Swami Prabhupada: Father of ISKCON

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977), the founder of the Hare Krishna Movement (ISKCON) was one of Hinduism's most successful exponents, who traveled extensively across the world in order to spread Krishna's message of love and peace. Today, the ISKCON is a worldwide confederation of 10,000 temple devotees and 250,000 congregational devotees worldwide, with its head quarters in Los Angeles.

Swami Prabhupada, is the "Baden Powell - the founder of the Boy Scout movement - of the Indian mystics, as the noted author Aubrey Menen calls him. "He has devised a faith of childlike simplicity. The first steps along the path to self-realization are always difficult. Swami Prabhupada has turned them into a toddle", he says. Menen who is usually very critical of Indian 'saints' writes, "There are no hidden depths in Prabhupada. His simplicity has deep roots. He is teaching first steps, like the Latin master who tells us that if we get 'Balbus built a wall' correct, we will one day read Cicero."

Prabhupda said: "It doesn't matter – Krishna or Christ – the name is the same. The main point is to follow the injunctions of the Vedic scriptures that recommend chanting the name of God in this age." Read more...