious sentiment. His secretary Murari Gupta has given an eyewitness account of how He showed His heavenly powers in the house of Srivasa in the presence of hundreds of His followers, who were mostly well-read scholars.    (More...)
The world was astonished at the spiritual power of the great Lord, and hundreds and hundreds of heretics converted and joined His banner after this affair. But some of the jealous and low-minded brahmanas of Kuliya picked a quarrel with Caitanya and collected a party to oppose Him. The Lord was naturally softhearted, though strong in His principles. He declared that party feelings and sectarianism were the two great enemies of progress, and that as long as He should continue to inhabit Nadia as a member of a certain family, His mission would not meet with complete success. He then resolved to become a citizen of the world by cutting His connection with His particular family, caste, and creed, and with this resolution He embraced the position of sannyasa at Katwa, under the guidance of Kesava Bharati of that town, in His twenty-fourth year. After taking the renounced order, Krsna Caitanya, as He was now named, wished to go to Vrndavana and reside there. However, on the request of His dear mother, Sacidevi, He consented to live at Jagannatha Puri so that she could easily hear news of Him.    (More...)
Upon the Lord's return to Puri, King Prataparudra and several brahmanas joined the banner of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He was now twenty-seven years of age. In His twenty-eighth year He went to Bengal as far as Gauḍa in Malda. There He picked up two great personages named Rūpa and Sanatana. Though descended from the lines of brahmanas, these two brothers had become demi-Muslims by their continual contact with Hussain Shah, then the emperor of Gauḍa. Their names had been changed by the emperor into Dabir Khas and Sakara Mallik, and the Shah loved them heartily, for they were both learned in Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit and were loyal servants of the state. The two gentlemen had found no way to come back as regular Hindus and had written to Lord Caitanya for spiritual help while He was at Puri. Caitanya had written in reply that He would come to them and extricate them from their spiritual difficulties. Now that Caitanya had come to Gauḍa, both the brothers appeared before Him with their long-standing prayer. Caitanya ordered them to go to Vrndavana and meet Him there.    (More...)
While at Benares, Caitanya had an interview with the learned sannyasis of that town in the house of a brahmana who had invited them all. The sannyasis were headed by their most learned leader, Prakasananda Sarasvati. But after a short controversy, they submitted to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, admitting that they had been misled by the commentaries of Sahkaracarya. It was impossible even for learned scholars to oppose Caitanya for long, for there was some spell in Him that touched their hearts and made them weep for their spiritual improvement. The sannyasis of Benares soon fell at the feet of Caitanya and asked for His grace. Caitanya then preached pure devotion and instilled into their hearts spiritual love for Krsna, which obliged them to give up sectarian feelings. The whole population of Benares became devotees after this wonderful conversion of the sannyasis and they performed a mass chanting of the holy names with their new Lord. After sending Sanatana to Vrndavana, Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to Puri again through the jungles with His comrade Balabhadra, who reported that the Lord performed many miracles on the way, such as making tigers and elephants dance upon hearing the name of Krsna.    (More...)
Bhaktisiddhanta-Sarasvati Thakura Gosvami Maharaja Prabhupada (1874-1937) the spiritual master of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and thus the spiritual grandfather of the present day Krsna consciousness movement. A powerful preacher, he founded sixty four missions in India; The transcendentally empowered son of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura appeared in this world on February 6, 1874. His father was deputy magistrate of Jagannatha Puri in Orissa at this time. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura had been very concerned about unauthorized pseudo-Vaisnavas who were usurping the pure teachings of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and therefore had begun a revival of the sahkirtana mission. Though very busy with his profession, he wrote profusely about all aspects of Krsna consciousness. He prayed constantly for someone to boldly preach his writings. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura's prayers were answered in Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. When he was six months old, the Ratha-yatra festival of chariots was held in Puri. Lord Jagannatha's chariot stopped in front of Srila Bhaktivinoda's house, which was on the main road between the temple and the Gunḍica mandira. The chariot stayed there for three days. On the third day, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta's mother brought the child out to see the Lord. The pūjaris picked him up and put him on the cart. He crawled to the base of Lord Jagannatha, touching His lotus feet. Simultaneously a garland fell from the neck of the Lord and landed around the child. The pūjaris exclaimed that this child was especially blessed by the Lord. The boy grew up to be a great scholar in many fields of learning. But when he reached twenty-two, he left his studies at college, vowing to never take to householder life. For three years, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura held the post of raja-panḍita (royal scholar) of the Vaisnava king of Tripura. Thereafter he took initiation from Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji. Srila Gaurakisora was a Vaisnava renunciate who had fully absorbed himself in the worship of Krsna at Vrndavana for a long time. Then he settled at the holy city of Navadvipa on the bank of the Ganges. By this time Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura had retired from his government work and was worshiping Lord Krsna in a small house near Navadvipa, at Godruma. Every day he gave Srimad-Bhagavatam class there. Srila Gaurakisora used to attend these classes. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura told his son, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, to accept Srila Gaurakisora as his initiating spiritual master. He received the name Varsabhanavi-devi-dayitaya dasa. Thereafter Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura gave up all other activities to chant 194 rounds daily for seven years. He stayed in a kutira (hut) but did not take time to repair the roof; if it rained, he just used an umbrella. In 1918 he opened the first center of the Gauḍiya Mission in Ultadanga Road in Calcutta. He was then forty-four. All across India he established Lord Caitanya's teachings as the most excellent spiritual philosophy. He started his mission in the midst of war and political agitation for national liberation. He was uncompromising in his disregard of such mundane concerns. The most important thing is to invoke the spirit of devotion to the Supreme Lord; this concern lies far above any material consideration. Many leaders objected that he was diverting too many young men from India's national interests, but he paid them no heed. In this period, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada visited Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura on the rooftop at Ultadanga Road. Srila Prabhupada, at that time known as Abhay Caran De, was an adherent of Gandhi's svaraja movement. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura convinced him in just one sitting of the vital necessity of Lord Caitanya's mission over everything else. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura departed this world in 1936. Two weeks before leaving his body, he instructed Srila Prabhupada to introduce the sahkirtana mission to the Western world. See Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Krsna. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is the foremost Vaisnava acarya in the modern age. In 1896, he appeared in this world as Abhay Caran De in Calcutta, where he received an English-language education. He first met his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, in 1922. At their first meeting, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura requested Srila Prabhupada to broadcast Vedic knowledge through the English language. In 1933, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura initiated Srila Prabhupada as Abhaya Caranaravinda dasa. In the years that followed, he wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita, assisted the Gauḍiya Mission in its work, and in 1944 started Back to Godhead, an English fortnightly magazine, still continued by his disciples today. He received the title Bhaktivedanta in 1947 from the Gauḍiya Vaisnava Society. In the 1950's, Srila Prabhupada retired from family life, accepting the vanaprastha order. Thus he was able to devote more time to his studies and writing. He came to Vrndavana to live humbly at the historic medieval temple of Radha-Damodara. After several years of deep absorption in Krsna consciousness, Srila Prabhupada accepted the order of sannyasa from his Godbrother Kesava Prajna Maharaja, in 1959. It was then that he began to work on his life's masterpiece: a multivolume translation of and commentary on the eighteen-thousand verse Srimad-Bhagavatam. After publishing three volumes of the Bhagavatam in India, Srila Prabhupada came to the United States in 1965. After great difficulty, with no initial financial resources, he established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in New York in July, 1966. The residents of that great metropolis of materialism were astounded as the youthful American followers of Srila Prabhupada danced and chanted the Hare Krsna maha-mantra in their midst, that eternal Vedic sound echoing between the glass and steel skyscraper canyon walls. The Krsna consciousness movement soon spread to San Francisco, where the Ratha-yatra festival of the chariots was held for the first time outside of India. A group of American disciples started a branch in London, where George Harrison of the Beatles became a life-long follower of Srila Prabhupada. From England the movement went to Germany, Holland, France, and other European countries. It likewise flourished in Canada, Latin America, Australia and Africa. Simultaneously, Srila Prabhupada personally established several multi-million-dollar ISKCON temple and guesthouse projects in India at Bombay, Vrndavana, Mayapur and Hyderabad. But Srila Prabhupada considered his most significant contribution to be his books, which form a veritable library of Vedic philosophy, religion, culture and literature. Highly respected by the academic community for their authority, depth and clarity, they serve as standard textbooks in numerous college courses. His writings have been translated into more than eighty languages. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, established in 1972 to publish his works, is the world's largest publisher in the field of Vedic studies. In the twelve years after his first arrival in America up to his departure from this world in 1977, Srila Prabhupada circled the globe fourteen times on lecture tours that took him to six continents. Even in his physical absence, his great mission continues to move forward. With the collapse of the Soviet Empire that Srila Prabhupada predicted during his 1972 visit to Moscow, Krsna consciousness is vigorously blossoming throughout Eastern Europe, Russia, a   (More...)

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