the deity. Abjay entered Scottish Churches College
in 1916. While still a student he entered into an
arranged marriage with Padharani Satta in 1919;
his wife never shared his devotional aspirations.
He completed his college work but refused his
degree, in response to Mohandas Karamchand
GANDHI’s call to boycott British goods.
While working as manager of a pharmaceuti-
cal company. De met Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta
Saraswati Goswami, head of the GAUDIYA MAT H, an
India-wide CHAITANYA-VAISHNAVITE religious move-
ment, who became his spiritual master. In 1932
Sri Saraswati initiated De into the Gaudiya Math
and gave him the name Abhay Charanaravinda,
meaning “one who fearlessly takes shelter at the
feet of the Lord.” The GURU told him to prepare
to spread the teachings of Krishna worship in the
West, but De put aside the suggestion. After his
guru’s death two decades later, he wrote his first
books: an Introduction to the Geetopanishad and
the Bhagavad Gita As It Is. For these publications,
a society called the Vaishnavites honored him
with the title Bhaktivedanta, meaning “devotion to
the knowledge of God.” He left his wife and family
in 1959 to study under another teacher, Acha-
rya Goswami, at the Radha Damodara temple in
BRINDAVAN (Krishna’s birthplace), where he lived
austerely in a small room.
In 1965 Bhaktivedanta visited the United
States to proclaim the message of Krishna. In
1966 he founded the INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR
KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS (known as ISKCON), to
propound the ancient tradition of Vaishnavism,
as taught in the first half of the 16th century by
the ecstatic Chaitanya, among modern seekers.
The followers of ISKCON have made BHAKTI YOGA
famous in the West through their ubiquitous
chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra. The orga-
nization has published new translations of many
ancient Vaishnavite scriptures, particularly the
BHAGAVAD GITA and the BHAGAVATA PURANA.
The movement became one of the most promi-
nent of the alternative religions to emerge during
the 1970s in America, from which it has spread
to every continent. Before his death, Srila Prab-
hupada (an honorific) saw the building of many
temples, children’s schools, rural communities,
and major cultural centers around the world.
Since his death, the movement has diminished in
size and has fragmented.
On July 9, 1977, Bhaktivedanta Swami appointed
11 of his senior assistants to act as officiating
priests (ritviks) to initiate all future ISKCON
members on his behalf. After his death at Brin-
davan on November 14 that year, the appointees
claimed they were in fact chosen as successor
gurus, causing confusion and controversy within
the movement. ISKCON members believe that
Bhaktivedanta Swami still exerts his spiritual
influence on anyone who follows his teachings,
and that he remains a highly empowered devotee
of their God, Krishna. Effigies of Bhaktivedanta
Swami are installed in all ISKCON temples.
Today, in additon to ISKCON, a reform move-
ment, the INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA
CONSCIOUSNESS REVIVAL MOVEMENT (IRM), carries
on the teaching of Bhaktivedanta Swami.
Further reading: A. C. Swami Prabhupada Bhaktive-
danta, Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (New York: ISKCon,
1972); ———, KRSNA, The Supreme Personality of
Godhead, 3 vols. (New York: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust,
1970); ———, The Science of Self-Realization (New
York: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1977); Steven J. Gel-
berg, ed., Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna (New York: Grove
Press, 1983); Satsvarupa dasa Goswami, Srila Prab-
hupada-lilamrta: A Biography of His Divine Grace A. C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, 3 vols. (Los Angeles:
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1980–83); J. Stillson Judah,
Hare Krishna and the Counterculture (New York: John
Wiley & Sons, 1974).
Bharat (Bharata)
Bharat (Bharata or Bhaarata in Sanskrit) is the
Hindi name for India and the official name that
the country adopted at independence. Legend
traces the name to Bharata, the eponymous chief
K 78 Bharat