His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabupada, is the Founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Srila Prabhupada became the initiated disciple of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur in 1933. On the order of his guru Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, Srila Prabhupada took up the immense responsibility of broadcasting the Vedic knowledge through the English language all over the world.

Srila Prabhupada has translated and commented on various timeless scriptures including the Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, Sri Caitanya Caritamrita amongst sixty books. Presenting this authoritative holy text in English, Srila Prabhupada has made the Indian wisdom accessible to the whole word in a very lucid and contemporary manner. His books are highly respected in the academic circles for their clarity and depth, and are used as standard textbooks in several academic courses. His books have been translated into over 50 languages. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, established in 1972 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.

Srila Prabhupada lived in the holy place of Vrindavana in very humble circumstances, deep studying the scriptures and writing them for the modern audiences. He accepted the renounced order of life (sannyasa) in 1959. To fulfil the order of his guru, Srila Prabhupada came to the New York City, in September 1965, practically penniless. After about an year of austerity and longing, he established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, in July of 1966.

He travelled across the globe 14 times and visited all major countries to present Krishna consciousness to the humanity. He met several eminent scholars who deeply appreciated his selfless work. He gave thousands of lectures. Before he left this mortal world on November 14, 1977, he saw ISKCON grow to a worldwide confederation of more than 100 ashramas, schools, temples, institutes and farm communities.