A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

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Saturday, March 11, 2023. 06:00.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

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Personal :

Born Abhay Charan De, 1 September 1896, Calcutta, Bengal, India

Died 14 November 1977 (aged 81), Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh, India

Resting place Srila Prabhupada's Samadhi Mandir, ISKCON Vrindavan, 27.57196°N 77.67729°E

Religion Hinduism

Denomination Vaishnavism

Sect Gaudiya Vaishnavism

Notable work(s)

Bhagavad-Gītā As It Is, 

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (translation), 

Caitanya Caritāmrta (trans.)

Alma mater Scottish Church College, University of Calcutta

Monastic name Abhaya Caranāravinda Bhakti-vedānta Svāmī

Temple Gaudiya Math, ISKCON

Philosophy Bhakti yoga

Religious career

Period in office 1966–1977

Initiation Diksha, 1933 (by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati)

Sannyasa, 1959 (by Bhakti Prajnan Keshava)

Post Founder-Acharya of ISKCON

Website prabhupada.krishna.com

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Introduction :

Born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in a Suvarna Banik family, he was educated at the Scottish Church College. While working at a small pharmaceutical business, 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. 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. He was well regarded by a number of American religious scholars but was criticised by anti-cult groups.

He has been subject to criticism over his racist views against blacks, discrimination against lower castes, anti-Semitism, negative views on women, and advocacy of crimes of Adolf Hitler.

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Biography :

Early life :

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

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. 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.

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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. In 1933 he became a formally initiated disciple of Bhaktisiddhānta. In 1944, he started the publication called Back to Godhead, for which he was writer, designer, publisher, editor, copy editor and distributor.

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

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. His guru, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, had always encouraged him to publish books referring to the need for the literary presentation of the Vaishnava culture.

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Renunciation :

Swami 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.

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Mission to the West :

Prabhupada's Palace of Gold in West Virginia, USA in 1982

Swami was the first Hindu preacher to take advantage of the removal of national quotas by the 1965 Immigration Act of the United States. In July 1966, he founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in New York City. He defended the name, arguing that Krishna included all other forms and concepts of God. In 1967, a centre was started in San Francisco. 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.

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. By the time of his death in Vrindavan in 1977, ISKCON had become an internationally known expression of Vaishnavism.

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

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In India :

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

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

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Views :

1.Slavery :

Swami said that black people should remain in bondage.

"The blacks were slaves. They were under control. And since you have given them equal rights they are disturbing, most disturbing, always creating a fearful situation, uncultured and drunkards. What training they have got? They have got equal rights? It is best, to keep them under control as slaves but give them sufficient food, sufficient cloth, not more than that. Then they will be satisfied."

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2.Lower castes :

Bhaktivedenta asserts that Shudras require no training:-

"Shudras does not require any training. Shudra means no training. Ordinary worker class. Otherwise other three, especially two, namely the Brahmins and Kshatriyas, they require very magnificent training."

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3.Hitler and Jews :

Swami mentioned Hitler to provide an example of materialistic scheming, he also called him a hero.

"Sometimes he becomes a great hero -- just Hiranyakashipu and Kamsa or, in the modern age, Napoleon or Hitler. The activities of such men are certainly very great, but as soon as their bodies are finished, everything else is finished."

He held Jews to be responsible for Holocaust:

Therefore Hitler killed these Jews. They were financing against Germany. Otherwise he had no enmity with the Jews... And they were supplying. They want interest money -- "Never mind against our country." Therefore Hitler decided, "Kill all the Jews."

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4.Women :

Most of what Swami wrote about women is deemed negative. Some of his views were:-

"Women in general should not be trusted."

"Women are generally not very intelligent."

"Generally when a woman is attacked by a man -- whether her husband or some other man -- she enjoys the attack, being too lusty."

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5.Evolution :

Swami was an advocate of Vedic creationism and referred to Charles Darwin and his followers as "rascals". He disputed evolution, and claimed that:

"Darwin's theory stating that no human beings existed from the beginning but that humans evolved after many, many years is simply nonsensical theory."

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6.Religion :

Swami 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.

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". 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)".

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". Similar to many traditional religions, he considered sexuality and spirituality as conflicting opposites.

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7.Other :

Swami rejected reports of 1969 moon landing citing his unwillingness to accept that no living beings were found in the moon.

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Monuments :

Srila Prabhupada Room at Radha Damodar Mandir in Vrindavan

Statue of Swami at Radha Damodar Mandir in Vrindavan

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Samadhi of Swami in Vrindavan. :

A number of samadhis or shrines to 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 Swami, but has now developed into a tourist attraction.

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

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Books and publishing :

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

The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust was established in 1972 to publish his works.

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

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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.

Buddhi-yoga (in Bengali).

Bhakti-ratna-boli (in Bengali).

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Translations with commentary :

Srimad Bhagwatam. Vol. 3 vols. Delhi: League of Devotees. 1962–1965. LCCN sa64001457. OCLC 64215631.

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is (in Sanskrit and English), New York: Macmillan, 1968, LCCN 68008322, Wikidata Q854700

Śrī Īśopaniṣad. Boston, Mass.: ISKCON Books. 1969. ISBN 0-89213-138-1. LCCN 78102853. OCLC 70457388. OL 1145820M. Wikidata Q108771214.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Vol. 30 vols. New York: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. 1972–1977. LCCN 73169353.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, vol. 17 vols., New York: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1973–1975, LCCN 74193363, Wikidata Q108771289

The Nectar of Instruction. New York: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. 1975. LCCN 75039755.

Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of Devahūtī. New York: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. 1977. LCCN 77011077.

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Summary studies :

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, a treatise on factual spiritual life. New York: International Society for Krishna Consciousness. 1968. LCCN 68029320.

Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, vol. 2 vols., Boston, Mass.: ISKCON Press, 1970, LCCN 74118081, Wikidata Q4205088

The Nectar of Devotion: The Complete Science of Bhakti-yoga. New York: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. 1970. LCCN 78118082.

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Discography :

Krishna Consciousness (12 in. LP record). New York, NY: Happening Records. 1966. OCLC 11402285. CA2210.

Govinda (12 in. LP record). Los Angeles, CA: Golden Avatar Productions. 1973. LCCN 94748438. OCLC 12622399. GOPI-108.

Krsna Meditation (2 x 12 in. LP records). Germany: Radha Krsna Productions. 1974. OCLC 17247069. RKP-1005.

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Other works :

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Vaishnavism

Closeup of Vishnu, seated in the lotus position on a lotus. From depiction of the poet Jayadeva bowing to Vishnu, Gouache on paper Pahari, The very picture of devotion, bare-bodied, head bowed, legs crossed and hands folded, Jayadeva stands at left, with the implements of worship placed before the lotus-seat of Vishnu who sits there, blessing the poet.

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