Srila Prabhupada

Srila Prabhupada was also the inspiring spirit in the establishment of a forum of leading God conscious scientists, the Bhaktivedanta Institute ( BI ). BI has done pioneering work in presenting the Vedic philosophy in a rational manner to the scientists of the world. Srila Prabhupada was the greatest cultural ambassador of India to the world. Srila Prabhupada's vision was a global East-West synthesis. Just as the lame man, if carried by the blind man, can guide the latter, he felt that if the materially wealthy but spiritually blind West, especially the United states and the spiritually wealthy but materially lame India joined forces, the combination together would usher in an era of real peace and prosperity all over the world,

He therefore trained thousands of disciples from varying backgrounds in the Vedic way of life He also took India's cultural and religious festivals to the West, especially the Ratha-Yatra festival, which has now become a major event in over 64 cities worldwide. The international cultural centers in Sridham Mayapur, Vrindavana, Mumbai and other places are also a manifestation of this principle.

Over and above all his other activities, Srila Prabhupada's most significant contribution is his books. He authored 70 volumes of authoritative translations, commentaries and summary studies of the philosophical and religious classics of India. His Bhagavad Gita As It Is is the most widely read edition of the Bhagavad Gita in the English language. His life's masterpiece is, however, a multi-volume commentated translation of the eighteen thousand verse Srimad Bhagavatam. Highly respected by the academic community for their authority, depth and clarity, his books are used as standard textbooks in numerous college courses. They have been translated in over fifty languages and constitute a veritable library of Vedic philosophy, Religion literature and Culture.

But Srila Prabhupada was not just a great scholar. He was a pure devotee of Lord Krishna, motivated by no desire other than to please his spiritual master. He saw that people in general in Kali Yuga were absorbed in bodily, animalistic activities. Led by similarly blind leaders, the whole world was on the path of self-destruction, with no hope of any genuine solution. And it was the selfless saintly compassion

aroused within him by this hopeless situation that propelled him to preach all over the world to wake up the souls sleeping in illusion with the sound of the Holy Name.