Krishnabookspov
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Veda explores the secrets of spirituality found in the ancient writings of the East. Probing into topics such as the soul, karma, reincarnation, and meditation, this book will help awaken within you the spiritual insights great teachers have spoken of for thousands of years.
What lies beyond death, and what would you do if you had only a few days left to live? Despite an abundance of comforts and conveniences, why do many still feel dissatisfied, empty, and lacking in purpose? Are day-to-day occurrences predestined or is life an interplay of fate and free will?
In this book, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda and his followers address the most crucial questions of our existence.
Viśākhā Devī Dāsī (Jean Papert Griesser) received an Associate of Applied Science degree with honors from Rochester Institute of Technology and shortly afterwards published her first book, /"Photomacrography: Art and Techniques"/. In 1970 she traveled to India, where she met Śrīla Prabhupāda, accepting initiation from him in Vṛndāvana in 1971. As a photographer, she traveled with and photographed Śrīla Prabhupāda and his students in India, Europe, and the United States. As a writer, she wrote numerous articles for /"Back to Godhead"/ magazine and two books, /"Our Most Dear Friend"/, a /"Bhagavad-gītā"/ for children, and /"Bhagavad-gita: A Photographic Essay"/, a fully illustrated summary study of the /"Bhagavad-gītā"/. Viśākhā also assists her husband, Yadubara Dāsa, in making documentary films on Śrīla Prabhupāda and on the philosophy and culture of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. While living with her husband and children at Śaraṇāgati Village, a rural community in British Columbia, Canada, she wrote /"Harmony and the Bhagavad-gītā: Lessons from a Life-changing Move to the Wilderness."/ She is currently living at the Bhaktivedanta Manor ISKCON community, where she serves as the project's temple president.
Satyarāja Dāsa (Steven J. Rosen) is editor-in-chief of the /"Journal of Vaishnava Studies"/, a biannual publication exploring Eastern thought. He is also associate editor of /"Back to Godhead"/ magazine and the author of over twenty books on Indian philosophy and Vaiṣṇava culture. His recent titles include /"Essential Hinduism"/ (Praeger, 2006), /"Krishna's Song: A New Look at the Bhagavad Gita"/ (Greenwood, 2007), and /"The Yoga of Kirtan: Conversations on the Sacred Art of Chanting"/ (FOLK Books, 2008). He is an initiated disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda appeared in this world in 1896 in Calcutta, India. He first met his spiritual master, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī, in Calcutta in 1922. Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, a prominent religious scholar and the founder of sixty-four Gauḍīya Maṭhas (Vedic institutes), liked this educated young man and convinced him to de dicate his life to teaching Vedic knowledge. Śrīla Prabhupāda became his student and, in 1933, his formally initiated disciple.
At their first meeting, in 1922, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī requested Śrīla Prabhupāda to broadcast Vedic knowledge in English. In the years that followed, Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote a commentary on the /"Bhagavad-gītā"/, assisted the Gauḍīya Maṭha in its work and, in 1944, started /"Back to Godhead"/, an English fortnightly magazine. Singlehandedly, Śrīla Prabhupāda edited it, typed the manuscripts, checked the galley proofs, and even distributed the individual copies. The magazine is now being continued by his disciples.
In 1950 Śrīla Prabhupāda retired from married life, adopting the /vānaprastha/ (retired) order to devote more time to his studies and writing. He traveled to the holy city of Vṛndāvana, where he lived in humble circumstances in the historic temple of Rādhā-Dāmodara. There he engaged for several years in deep study and writing. He accepted the renounced order of life (/sannyāsa/) in 1959. At Rādhā-Dāmodara, Śrīla Prabhupāda began work on his life's masterpiece: a multivolume commentated translation of the eighteen-thousand-verse /"Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam"/ (/"Bhāgavata Purāṇa"/). He also wrote /"Easy Journey to Other Planets"/.
After publishing three volumes of the /"Bhāgavatam"/, Śrīla Prabhupāda came to the United States, in September 1965, to fulfill the mission of his spiritual master. Subsequently, His Divine Grace wrote more than fifty volumes of authoritative commentated translations and summary studies of the philosophical and religious classics of India.
When he first arrived by freighter in New York City, Śrīla Prabhupāda was practically penniless. Only after almost a year of great difficulty did he establish the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, in July of 1966. Before he passed away on November 14, 1977, he had guided the Society and seen it grow to a worldwide confederation of more than one hundred /āśramas/, schools, temples, institutes, and farm communities. New centers continue to open worldwide.
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 his disciples have established similar schools throughout the United States and the rest of the world.
Śrīla Prabhupāda also inspired the construction of several large international cultural centers in India. At Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, in West Bengal, devotees are building a spiritual city centered on a magnificent temple - an ambitious project for which construction will extend over many years to come. In Vṛndāvana are the Krishna-Balaram Temple and International Guesthouse, /gurukula/ school, and Śrīla Prabhupāda Memorial and Museum. There are also major temples and cultural centers in Mumbai, New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Siliguri, and Ujjain. Other centers are planned in many important locations on the Indian subcontinent and around the world.
Śrīla Prabhupāda's most significant contribution, however, is his books. Highly respected by scholars for their authority, depth, and clarity, they are used as textbooks in numerous college courses. His writings have been translated into over eighty 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.
In just twelve years, despite his advanced age, Śrīla Prabhupāda circled the globe fourteen times on lecture tours that took him to six continents. In spite of such a vigorous schedule, Śrīla Prabhupāda continued to write prolifically. His writings constitute a veritable library of Vedic philosophy, religion, literature, and culture.
Ravindra-svarūpa Dāsa is a religious studies scholar and a leader and initiating spiritual master in the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement. He was initiated by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda in 1971. He holds an MA and PhD in Religion from Temple University and a BA in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania. He has written extensively on Vaiṣṇava philosophy and used his education to further the discourse of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava theology within the context of ISKCON.
He is the author of /“Encounter with the Lord of the Universe: Collected Essays 1978-1983”/ (Washington, DC: Gita Nagari Press, 1984) and numerous academic and other papers on Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava philosophy and theology.
Kalakaṇṭha Dāsa (Carl Woodham), a disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda, has been practicing and teaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness since 1972. He has managed and developed Kṛṣṇa conscious temples and communities in several major cities and raised three children with his wife, Jitāmitra Devī Dāsī. Along with developing a successful business to support his family, he also served his local community as a town councilman and a court mediator. His writings include /“The Song Divine, Pastimes of the Supreme Person,”/ /“A God Who Dances”/, numerous management manuals, and articles for /“Back to Godhead”/ magazine.
Kalakaṇṭha Dāsa and his wife currently live in Gainesville, Florida, where they run the Krishna House.
Navīna Śyāma Dāsa (Navin Jani) grew up attending ISKCON temples, first in Cleveland, Ohio, and later in Laguna Beach, California. He is an honors graduate of Stanford University who went on to earn a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from the University of Florida and a Bhakti Shastri degree from the Mayapur Institute of Higher Education. He has since completed a law degree and is working as a lawyer.
Navīna Śyāma has a passion for the Vedic arts and sciences, particularly Vastu Veda, and has served as a consult for a number of projects.
Mathureśa Dāsa was initiated by Śrīla Prabhupāda in 1971 and has written on and off for /“Back to Godhead”/ magazine since 1978. He lives in Gainesville, Florida.
Jayādvaita Swami - editor, publisher, and teacher - is a disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda, initiated in 1968 at the age of nineteen. He served as an editor or assistant editor for nearly all the books of Śrīla Prabhupāda published during Śrīla Prabhupāda's lifetime. Along with these services, he has lectured extensively at colleges and universities, especially in the United States. In 1978 he accepted the renounced order, /sannyāsa/, and spent several years traveling, part of that time with a party of pilgrims on a journey by foot through various states in India, stopping in a different town or village every night.
In 1987 he co-founded the Vrindavan Institute for Higher Education. Since 1988 he has served as a director of Śrīla Prabhupāda's publishing house, the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. From 1991 through most of 1998 he served as editor-in-chief of /"Back to Godhead"/ magazine, for which he had been an assistant editor for several years. Recently he served as editor of a three-volume translation and commentary for /"Śrī Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta"/, a sixteenth-century Sanskrit philosophical and devotional work by Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, and /"Śrī Kṛṣṇa Līlā Stava"/, by the same author. Apart from his services in publishing, he travels widely, teaching about the philosophy and culture of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Giriraj Swami (Glenn Teton) was attending Brandeis University in Boston when he met Srīla Prabhupāda in March of 1969. After graduating from Brandeis cum laude, he accepted formal initiation from Śrīla Prabhupāda. He was then given the opportunity to travel to India with Śrīla Prabhupāda and to oversee the development of Hare Krishna Land in Juhu, Mumbai, a thriving temple community and center of Vaiṣṇava culture and education.
In the year following Śrīla Prabhupāda's departure in 1977, Giriraj was awarded the renounced order of life and appointed president of ISKCON's board of trustees in India. In 1982 he was appointed to ISKCON's Governing Body Commission, and he went on to oversee the Society's activities in Bombay, Mauritius, South Africa, Spain, Portugal, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.
Giriraj Swami was instrumental in the development of the Bhaktivedanta Ashram at Govardhana and of Kirtan Ashram (a home for renounced women), the Bhaktivedanta Hospice, and the Vrindavan Institute of Palliative Care, all in Vṛndāvana, India. Through his efforts, Giriraj Swami has become renowned for the austerities he has accepted, his loyalty and dedication to Śrīla Prabhupāda's mission, his ability to raise funds and cultivate important members of society, and his care for devotees around the world.
Giriraj Swami has also taught at the Vrindavan Institute for Higher Education and continues to lecture and to give presentations at /japa/ retreats and workshops around the world.
Presently based in Carpinteria, California, Giriraj Swami is now focusing on one of the main personal instructions he received from Srila Prabhupada - to write. He is the author of /"Watering the Seed"/, /"Many Moons"/, /"Life's Final Exam"/ a book about death and dying in the Vedic tradition, and /"I'll Built You a Temple: The Juhu Story"/.
Satsvarūpa dāsa Goswami was born on December 6, 1939. In July 1966, he met His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, and he became his initiated disciple in September of that year. Satsvarūpa dāsa Goswami began contributing articles to /"Back to Godhead"/, the magazine of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, and later became its editor in chief. In August 1967 he went to Boston to establish the first ISKCON center there.
Satsvarūpa dāsa Goswami was one of the original members selected by Śrīla Prabhupāda to form the Governing Body Commission of ISKCON in 1970. He remained as president of Boston ISKCON until 1971, when he moved to Dallas and became headmaster of the /gurukula/, the first ISKCON school for children.
In May 1972, on the appearance day of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, he was awarded the /sannyāsa/ (renounced) order by His Divine Grace Śrīla Prabhupāda and began traveling across the United States, lecturing in colleges and universities. In January 1974 he was called by Śrīla Prabhupāda to become his personal secretary and to travel with him through India and Europe. In 1976 he published /"Readings in Vedic Literature"/, a concise account of the Vedic tradition. The volume is now being studied at various universities. In 1977 Śrīla Prabhupāda ordered him to accept the duties of initiating guru, along with ten other senior disciples. In addition to his duties as a Governing Body Commissioner and an initiating guru, he has written many books, including the multivolume /"Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta"/.
Graham M. Schweig, PhD, is a scholar of Comparative Religion who focuses on the religions of India. He is a specialist in love mysticism, concentrating on religions of the heart. Schweig did his graduate studies at Harvard University and the University of Chicago, and received his doctorate in Comparative Religion from Harvard. Schweig has taught at Duke University and the University of North Carolina, and was Visiting Associate Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Virginia. He is currently a Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies and Director of the Indic Studies Program at Christopher Newport University, on the Virginia Peninsula.
Schweig is a long-time practitioner of meditational and devotional yoga under the guidance of traditional teachers, since 1967. In the early 1970s he was initiated by Srila Prabhupāda, from whom he received the Sanskrit name Garuḍa Dāsa. He is an internationally known teacher of bhakti and yoga and offers workshops at major yoga centers and conferences as well as public lectures at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.
Schweig's ultimate interest is to find religious truths within Indic traditions that contribute powerful symbols which can speak beyond their religious boundaries, moving religion toward world peace. He has contributed numerous pieces to encyclopedia volumes, journals, and books. In 2005 his book /"Dance of Divine Love: India's Classic Sacred Love Story"/ was published by Princeton University Press, and in 2007 /"Bhagavad Gita: The Beloved Lord's Secret Love Song"/ was published by HarperOne, a division of Harper Collins. He has several more books coming out with Princeton University, HarperOne, and Columbia University presses.
Hridayānanda Dāsa Goswami (Dr. Howard J. Resnick, PhD) was initiated by Śrīla Prabhupāda in 1970 and accepted vows of renunciation in 1972. After Śrīla Prabhupāda's departure from the world in 1977, Hridayānanda Dāsa Goswami was the first Westerner in history to successfully translate and comment on the canonical /"Bhāgavata Purāṇa"/ from within the tradition.
Hridayānanda Dāsa Goswami received his PhD in Sanskrit and Indian Studies from Harvard University in 1996. As a visiting scholar at UCLA, he has taught the history, philosophies, and religions of India at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and, most recently, at the University of Florida in Gainesville. He has also published articles with such institutions as Harvard, Columbia, and the University of California. Having lectured at leading universities throughout the United States, Europe, India, and South America, Hridayānanda Dāsa Goswami is a much sought after speaker by colleges, universities, divinity schools, civic groups, and religious organizations of all kinds.
He has written /"A Comprehensive Guide to the Bhagavad Gita"/ and recently completed his first novel, in which a contemporary story frames an ancient tale. His current project is to present the great epic narrative of South Asia, the /"Mahābhārata"/, as a three-part historical novel.