His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda appeared in this world in 1896 in Calcutta, India. He first met his spiritual master, Śrila Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Gosvāmi, in Calcutta in 1922. Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati, a prominent devotional scholar and the founder of sixty-four Gauḍiya Maṭhas (Vedic institutes), liked this educated young man and convinced him to dedicate his life to teaching Vedic knowledge. Śrila Prabhupāda became his student, and eleven years later (1933) at Allahabad he became his formally initiated disciple.
At their first meeting, in 1922, Śrila Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Thākura requested Śrila Prabhupāda to broadcast Vedic knowledge through the English language. In the years that followed, Śrila Prabhupāda wrote a commentary on the  Bhagavad-gitā , assisted the Gauḍiya Maṭha in its work and, in 1944, without assistance, started an English fortnightly magazine, edited it, typed the manuscripts and checked the galley proofs. He even distributed the individual copies freely and struggled to maintain the publication. Once begun, the magazine never stopped; it is now being continued by his disciples in the West.
Recognizing Śrila Prabhupāda's philosophical learning and devotion, the Gauḍiya Vaiṣṇava Society honored him in 1947 with the title "Bhaktivedanta." In 1950, at the age of fifty-four, Śrila Prabhupāda retired from married life, and four years later he adopted the  vānaprastha  (retired)
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