208 TEACHINGS OF QUEEN KUNTI

difficulty that he established the International Society for Krishna Con-
sciousness in July of 1966. Before his passing away on November 14,
1977, he guided the Society and saw it grow toa worldwide confederation
of more than one hundred asramas, schools, temples, institutes, and farm
communities.

In 1968, Srila Prabhupada created New Vrindaban, an experimental
Vedic community in the hills of West Virginia. Inspired by the success of
New Vrindaban, now a thriving farm community of more than one thou-
sand acres, his students have since founded several similar communities
in the United States and abroad.

In 1972, His Divine Grace introduced the Vedic system of primary and
secondary education in the West by founding the Gurukula school in
Dallas, Texas. Since then, under his supervision, his disciples have
established children’s schools throughout the United States and the rest
of the world. As of 1978, there are ten Gurukula schools worldwide, with
the principal educational center now located in Vrndavana, India.

Srila Prabhupada also inspired the construction of several large inter-
national cultural centers in India. The center at Sridhama Mayapur in
West Bengal is the site for a planned spiritual city, an ambitious project
for which construction will extend over the next decade. In Vrndavana,
India, is the magnificent Krsna-Balarama Temple and International
Guesthouse. There is also a major cultural and educational center in
Bombay. Other centers are planned in a dozen other important locations
on the Indian subcontinent.

Srila Prabhupada’s most significant contribution, however, is his
books. Highly respected by the academic community for their authori-
tativeness, depth, and clarity, they are used as standard textbooks in
numerous college courses. His writings have been translated into twenty-
eight languages. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, established in 1972 ex-
clusively to publish the works of His Divine Grace, has thus become the
world’s largest publisher of books in the field of Indian religion and
philosophy.

In just twelve years, in spite of his advanced age, Srila Prabhupada
circled the globe fourteen times on lecture tours that took him to six con-
tinents. In spite of such a vigorous schedule, Srila Prabhupada continued
to write prolifically. His writings constitute a veritable library of Vedic
philosophy, religion, literature, and culture.
