The Author

His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada appeared in
this world in 1896 in Calcutta, India. He first met his spiritual master,
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami, in Calcutta in 1922. Bhakti-
siddhanta Sarasvati, a prominent devotional scholar and the founder of
sixty-four Gaudiya Mathas (Vedic institutes), liked this educated young
man and convinced him to dedicate his life to teaching Vedic knowledge.
Srila Prabhupada became his student, and eleven years later (1933) at
Allahabad he became his formally initiated disciple.

At their first meeting, in 1922, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Thakura requested Srila Prabhupada to broadcast Vedic knowledge
through the English language. In the years that followed, Srila Prabhu-
pada wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita, assisted the Gaudiya
Matha 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 strug-
gled to maintain the publication. Once begun, the magazine never
stopped; it is now being continued by his disciples in the West.

Recognizing Srila Prabhupada’s philosophical learning and devotion,
the Gaudiya Vaisnava Society honored him in 1947 with the title
“Bhaktivedanta.” In 1950, at the age of fifty-four, Srila Prabhupada
retired from married life, and four years later he adopted the
vanaprastha (retired) order to devote more time to his studies and writ-
ing. Srila Prabhupada traveled to the holy city of Vrndavana, where he
lived in very humble circumstances in the historic medieval temple of
Radha-Damodara. There he engaged for several years in deep study and
writing. He accepted the renounced order of life (sannydsa) in 1959. At
Radha-Damodara, Srila Prabhupada began work on his life’s master-
piece: a multivolume translation and commentary on the eighteen thou-
sand verse Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana). He also wrote
Easy Journey to Other Planets.

After publishing three volumes of Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada
came to the United States, in 1965, to fulfill the mission of his spiritual
master. Since that time, His Divine Grace has written over forty volumes
of authoritative translations, commentaries and summary studies of the
philosophical and religious classics of India.

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