Srila Prabhupada - A Brief Biography
Scholars praise Srila Prabhupada's books	Srila Prabhupada in Ecstasy

"Who is Srila Prabhupada?"  people often ask, and it is always a hard question to answer.  For Srila Prabhupada always eclipsed conventional designations.  At various times people have called him a scholar, a philosopher, a cultural ambassador, a prolific author, a religious leader, a spiritual teacher, a social critic, and a holy man.  In truth, he is all these things and more.  Srila Prabhupada is a true holy man [sadhu] of deep intellectual and spiritual sensitivity - he has deep concern and compassion for a society which to such a large degree lacks real spiritual dimension.

His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada appeared in this world in 1896, in Calcutta, India. He is the 32nd Acharya in the line of Disciplic Succession in the Brahma Sampradaya.  In 1944 he single-handedly started an English fortnightly magazine called Back to Godhead.  He edited and typed the manuscripts, checked the galley proofs, and even distributed the copies for free and struggled to maintain the publication. He wrote a commentary on Bhagavad-gita and started working on his life's masterpiece: a multi-volume translation of the Eighteen-thousand verse Srimad-Bhagavatam, all in the service of his spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami, who had requested Srila Prabhupada to broadcast Vedic knowledge in English to the Modern Society.

After publishing three volumes of the Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada came to the United States in 1965 to fulfill the mission of his spiritual master.  After that time, His Divine Grace wrote some eighty volumes of authoritative translations, commentaries, and summary studies of the philosophical and religious classics of India.  When he first arrived by freighter “Jaladuta” in New York City, Srila Prabhupada was practically penniless.  But after nearly a year of great difficulty, he founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in July of 1966.

In the years that followed, His Divine Grace gradually attracted tens of thousands of followers, started more than one hundred eight temples and published over 70 books. His achievement is remarkable in that he transplanted India's spiritual culture to the twentieth-century Western World.

In just twelve years, despite his advanced age, Srila Prabhupada circled the globe fourteen times on lecture tours that took him to six continents. Yet this vigorous schedule did not slow his prolific literary output. His writings constitute a veritable library of Vedic Philosophy, religion, literature and Vedic culture.

Indeed, Srila Prabhupada's most significant contribution is his books. Highly respected by academics for their authority, depth and clarity, they are used as text books in numerous university courses.

"I shall never die,"  Srila Prabhupada once said.  "I shall live forever in my books."

Srila Prabhupada’s books are available at all ISKCON (Hare Krishna Hare Ram) temples and leading book stores at nominal prices.  We humbly encourage you to read some of his works and note for yourself the wealth that has transformed zillions of lives in all cultures of the world.  

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