IN THE INTRODUCTION to the first volume of Srimad Bhagavatam, published in 1962, Prabhupada wrote, “It is admitted even in the higher circles that in fact, the whole root and background of Indian culture is wrapped in the Sanskrit language. And we know that the foreign invaders of India could break down some of the monumental architectural work in India but they were unable to break up the perfect ideals of human civilization so far kept hidden within the Sanskrit language of Vedic wisdom. . . . Srimad Bhagavatam is the mature ripe fruit of the tree of Vedic literature. . . . We have just begun to give it rendered into English with broader outlook . . .” He printed 1,100 copies of that first book.
In 2015, the year that marked the fiftieth anniversary of Prabhupada’s arrival in the West, the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust calculated the total number of his books distributed to date: The number exceeded 500,000,000 (one-half billion).
FOR TWO REASONS, this biography focuses on Prabhupada’s formative years in India and on the early days of his mission in the West. First, it was in India, under the guidance of his guru, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, that Prabhupada developed the structure and goals for a mission in the West. Second, my own life as a devotee began in 1969, and I was privileged to participate in many of the incidents described here.
More than fifty disciples agreed to be interviewed for this book. As I reached out to others, it was startling to discover how many first generation Krishna devotees had passed away. Gour Govinda Swami—the person described in the introduction stirring a pot of kitchuri in Bhubaneshwar—was one of Prabhupada’s leading sannyasis (monks in the renounced order). He passed away in 1996. Bhakti Tirtha Swami, another leading disciple and a friend who dedicated himself to the African and African-American communities, passed away in 2005. My London roommate in the early 1970s, Tamal Krishna Goswami, became a respected Vaishnava scholar in his later years. He passed away in 2010. With us in London was our godsister, Yamuna Devi, author of the award-winning cookbook Lord Krishna’s Cuisine. She passed away in 2014. While proofreading the manuscript for this book, I received notice that Brahmananda Das, another pillar of Prabhupada’s movement, had passed away in Vrindavan. He was followed a few weeks later by Saurabha Das, the architect of Prabhupada’s Vrindavan and Juhu temples. It was a joy serving with these first-generation devotees, and fortunately many of them left memoirs. So it was not necessary to imagine the conversations readers will find here: They were available from primary sources. Occasionally, I have abridged, edited, or combined these discussions to make their meaning clearer for readers.
An important reference for the work at hand was Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta, the official and highly detailed biography by Satsvarupa Das Goswami. A wealth of information concerning Prabhupada’s early years would have been lost if not for this herculean six-volume achievement. Other sources such as Our Srila Prabhupada: A Friend to All and similar anecdotal accounts were compiled by well-intended followers who did not always adhere to standard archival or interview practices. Quotes from these works were made judiciously and researched as far as possible.