A Summary of Srila Prabhupada’s
Miraculous Accomplishments from 1965 to 1977
In reading many of the profiles of Srila Prabhupada, I’m saddened that a number of his important projects, programs and achievements are never mentioned. In the following summary I’ve tried to compile a more comprehensive list of his credits. Although this list is also incomplete, I hope it presents a fuller picture of Srila Prabhupada’s greatness.
In 1965, at seventy years of age, he ventured outside India for the first time to fulfill the order of his spiritual master. During his voyage at sea, he suffered two severe heart attacks. He reached the shores of America with the equivalent of seven dollars to his name.
He founded the International Society for Krsna Consciousness with a small group of disciples, after a year of struggling alone in New York City. This marked the only time in history that a Krsna devotee successfully trained non-Indians in the strict disciplines of Vaisnavism. Amazingly, this was achieved during the blossoming of America’s hedonistic counterculture movement.
He sent his followers, chanting the names of God, into the streets of cities and towns everywhere and Hare Krsna became famous in every corner of the earth.
He sent his disciples to London, where they recorded the single, “Hare Krsna Mantra”, with George Harrison, in 1969. It became the fastest selling of all the Apple Corporation’s releases, including those of the Beatles. The record reached #3 in Czechoslovakia, #9 in Britain, and made the top ten in Germany, Japan, Australia, South Africa, Yugoslavia, and many other countries.
He formally initiated approximately five thousand disciples. These initiates represented a sweeping diversity of nationalities, races, ethnicities, and religious backgrounds.
He established 108 Krsna temples on six continents, installed the deity of Krsna in each center and trained his disciples in the process of deity worship. Thirty-two new temples (almost three a month) were opened in a single year, between 1970 and 1971.
He inaugurated the Rathayatra Festival of Lord Jaganatha in major cities around the globe, in effect, bringing the temple to the people.
He instituted the brahmacarini asram, something previously unheard of in Vedic culture, to give shelter to single women wishing to practice Krsna consciousness.
He instructed his disciples in 1967 to start an incense business to provide financial support for the temples. Within four years the business, Spiritual Sky Incense, generated an annual revenue of one million dollars (equivalent to $4,600,000 in 2004).
He introduced the “Sunday Love Feast” and other prasadam (sanctified food) distribution programs that provided millions of free meals to the public.
He created the world’s first chain of vegetarian restaurants.
He spoke daily on the philosophy of Krsna consciousness, delivering thousands of formal lectures. Over 2,200 were recorded and archived.
He conducted many hundreds of informal conversations on the science of Krsna consciousness with disciples, guests and friends. Over 1,300 were recorded and archived.
He had scores of interviews and philosophical discussions with news reporters, scientists, religious leaders and politicians, as well as meetings with world-renowned dignitaries and celebrities like Indira Gandhi, Allen Ginsberg, Ravi Shankar, Alice Coltrane, John Lennon and George Harrison.
He recorded more than twenty albums of devotional music.
He published the monthly magazine, Back to Godhead, which he called the backbone of his movement. At the height of its circulation in the mid seventies, over a million copies per issue were sold.
He launched the ISKCON Life Membership Program that enrolled tens of thousands of members.
He built major temples in Bombay and Vrndavana, and founded a spiritual city at Mayapur. All became international sites of pilgrimage.
He established primary schools to provide education in the principles of devotional service.
He founded the Bhaktivedanta Institute to advance Krsna consciousness within the scientific community, engaging serious academics in the consideration of the science of self-realization.
He formed the Bhaktivedanta Swami Charity Trust to unearth and renovate the holy places of Lord Caitanya’s pastimes.
He set up farm communities to teach “simple living and high thinking”, emphasizing cow protection and dependence on God and nature.
He commissioned his artist disciples to produce hundreds of illustrations of Krsna’s pastimes based on his meticulous instructions and the descriptions in his books.
He directed some of his followers to learn the Indian art of “doll making” to present Vedic philosophy through dioramas. This project became the FATE Museums.
He counseled his disciples on complex managerial, philosophical and personal issues in more than 6,000 archived letters.
He was the subject of more than 30,000 archival photos and more than seventy hours of documentary film footage.
He wrote approximately seventy books on the science of Krsna consciousness, sleeping only a few hours per day. Dozens of prominent scholars and educators from leading universities praised his work (see appendix). The Encyclopaedia Britannica proclaimed that his voluminous translations from the original Sanskrit and his lucid commentaries “have astounded literary and academic communities worldwide.” This feat is even more astonishing considering the translations and commentaries were in English, which was a second language to the author.
He founded the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) in 1972, to produce his books. By 1976, over 55,000,000 literatures had been published in twenty-five languages and distributed in almost every country, making the BBT the world’s largest publisher of Indian religious and philosophical texts. One printing alone of Bhagavad-gita As It Isrequired seventy-six train cars to ship the paper needed to print it.
He completed the entire Caitanya-caritamrta manuscript (seventeen volumes) in eighteen months.
He ordered and supervised the BBT in publishing seventeen volumes of his books in only two months time, in 1974.
He circled the globe fourteen times, visiting twenty-four countries, preaching, inspiring his followers and making countless public appearances before multitudes of people.
He skillfully managed his international society simply through letters and personal meetings, virtually without the use of a telephone.
In accomplishing all the above, he also fulfilled the following:
1.
idaṁ sthānam parityajya videsaṁ gamyate mayā
I will leave this place [Vrndavana] and travel to foreign lands…
Bhakti Devi speaking to Narada,
Srimad Bhagavata Mahatmyam
(Padmapurana, Uttarakhanda)
translated by Sri Satyanarayana Dasa
[The Srimad Bhagavata Mahatmyam (The Glories of Srimad Bhagavatam) is a section of the Padmapurana. It tells the story of how Bhakti can be revived in Kali yuga through recital of Srimad Bhagavatam. When Srila Prabhupada left Vrndavana and came to America, it is significant that his only possession was a trunk containing the first volumes of his Srimad Bhagavatam, which he considered his most important work. It is also significant that he instituted daily recitation of the Bhagavatam as the foundation of the temple program, and that Srimad Bhagavatam (in the form of Krsna Book) was the first of Srila Prabhupada’s books to be distributed in large quantities. Until Srila Prabhupada came west, devotional service (Bhakti) had never been successfully introduced in foreign lands.]
Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.43 – (Lord Caitanya speaking of the reasons for His descent):
2.
kṛṣṇe sva-dhāmopagate / dharma-jñānādibhiḥ saha
kalau naṣṭa-dṛśām eṣa / purāṇārko ‘dhunoditaḥ
This Bhāgavata Purāṇa is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Kṛṣṇa to His own abode, accompanied by religion, knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance in the age of Kali shall get light from this Purāṇa.
3.
ebe nama sankirtana tikshna khadaga laiya
antara asura jivera phelibe katiya
Taking the sharp sword of the congregational chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra, (nama-sankirtana) I will root out & destroy the demoniac mentality in the hearts of all the conditioned souls.
yadi papi chadi dharma dure dese yaya
mora senapati-bhakta yaibe tathaya
If some sinful people escape and giving up religious principles go to far off countries, then my Senapati Bhakta will come at that time to give them Krsna consciousness. (senapati – a military field commander, bhakta – a devotee. Lord Caitanya will empower His own devotee to spread Krsna Consciousness around the world.)
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
Sri Caitanya Mangala, Sutra-Khanda
by Locana das Thakura
4.
pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma
In every town and village, the chanting of My name will be heard.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya 4.126
5.
Very soon the unparalleled path of hari-nama sankirtana will be propagated all over the world…Oh, for that day when the fortunate English, French, Russian, German, and American people will take up banners, mrdangas, and karatalas and raise kirtana through their streets and towns! When will that day come?
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
Sajjana Tosani 4.3, ‘Nityadharma Suryodoy’
1885
6.
Prabhupada: Just like Thakura Bhaktivinoda. In 1896 he sent the Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s message to McGill University. That book you have seen. The letter was there. And these are coincidence. Now, after so many years, a servant of that disciplic succession has come here again to preach. So these things are significant.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 7.149-171
San Francisco, March 18, 1967
Prabhupada: …in 1896. Bhaktivinoda Thakura was the first origin of this movement. But he simply thought of it. And he was expecting some others that willing to take up the work. Well, somebody says that I am the same man. And I was born in 1896.
Room Conversation with Canadian Ambassador to Iran
Iran, March 13, 1975
7.
Anyway please try to save temple of Jiva Goswami because in very near future many people from all parts of the world will come to see the Temple and Samadhi of Jiva Goswami and Rupa Goswami.
Letter to Nripen Babu
San Francisco, March 18, 1967
8. & 9.
Prabhupada: And in my horoscope there was written there, “After seventieth year this man will go outside India and establish so many temples.”
Tamala Krsna: Really?
Prabhupada: I could not understand. “What is this, that I have to go outside India? That is not…” And Guru Maharaja foretold. He told my Godbrothers, Sridhara Maharaja and others, that “He’ll do the needful when time comes. Nobody requires to help him.” He told in 1935. And after all, this was true. Guru Maharaja told. And in the beginning, first sight, he told, “You have to do this.”
Room Conversation
Vrndavana, June 17, 1977
10.
He (Srila Prabhupada) seemed to know that he would have temples filled up with devotees. He would look out and say, “I am not a poor man, I am rich. There are temples and books, they are existing, they are there, but the time is separating us from them.”
Mr. Ruben,
subway conductor who met Prabhupada in 1965
Fulfillment of these prophecies was also confirmed by Srila Prabhupada’s Godbrothers:
This return back to homeland of Srila Prabhupada, is particularly significant, because this time he comes back with a host of his western disciples. This signifies to me the meeting of the East and the West, or at least the beginning of such a meeting. This signifies the victory of spiritualism over materialism, of good over evil. This is really a rare moment in history, for the first time in the history of the world, for the first time at least living memory, Vaisnavism, the message of Vaisnavism, the message of Mahaprabhu, the message of devotion and of pure devotion has been carried to the west an d carried so successfully. I am sure that historians of the future will have a lot to say about Prabhupada and his movement, and they will be even envious of us for living in a time when this movement was begun and for participating in it.
Introduction Speech By Dr. O.B.L. Kapoor
Vrndavana, October 15, 1972
And what about the qualities he had? All devotional qualities he possess. And that we can know him that he is great only by preaching. Less than 10 years. There is no history, no recording anywhere. Preaching in 10 years he has established this divine name everywhere. As is told in Mahaprabhu’s future [prediction].
His Holiness B.V. Puri Maharaj
ITV, Memories of Srila Prabhupada
Sripada Sridhara Maharaja also appreciated my service. He said that Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s prediction: prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama/ sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama, would remain a dream only, but he congratulated me that I have done it practically.
Srila Prabhupada letter to Bon Maharaja
Evanston, Illinois, July 7, 1975
Any one of the feats mentioned above would be a significant feather in anyone’s cap—even if it were the only thing a person accomplished in a lifetime. That Srila Prabhupada did all these things in just twelve years, and fulfilled so many predictions of sastra, great devotees, acaryas and astrologers, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, is patent validation of his inimitable role in Vaisnava history. By his efforts, uncountable millions have read about Krsna, honored Krsna prasadam, and heard and chanted the maha mantra. Through his teachings, he continues to relieve humanity from the maladies spawned by doctrines of monism and voidism, while holding open the door of Krsna bhakti for many generations to come. Let us recognize and remember his unprecedented contributions and strive to bring him honor throughout the world.
Devotee: Prabhupada, they said that if Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted Krsna consciousness in the Western countries, why didn’t He go there Himself? That’s what they told us.
Prabhupada: So He left the credit for me. (laughter)
Morning Walk
Nellore, January 4, 1976
All glories to His Divine Grace
Om Visnu-pada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya Astotarra-sata
Sri Srimad A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada!
Appendix
Books by
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
Srimad-Bhagavatam, cantos 1-10, (29 vols.)
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (17 vols.)
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
The Nectar of Devotion
Sri Isopanisad
Easy Journey to Other Planets
Krsna Consciousness: The Topmost Yoga System
Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead (3 vols.)
Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers
Dialectical Spiritualism — A Vedic View of Western Philosophy
Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of Devahuti
Transcendental Teachings of Prahlad Maharaja
Teachings of Queen Kunti
Krsna, the Reservoir of Pleasure
The Science of Self-Realization
The Path of Perfection
Life Comes From Life
The Perfection of Yoga
Beyond Birth and Death
On the Way to Krsna
Raja-vidya: The King of Knowledge
Elevation to Krsna Consciousness
Krsna Consciousness: The Matchless Gift
Note: Some of the scholars quoted here may now hold different posts or be affiliated with different institutions than the ones this file mentions. Our apologies for any outdated information. (Corrections are welcome.)
“[The biography] of Srila Prabhupada is pointed proof that one can be a transmitter of truth and still be a vital and singular person. . . . At what almost anyone would consider a very advanced age, when most people would be resting on their laurels, he harkened to the mandate of his own spiritual teacher and set out on the difficult voyage to America. Srila Prabhupada is, of course, only one of thousands of teachers. But in another sense, he is one in a thousand, maybe one in a million.”
--Dr. Harvey Cox
Harvard University
“Besides being a man of deep moral strength, humility, and holiness, he was genuinely renounced. Unlike many modern gurus, he was content to live as his disciples did. Even when his health failed and he returned to the blazing heat of Delhi for his recovery, he sought nothing better than a poorly furnished room, without air-conditioning, in a Hindu temple where he had resided before coming to America. Srila Prabhupada’s life. . . is the epitome of his ideal, an ideal that he set forth for others to follow. In an age of pervasive hypocrisy and cynicism, it is this kind of rare model that we need.”
--Dr. J. Stillson Judah
Professor Emeritus, History of Religions
and Director of Libraries
Graduate Theological Union
Berkeley, California
“His books are significant contributions to the salvation of mankind.”
--Sri Lal Bahadur Shastri
Former Prime Minister of India
“The great contribution of Srila Prabhupada was not just that he taught spiritual values, not just that he provided the answers to life’s inevitable and ultimate questions, but that he inspired persons with consciousness to *live* those spiritual values and to discover those answers for themselves. Prabhupada’s stature is awe-inspiring, and a consciousness radiated from him, steering many minds from material concerns to spiritual, helping them develop the inner strength to see that the ‘self’ could become a far more potent force than the body.
“In many parts of the world today men and women are seeking the consciousness Srila Prabhupada inspired, and thee followers believe that happiness and world peace can be achieved by the way of life Srila Prabhupada taught. For these Krishna conscious people, a new (though ancient) age is in the making. For them, a life of bliss, purity, responsibility, and civic service is no longer a dream belonging to an irreducible remote future, but is a vision almost within grasp. . . .
“Prabhupada was here in this world to show us how to live. His words and deeds. . . have the ability to make our souls joyous and free.”
--Dr. Shaligram Shukla
Professor of Linguistics
Georgetown University
What scholars have said
EXCERPTS FROM REVIEWS OF BHAGAVAD-GITA AS IT IS
“No work in all Indian literature is more quoted, because none is better loved, in the West, than the Bhagavad-gita. Translation of such a work demands not only knowledge of Sanskrit, but an inward sympathy with the theme and a verbal artistry. For the poem is a symphony in which God is seen in all things. . . . The Swami does a real service for students by investing the beloved Indian epic with fresh meaning. Whatever our outlook may be, we should all be grateful for the labor that has led to this illuminating work.”
--Dr. Geddes MacGregor
Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Philosophy
University of Southern California
“The Gita can be seen as the main literary support for the great religious civilization of India, the oldest surviving culture in the world. The present translation and commentary is another manifestation of the permanent living importance of the Gita.”
--Thomas Merton, Theologian
“I am most impressed with A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s scholarly and authoritative edition of Bhagavad-gita. It is a most valuable work for the scholar as well as the layman and is of great utility as a reference book as well as a textbook. I promptly recommend this edition to my students. It is a beautifully done book.”
--Dr. Samuel D. Atkins,
Professor of Sanskrit,
Princeton University
“As a successor in direct line from Caitanya, the author of Bhagavad-gita s It Is is entitled, according to Indian custom, to the majestic title His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The great interest that his reading of the Bhagavad-gita holds for us is that it offers us an authorized interpretation according to the principles of the Caitanya tradition.”
--Olivier Lacombe,
Professor of Sanskrit and Indology,
Sorbonne University, Paris
“I have had the opportunity of examining several volumes published by the Bhaktivedanta Book TRust and have found them to be of excellent quality and of great value for use in college classes on Indian religions. This is particularly true of the BBT edition and translation of the Bhagavad-gita.”
--Dr. Frederick B. Underwood,
Professor of Religion
Columbia University
“If truth is what works, as Pierce and the pragmatists insist, there must be a kind of truth in the Bhagavad- gita As It Is, since those who follow its teachings display a joyous serenity usually missing in the bleak and strident lives of contemporary people.”
--Dr. Elwin H. Powell,
Professor of Sociology
State University of New York, Buffalo
“There is little question that this edition is one of the best books available on the Gita and devotion. Prabhupada’s translation is an ideal blend of literal accuracy and religious insight.”
--Dr. Thomas J. Hopkins
Professor of Religion
Franklin and Marshall College
“The Bhagavad-gita, one of the great spiritual texts, is not as yet a common part of our cultural milieu. This is probably less because it is alien per se than because we have lacked just the kind of close interpretive commentary upon it that Swami Bhaktivedanta has here provided, a commentary written from not only a scholar’s but a practitioner’s, a lifelong devotee’s point of view.”
--Denise Levertov, Poet
“The increasing numbers of Western readers interested in classical Vedic thought have been done a service by Swami Bhaktivedanta. By bringing us a new and living interpretation of a text already known to many, he has increased our understanding manyfold.”
--Dr. Edward C. Dimock, Jr.
Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations,
University of Chicago
“As a native of Indian now living in the West, it has given me much grief to see so many of my fellow countrymen coming to the West in the role of gurus and spiritual leaders. For this reason, I am very excited to see the publication of Bhagavad-gita As It Is by Sri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. It will help to stop the terrible cheating of false and unauthorized ‘gurus’ and ‘yogis’ and will give an opportunity to al people to understand the actual meaning of Oriental culture.”
--Dr. Kailash Vajpeye
Director of Indian Studies
Center for Oriental Studies
The University of Mexico
“The scholarly world is again indebted to A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Although Bhagavad-gita has been translated many times, Prabhupada adds a translation of singular importance with his commentary.”
--Dr. J. Stillson Judah
Emeritus Professor of the History of Religions
and Director of Libraries
Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California
“Srila Prabhupada’s edition thus fills a sensitive gap in France, where many hope to become familiar with traditional Indian thought, beyond the commercial East-West hodgepode that has arisen since the time Europeans first penetrated India.
“Whether the reader be an adept of Indian spiritualism or not, a reading of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is will be extremely profitable. For many this will be the first contact with the true India, the ancient India, the eternal India.”
--Francois Chenique
Professor of Religious Sciences
Institute of Political Studies, Paris
“It is a deeply felt, powerfully conceived and beautifully explained work. I don’t know whether to praise more this translation of the Bhagavad-gita, its daring method of explanation, or the endless fertility of its ideas. I have never seen any other work on the Gita with such an important voice and style. . . . It will occupy a significant place in the intellectual life of modern man for a long time to come.”
--Dr. Shaligram Shukla
Professor of Linguistics,
Georgetown Univerity
What scholars have said
EXCERPTS FROM REVIEWS Of SRIMAD-BHAGAVATAM
--Dr. Gary Gelade
Professor of Psychology
Oxford University
“It has been my great pleasure recently to have read the Srimad-Bhagavatam in the superb edition authorized by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. . . . I am sure this monumental work will go far to bring the sublime message of the Bhagavatam to numerous Westerners who would otherwise miss this opportunity.”
--Dr. Alex Wayman
Professor of Sanskrit
Columbia University
“The Srimad-Bhagavatam is extremely useful for all those interested in ancient India, whether their interest be that of the philosopher, the student of religion, the historian, the linguist, the sociologist or the political scientist. . . . Undoubtedly, this work of Swamiji’s is a great contribution to the troubled human society of today’s world.”
--Dr. Sooda L. Bhatt
Professor of Indian Languages
Boston University
“The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust editions of famous religious classics of India, with new translations and commentaries, are an important addition to our expanding knowledge of spiritual India The new edition of Srimad-Bhagavatam is particularly welcome.”
--Dr. John L. Mish
formerly Chief, Oriental Division
New York Public Library
“For those who have no access to the Sanskrit language, these books convey, in a superb manner, the message of the Bhagavatam. In addition to being a scholarly work, it directly reflects the spiritual aspirations of a religious community which has gained considerable popularity in America.”
--Dr. Alaka Hejib
Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies
Harvard University
“It is axiomatic that no book can be expected entirely to satisfy all its potential readers. Here is one, however, which can be said to come remarkably close to that ideal. . . . we have here the ideal of what an edition of a Sanskrit text for a Western audience should be.”
--Dr. R.E. Asher
Professor of Linguistics
University of Edinburgh
“In the diversity of religious approaches offered by the yogis of India, the most significant, of course, is the way of Krishna consciousness. It is amazing to see how Sri Bhaktivedanta Swami has in less than ten years succeeded, by his personal devotion, untiring energy and efficient direction, in organizing the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Now, he has undertaken the stupendous project of rendering the entire Bhagavata, the great devotional classic of India, into English. His edition is learning blended with devotional feeling and inspired by a definite purpose of communicating the intense lyrical and devotional quality of the Bhagavata. Srila Prabhupada has done an excellent service by his able rendition of ‘the abode of joy’ that the Bhagavata is.”
--Dr. Mahesh Mehta
Professor of Asian Studies
University of Windsor
Ontario, Canada
What scholars have said
EXCERPTS FROM REVIEWS Of SRI CAITANYA-CARITAMRITA
“It is a remarkable document of great historical and sociological importance, giving a picturesque presentation of the socio-religious climate in the India of Sri Caitanya’s times and the far-reaching social and religious changes wrought by him. As a literary piece, it is regarded as a work of great merit, having no parallel in the whole of Bengali literature. As a religious text, its sanctity is comparable to that of the Bhagavad-gita
“This English edition translated by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is superb. It contains the original Sanskrit and Bengali verses with their English transliteration, synonyms and elaborate purports, easily bearing testimony to the author’s profound knowledge of the subject.”
--Dr. O.B.L. Kapoor
Emeritus Chairman and Profess
Department of Philosophy
Government Postgraduate College
Gyanpur, India
“I am most happy to have these handsomely printed volumes which embody the work of so learned and sincere a believer in the message of the Caritamrita.”
--Dr. Daniel H.H. Ingalls
Chairman, Department of Sanskrit
and Indian Studies
Harvard University
“I can recommend Sri Caitanya-caritamrita as a source of rich insights for every serious student of consciousness.”
--Dr. Rory O'Day
Department of Human Relations
University of Waterloo
Ontario, Canada
“It is a genuine joy to have this momentous biographical work on the life of Bengal’s great saint Caitanya, prepared by his best-known modern interpreter, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.”
--Dr. Mark Juergensmeyer
Associate Professor of Ethics
and the Phenomenology of Religions
Graduate Theological Union
Berkeley, California
“Year by year, interest in Eastern religious thought and philosophy grows in America. The editing and translating of the important Sri Caitanya-caritamrita will make a substantial contribution to those who seek information about Indian concepts.”
--Dr. Gerald A. Larue
Professor of Religion
University of Southern California
“The appearance of an English translation of Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami’s Sri Caitanya-caritamrita by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami is a cause for celebration among both scholars in Indian studies and lay-people seeking to enrich their knowledge of Indian spirituality. . . It will fill a most serious lacuna in our libraries and in our courses on the religious traditions of India. . . .
“For the first time we possess a readily accessible edition for this great religious classic that will provide opportunity for scholars in Indian literature and followers of the Krsna cnsciousness tradition alike to compare the original text with a modern English translation and become acquainted with the deeper spiritual meaning of this work through the learned commentary of Sri Bhaktivedanta. . . .
“Anyone who gives a close reading to the commentary will sense that here, as in his other works, Sri Bhaktivedanta has combined a healthy mixture of the fervent devotion and aesthetic sensitivity of the devotee and the intellectual rigor of a textual scholar. At no point does the author allow the intended meaning of the text to be eclipsed by the promotion of a particular doctrinal persuasion. . . .
“These exquisitely wrought volumes will be a welcome addition to the libraries of all persons who are committed to the study of Indian spirituality and religious literature, whether their interests are sparked by the motivations of the scholar, the devotee or the general reader.”
--Dr. J. Bruce Long
Department of Asian Studies
Cornell University
What scholars have said
EXCERPTS FROM REVIEWS OF OTHER WORKS
“The book ‘Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,’ should prove to be an important addition to materials for college courses in religion. It is one of the best sources in English for gaining insight into the bhakti [devotional] religious tradition.”
--Louis Roberts
Executive Chairman
Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures
Syracuse University
” ‘Krsna’ is an important book both for the new student of the history of religions and for the professional scholar. It is a helpful and significant contribution to the growing phenomenon of interest in the religions of Asia.”
--William A. Johnson
Professor of Philosophy
Brandeis University
” ‘Teachings of Lord Caitanya’ is an authentic and lucid account, in English, of the life and philosophy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The spiritual movement initiated by ‘the Great Master’ five hundred years ago has profoundly influenced millions of men and women in India ever since, and is presently making its mark throughout the world.
“Sri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. . . has done a great service to the English-speaking world by making this spiritual treasure available in English.”
--Dr. K.L. Seshagiri Rao
Professor of Religious Studies
University of Virginia
” ‘The Perfection of Yoga’ is most useful for anyone wishing to understand the meaning of yoga. It also introduces the student to the study of Bhagavad-gita and shows how direct and simple yet, in another sense, how profoundly complex is the path of spiritual growth through yoga practice. It is a scholarly book, yet has a direct personal meaning for all–a powerful combination.”
--Dr. Frank Ledwith
Professor of Psychology
University of St. Andrews
Fife, Scotland
“I think the best feature of the Hare Krishna movement is that it is providing scholars with excellent translations of the rarest books on Krishna-bhakti.”
--Dr. Larry D. Shinn
Danforth Professor of Religion
Oberlin College
“I have read Sri Bhaktivedanta Swami’s books with great care, attention and profound interest, and have found them to be of incalculable value to anyone who is curious about India’s spiritual and cultural heritage. The author of these books displays on every page an astounding scholarship in the subjects treated, and also an understanding and ease of exposition of abstruse ideas, which are rarest gifts.”
--Dr. H.B. Kulkarni
Professor of English and Philosophy
Utah State University
“The publications of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust are very valuable documents and will no doubt become classics for the English reader of Indian religious literature.”
--Dr. Jerry M. Chance
Chairman, Department of Philosophy
and Religion
Florida A & M University
“These books are not only beautiful but also relevant to our times, as we as a nation search for new cultural patterns for our way of life.”
--Dr. C.L. Spreadbury
Professor of Sociology
Stephen F. Austin State University
(by Paratrikananda dasa)
Pamho
agtacbsp,
our special guru maharaj had a very long span of life srila bhaktivinoda Thakur predicted acbsp birth as the auspicious appearance of a maha bhagavata devotee,
the yogi who used to visit his father house predicted acbsp as a pure devotee of sriji the sarva lakshmi the astrologer predicted acbsp as the best sannyasi,of course is not easy at all to serve Sri Sri guru gauranga when things still keeping going wrong on this planet but in the hell is even more difficulty to.serve because we require some peace of mind to practice the bhakti yoga acbsp could do it because he is not a ordinary person by taking birth in a respectful vaisnava family in the most auspicious land of bharata varsa tanno krsna pracyodayat it means that the beauty of Sri guru is not different from Sri krsna because its timeless therefore always joyful
agtacbsp
ys haribol