Srila Prabhupada Biodata
His Divine
Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada made his transcendental descent
to this world in 1896 in the Vaishnava family of Gour Mohan De. As a child
Srila Prabhupada showed great interest in the Ratha Yatra festival of
Lord Jagannatha, playing the mrdanga drum, and worshipping the Deities of Sri Sri Radha Govindadeva.
Srila Prabhupada's father only had one desire for his son in life and that was that he wanted him to become a pure devotee of Srimati Radharani. Whenever saintly persons would visit the home of Gour Mohan De he would humbly request them, "Please bless my son so that he will become a pure devotee of Srimati Radharani."
As a young man in British Colonial India, Srila Prabhupada became a follower of Gandhi's liberation movement. In support of Gandhi's movement Srila Prabhupada declined to accept his degree from the university and always wore white handloom cloth.
In 1922 Srila Prabhupada met his spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur for the first time. At their very first meeting Saraswati Thakur requested Srila Prabhupada to preach Krishna consciousness to the English speaking world. Srila Prabhupada accepted this instruction as his initiation into Krishna consciousness.
In 1927 Srila
Prabhupada began to associate with the members of Saraswati Thakur's mission
and in 1933 Srila Prabhupada became a formally initiated disciple. At
the time of his formal initiation Srila Prabhupada received both hari-nama and mantra diksha simultaneously.
In 1936 Srila Prabhupada wrote his spiritual master requesting if there was any particular service that he could render. Srila Prabhupada received a reply to that letter containing the same instruction the he had received in 1922, "Preach Krishna consciousness to the English speaking world."
Two weeks
later on the last night of December Saraswati Thakur departed from this
mortal world and entered his nitya-lila, eternal pastimes with the Supreme Lord at Goloka Vrindavana. Those final
instructions to Srila Prabhupada to preach in English then became the
sole focus in Srila Prabhupada's life.
In the years that followed the disappearance of his spiritual master Srila Prabhupada associated more closely with his Godbrother, particularly, Srila Bhaktirakshaka Sridhar Maharaja whom Srila Prabhupada had known since 1927 and whom he considered to be a pure Vaishnava, a pure devotee. Srila Prabhupada allotted a section of his house for Srila Sridhar Maharaja to use as his preaching center in Calcutta and together they endeavored to spread Krishna consciousness.
In 1943 Srila Prabhupada started his Back to Godhead magazine in English with an enthusiastic program to distribute it all over the world. In 1953 Srila Prabhupada received the name/title Bhaktivedanta from the intimate community of his Godbrothers and shortly after he took up his residence at Vrindavana. From that time onwards Srila Prabhupada did not have any further association with his family members.
In 1959 while
living at Vrindavana Srila Prabhupada formally accepted the Vaishnava
Tridandi order of sannyasa from his Godbrother Srila Bhakti Prajnan Keshava Maharaja. After accepting
sannyasa Srila Prabhupada resided at
the Radha Damodara Temple in Vrindavana and began to write his Bhaktivedanta
purports to the Srimad Bhagavatam.
In 1965 Srila Prabhupada set sail on the good ship Jaladuta bound for New York harbor. Single handedly Srila Prabhupada set out for the western world to fulfill the order he had received from his spiritual master in 1922, "Preach Krishna consciousness to the English speaking world."
What followed was possibly one of the greatest events in modern history. From a humble beginning; one elderly holy man alone in New York, Srila Prabhupada traversed the globe twelve times and spread Krishna consciousness and the chanting of the Holy Names of Krishna to every country and village of the world in the remarkably short time of only twelve years.
In 1977 Srila Prabhupada returned to Vrindavana which he considered his home and on November 14th at 7:20 pm the attention of the whole world turned toward his living quarters and His Divine Grace departed from this world and entered the eternal pastimes of his most worshipable Lord, Sri Sri Radha Shyamasundar.
The work
which Srila Prabhupada performed in the matter of establishing Krishna
consciousness all over the world can only be compared to that of Srila
Vyasadeva who originally compiled the Vedas for the benefit of all mankind. The writings of Srila Prabhupada comprise
many volumes and are now 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.
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. Before leaving this world His Divine Grace left no specific disciple or group of disciples as the sole heir to his legacy. He gave his blessings to all and promised to remain our ever well wisher.