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A brief History…. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada. By: Ankita Mishra Krishna Semester 2010. Fast Facts. Born in Calcutta, Bengal on the very next day of Krishna Janmashtami. Was empowered by Lord Nityananda Prabhu. Slept only for 3 hours on any day of 24 hours!.
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A brief History… A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada By: Ankita Mishra Krishna Semester 2010
Fast Facts Born in Calcutta, Bengal on the very next day of Krishna Janmashtami Was empowered by Lord NityanandaPrabhu. Slept only for 3 hours on any day of 24 hours! Founded the famous ISKCON community in New Vrindavan, West Virginia. In 12 years, he circled the globe 14 times on tours that took him to six different continents! Great supporter of Mahatma Gandhi.
Failure after Failure • Came from a rich and successful business family. • All his efforts in business failed. • Soon, he left his wife and family. • Only had one shop left in Delhi which also soon became totally cleaned out and ruined. • He was so Happy! He only had Krishna left in his life. No attachments to Samsara.!
His guru Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakura instructed him to go to the western world and propagate Krishna consciousness • Was very good in English. • Brought only 40 RUPEES with him! (Now: $1 = 45 Rupees) • Srimati Moroi gave him a free ticket on her transporting ship, Jaladuta. • He was the sole passenger of that cargo ship. • Only one person came to bid him goodbye.
“When he left Calcutta harbor for New York there was no one on the shore to bid him goodbye…..I was not a disciple of his. I was a disciple of somebody else…..But due to shared love, I had very much respect for him. So, I was the only person standing on the shore to say him good-bye. No one was with me. I could not know that it was such an important thing”. - Mr. Sisir Bhattacharya, an acquaintance of Srila Prabhupada in Calcutta.
Trip to USA… • He was very sick on the ship itself • On the night of the 2nd day, Prabhupada had a dream. Lord Krishna, in His many forms, was rowing a boat telling him he should not fear, but should come along. • Prabhupada felt assured of Lord Krishna's protection, and the violent attacks did not recur. • His arrival to America is celebrated yearly at Boston’s Commonwealth Pier • Most famous place he visited-Brooklyn NY
Mission of Srila Prabhupada • To serve Lord Sri Krishna • To spread Krishna consciousness in the entire world • To take Caitanya Mahaprabhus’ mission into every town and village. • To have Lord Krishna’s name sung in every town and country.
Nāma sankìrtanam yasya Sarva pāpa pranāsanam Pranāmo dukha samanas Tam namāmi harim param (S.B 12.13.23) Congregational chanting of Lord’s name destroys all sins. Offering pranam to Him relieves all material sufferings. I offer my pranams to that Lord Hari.
ISKCON • Founded ISKCON in 1966 in New York. • At the time of the founding of ISKCON, the lawyer suggested changing it to ‘God’ Consciousness instead of ‘Krishna’ Consciousness, Prabhupada rejected it. • Today ISKCON is run by the Governing Body Commission (GBC) • Within a decade it became a worldwide confederation of almost one hundred asramas, schools, temples, institutes and farm communities.
Biggest Impacts • Every town and country knows who is Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu • Oxford has a centre for Hindu Studies where Krishna Consciousness is a main curriculam! • Bhakti yoga was brought to this country first by him • He was the cause for Bhagavad Gita to become the 2nd largest distributing books in the world!
Accomplishments • Built 108 temples just in 10 years. • One of the most successful in retirement age. • Founder of ISKCON • First guru to transform the most ungrateful people (hippies) into topmost devotees. • Translated and distributed many scriptures • No other guru could convert westerners into eastern religion successfully. He is the only one who could.
“If the Bhagavad Gita, the holy text of the Hindu traditions, is printed in millions of copies and scores of languages and distributed in all nooks and corners of the world, the credit for this great sacred service goes chiefly to ISKCON. For this accomplishment alone, Indians should be eternally grateful to the devoted spiritual army of Swami Prabhupada… The arrival of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in the United States in 1965 and the particular popularity his movement gained in a very short span of twelve years must be regarded as one of the greatest spiritual events of the century…” — AtalBihari Vajpayee - April 1998
“Have Sankirtana, all Europeans, Americans, Africans-United Nations under Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s flag… Do everything just as I have shown you. It is possible. This is the real United Nations . You try, under the protection of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and things will be successful. Others will simply waste their time and be disappointed. They will change from one body to another and suffer…” -Srila Prabhupada, Quote 32 from the book “Just as I have shown You”
Jaya Radha Madhava Jaya Kunja Vihari Jaya Gopi Jana Vallabha Jaya Giri Vara Dhari ... (Jaya) Yasoda Nandana Vraja Jana Ranjana Jamuna Theera Vana Chari ... (Jaya) [ Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare ] [ -------- Slow - All sing to complete -------] Jaya Radha Madhava Jaya Kunja Vihari
Bibliography • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._C._Bhaktivedanta_Swami_Prabhupada • www.folknet.in • http://www.iskcondesiretree.info/ • www.gokulbhajan.com
