Srila Prabhupada's birthday in India
September 1 is the most important day for all followers of Krishna's teachings - it is the birthday of their main spiritual leader and preacher Srila Prabhupada
He translated and introduced the world to the sacred scriptures of Hinduism, the basis of which is the doctrine of the eternal soul in the temporary shell of the human body After the death of a person, the soul is reincarnated into a new body, the fate and life in which depends on previous actions and behavior The principle of retribution, or karma as Hindus call it, states that any sin will be punished and a good deed will be rewarded in this or the next life
On this day, Hindus around the world gather for festive services in temples, meditate and make sacrifices In India, after prayer, Indians go to the bank of the sacred Ganges, where they take a sacred bath
The Hare Krishna religious figure was born in Calcutta in 1896, in the family of Hare Krishnas Gour Mohan De and Rajani, and was given the name Abhay Charan De at birth After birth, an astrologer invited to the house predicted a journey across the ocean at the age of 70 for the baby and great success The boy received a good spiritual education at a prestigious college in Scotland, after which he worked as a manager of a pharmaceutical laboratory He married early, and he and his wife had several children In 1922, the most important meeting took place in the life of the future spiritual leader, which turned his whole life upside down Abhay Charan De was approached by the preacher and reformer of Gaudiya Vaishnavism Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati with a request to begin broadcasting the teachings of Krishna in English After 10 years, Abhay received spiritual initiation Since 1944, he began publishing the religious magazine “Back to Godhead” at his own expense, which he edited and distributed on his own Thanks to the gurus' disciples, this publication still exists today and is published in more than 30 languages around the world
In 1959, having retired from family affairs, Abhay became a Hare Krishna monk with the name AC Bhaktivedanta Swami and took initiation into sannyasa (renounced lifestyle)
Bhaktivedanta Swami was obsessed with converting Westerners to the Hindu faith Therefore, he was not afraid, with seven dollars in his pocket, at the age of 69, to go to the United States on the cargo ship Jaladuta for this purpose The American cultural environment turned out to be very fertile ground for the propagation of the teachings of Krishna, and soon Bhaktivedanta Swami was already surrounded by a small but devoted following It was with their help that in 1966 Bhaktivedanta founded the religious organization International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in New York The Indian preacher chanted the Hare Krishna mantra with his disciples on the streets, distributed books (sankirtana) and gave lectures American Hare Krishnas awarded their spiritual mentor the honorary title Srila Prabhupada (“he at whose feet the teachers sit”)
Despite the sharp contrast between the canons of Hinduism and Western European culture, Prabhupada managed to interest thousands of young people not only in America, but also in Europe, in the teachings of Krishna During his missionary activity, the wandering monarch, attracting new disciples, made 10 trips around the world and founded 108 Krishna temples in different parts of the world From his pen came 60 volumes of translated sacred texts In 1971, Prabhupada visited the Soviet Union, where he was received at the highest level by the Indologist Grigory Kotovsky But the first followers of Hinduism in our country were persecuted
In Calcutta, Mumbai and other Indian cities, Prabhupada is revered as a saint, and streets, squares, schools and hospitals are named after him Many ruling Indian leaders consider it a spiritual mission that spread faith in Krishna and Indian culture throughout the world For the 100th anniversary of the preacher, a commemorative postage stamp with his image was issued in India Today, about 500 million people in the world are Hindus, with the largest communities located in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Kenya, South Africa, Trinidad, Tobago and Guyana
By the time of his death in 1977, Srila Prabhupada had changed the world view of thousands of people without changing anything about Krishna's teachings