आगमे विश्वासटिप्पन्यः

(b. Abhay Charan De, 1896–1977)
Devotee (bhakta) of the god Krishna
and founder of ISKCON (International
Society for Krishna Consciousness),
more popularly known as the Hare
Krishnas. ISKCON has its roots in the
Gaudiya Vaishnava religious community
founded by the Bengali saint Chaitanya,
in which the primary religious action
was the repeated recitation of Krishna’s
name, often in public settings.
Prabhupada was initiated into Krishna
devotion in his university years, at
which time his guru commanded him to
bring the worship of Krishna to the
West. At the age of 58, after a successful
career as a pharmacist, he boarded a
steamer for the United States, arriving
with a few books, a typewriter, and eight
dollars in his pocket. His timing was
exquisite—or, as he put it, reflected
Krishna’s grace—for he came during
the countercultural movement in the
second half of the 1960s; by the time of
his death he had thousands of followers.
In his later years he focused on translating and commenting on important
Vaishnava texts, particularly the
Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavata
Purana, and this emphasis on publishing has continued after his death.
For an insider’s perspective on his life,
see Satsvarupdas Dasa Goswami,
Prabhupada, 1983; and Robert D. Baird,
“Swami Bhaktivedanta and Ultimacy,”
in Robert D. Baird (ed.), Religion in
Modern India, 1998.