International Society for Krishna Consciousness

His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was born in 1896 in Calcutta India. He first met his spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami in Calcutta in 1922. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati a prominent devotional scholar and the founder of sixty-four branches of Gaudiya Mathas (Vedic institutes) liked this educated young man and convinced him to dedicate his life to teaching Vedic knowledge in the Western world. Srila Prabhupada became his student and eleven years later (1933) at Allahabad he became his formally initiated disciple. At their first meeting in 1922 Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura requested Srila Prabhupada to broadcast Vedic knowledge through the English language. In the years that followed Srila Prabhupada wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita and in 1944 without assistance started an English fortnightly magazine. Recognizing Srila Prabhupada's philosophical learning and devotion the Gaudiya Vaisnava Society honored him in 1947 with the title 'Bhaktivedanta.' In 1950 at the age of fifty-four Srila Prabhupada retired from married life and four years later he adopted the vanaprastha (retired) order to devote more time to his studies and writing. Srila Prabhupada traveled to the holy city of Vrndavana where he lived in very humble circumstances in the historic medieval temple of Radha-Damodara. There he engaged for several years in deep study and writing. He accepted the renounced order of life (sannyasa) in 1959. At Radha-Damodara Srila Prabhupada began work on his life's masterpiece: a multivolume translation and commentary on the 18000-verse Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana). He also wrote Easy Journey to Other Planets.