Srila Prabhupada’s contributions to the world

Who is Prabhupada? • Prabhupada is a divinely empowered messenger sent by Lord Krishna to fulfil two prophecies:

• Lord Chaitanya’s prophecy: “The holy name of Lord Krishna will be chanted in every town and village.’

• Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s prediction: “A personality will soon appear to preach the teachings of Lord Caitanya and move unrestrictedly over the whole world with His message.”

• Recognising Prabhupada as this personality, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, his Guru asked him to preach the message of Lord Krishna in English to the Western world. He further instructed him to print books if ever got any money

• Prabhupada’s phenomenal success is because he took these two instructions of his spiritual master to heart and fulfilled them sincerely

What did he do in 11 years? • Built over 100 temples and farm communities

wordwide• Travelled the world 14 times across all continents• Wrote/translated over 80 books – including Gita,

Bhagavatam and Chaitanya Charitamrita• Wrote over 7000 letters to his disciples• Dictated over 22,000 pages of text• Initiated over 5000 disciples• Recorded conversations published in 48 volumes• Transcribed lectures published in 18 volumes• Established BBT – the largest publisher of Vedic

literatures in the world• Published Back to Godhead magazine – currently

selling over a million copies • Started the world’s largest vegetarian food relief

programme

Where is ISKCON today? • Over 600 temples across six continents

• 65 farm communities around the world• 52 crore books published and distributed by BBT• 300 crore free sanctified vegetarian meals distributed• 95,000 devotees formally initiated• 12 lakh meals distributed to deprived school children

through ‘Annamrita’• 5 crore people worship in ISKCON temples every year• 260,000 kms walked across 52,000 towns and villages in

110 countries by ISKCON Padayatra • 110 Hare Krishna vegetarian restaurants around the world• 6000 Krishna festivals held around the world• 2.12 lakh patients treated at Bhaktivedanta Hospital• 3600 home study worship (Bhakti Vriksha) every week

Prabhupada’s legacy (1/2)

• Prabhupada was a social and spiritual revolutionary – he created a revolution in every corner of the globe by transforming the hearts and minds of people from all backgrounds to higher consciousness to develop love for God and service of all

• Prabhupada was a prolific author on the science of Krishna - one of his most significant contributions are his books. They contain the master plan for perfect living on a personal, national and even universal scale.

• Prabhupada is the most widely read author of any Bhagavad-gita commentary in the world, with over ten million copies in print and translated in over fifty languages. His books have become recommended text books in major universities of the world

• Prabhupada created a house where the whole world could live in the true environment of a spiritual united nations. Devotees of ISKCON represent a sweeping diversity of nationalities, races, ethnicities, and religious backgrounds.

Prabhupada’s legacy (2/2)

• Prabhupada was a true cultural ambassador of India to the world. He took India’s greatest wealth – its culture and spirituality – and established it all over the world. Today, Indian culture such as Ratha Yatras, spiritual festivals, chanting hari-nama, paintings of Krishna’s pastimes and deity worship can be seen in every corner of the globe, thanks to Prabhupada

• Prabhupada was a pioneer of Vedic spiritual science. He inspired his scientist-disciples to introduce a higher-dimensional theistic paradigm in modern science through the ‘Bhaktivedanta Institute’, thus inaugurating a historic new chapter in the revival of Vedic science in modern times.

Appreciations • In 1998, former Prime Minister of India, Atal Behari Vajpayee said, “The voyage of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada to the United States in 1965 and the spectacular popularity his movement gained in a very short spell of twelve years must be regarded as one of the greatest spiritual events of the century.”

• In 2010, CNN listed Prabhupada among 10 “Famous folks who launched careers after 50”.

• President of India Pranab Mukherjee declared in 2013, “Swami Prabhupada’s greatest legacy was that he was an exemplary ambassador of India’s timeless values. In the years that he spent spreading his simple message, Swami Prabhupada convinced hundreds of thousands of Indians and westerners about the profound value of his philosophy which they embraced along with a Vedic lifestyle.”

Prabhupada’s timeline (1/3)

• 1896: Abhay Charan De, later to be A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, ISKCON’s founder-acarya, is born outside Calcutta, India on September 1

• 1922: De meets his future spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura

• 1933: Initiated as Abhay Cararanavinda, he becomes a disciple of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura

• 1936: Receiving a final instruction from his guru—just days before he passes away—Abhay Carana is asked to preach Krishna consciousness to the English speaking world

• 1944: A.C. Bhaktivedanta starts “Back to Godhead” Magazine, later ISKCON’s flagship magazine

• 1954: Bhaktivedanta retires from family life, adopting vanaprastha (retired) order of life.

• 1959: Becoming A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, accepts the renounced order of life (sannyasa)

• 1960 -65: Bhaktivedanta Swami publishes his first books “Easy Journey to Other Planets” and three volumes of India’s classic Bhagavat-Purana in English

Prabhupada’s timeline (2/3)

• 1965: At the age of 69, with no financial or institutional support, Bhaktivedanta Swami journeys to USA via a freighter ship, to fulfill his guru’s order to preach

• 1966: First Krishna temple opens on New York City’s Lower East Side

• Incorporation of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)

• 1967: Second ISKCON temple opens in San Francisco• 1968: Bhagavad-gita As-It-Is published by Macmillan

Company• 1968: Beatle George Harrison meets ISKCON devotees

and exclaims, "Hare Krishna. Where have you been? I've been waiting to meet you.” A year later, with Harrison’s help, Hare Krishna mantra record goes to Top of the Pops in the UK and Europe

• 1969: ISKCON’S first Rathayatra Parade held in UK

Prabhupada’s timeline (3/3)

• 1970: ISKCON Governing Body Commission (GBC) established, which Prabhupada stated was to be ISKCON’s “ultimate managing authority”

• 1971: Prabhupada visits Moscow and, although restricted by the communist government, accepts a young disciple, and ISKCON begins in Soviet Union

• 1972: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust established to publish Prabhupada’s books

• 1974: ISKCON’S Food For Life vegetarian food relief program inaugurated

• 1975: Prabhupada completes translation and publishes 17-volume “Caitanya Caritamrita” study of the teachings of saint and avatar, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu

• 1976: ISKCON’S first Padayatra, walking pilgrimage, is conducted in India

• 1977: After circling the globe more than a dozen times, and with just eleven years passed since he left India, Prabhupada passes from this world on November 14, in the sacred town of Vrindavan, India, leaving his movement in the hands of his young followers