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The International Society for Krishna Consciousness \u2014 the bhakti movement led by Swami Prabhupada \u2014 that introduced the spiritual science of devotional service to Krishna in the west turns fifty this year. REENA SINGH reports<\/p>\n
Turning fifty this year, the International Society for Krishna C o n s c i o u s n e s s (Iskcon) started by the then 70-year-old Swami Prabhupada has lost none of its youthful vim and vigour. Swamiji made his way to the US from West Bengal to spread the message of Sri Krishna in the western world. He reached there in 1965 and a year later, established the first temple of Iskcon at New York. Soon after, he sent off three couples to the UK who, like wandering minstrels, would sing the Hare Krishna mantra, in their famous kirtana style.They were walking down Soho when they bumped into Beatles George Harrison and John Lennon. Harrison accosted them: \u201cHare Krishna, where have you been? I have been waiting to meet you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two Beatles had been to Rishikesh and were no strangers to eastern philosophy.<\/p>\n
So taken in was Harrison by the movement that he helped devotees launch their first Radha Krishna temple album that quickly made Iskcon a household name in the west. Reportedly, Harrison wanted to join the movement, but Swami Prabhupada advised him to continue singing \u2014 \u2018Do what you do best and remember Krishna,\u2019 he told the Beatle. Soon, George Harrison released his big single chart-topper, My Sweet Lord, dedicated to Krishna.The simple, lilting melody was set to hauntingly melodious music: My sweet lord Hm, my lord Hm, my lord I really want to see you Really want to be with you Really want to see you lord But it takes so long, my lord Swami Prabhupada took Krishna\u2019s message of bhakti and love across the globe and in a short span of a decade, established 108 temples, 32 farming communities, schools and institutions spread across the globe in the Americas, Africa, India, Europe and Australia. Iskcon\u2019s presence is marked by huge temples, goshalas, eco villages, and vegetarianism. Swami Prabhupada\u2019s contextual and logical translation and commentary of the philosophy of the Gita in his book, Bhagwad Gita As It Is, made the scripture accessible to millions across the globe. Prabhupada\u2019s commentary on the Gita published by Iskcon is sold most widely in India. And it isn\u2019t only because devotees can be seen at airports and traffic intersections selling copies.The version describes Krishna\u2019s philosophy in simple, everyday language and is widely used in courses that teach Hinduism in institutes worldwide.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe year-long celebration programme marking 50 years has been underway since early this year, when a Ratha Yatra was flagged off from the Mumbai Iskcon temple at Juhu. Just last month, on June 10,David Cameron attended the 50- year celebrations at the Bhaktivedanta Manor, the house that George Harrison donated to Iskcon several decades ago.The ex-PM garlanded the deity of Srila Prabhupada and remarked: \u201cIf only he had lived to see what the Manor has become; a mock Tudor country house donated by a Beatle, serving as a hub of worship, celebration and selflessness!\u201d In the US, Iskcon\u2019s famous \u2018Walking Monk\u2019, Bhaktimarga Swami is trekking from New York to San Francisco, following the path the movement took when it spread out from the East Coast to the West Coast of the US, 50 years ago. Along the way, the monk is visiting Iskcon centres and yoga institutes spreading the Hare Krishna message as he walks along. An academic conference was held at Harvard on Iskcon\u2019s 50 years and coming up next month is a spectacular show at the Sydney Opera House, a theatrical, musical and multimedia extravaganza showcasing the extraordinary journey of Swami Prabhupada that has transformed the lives of millions. The Australian PM is expected to attend the event that will show how the cultural roots of the Hare Krishna movement have spread in 50 years. There will be renditions of how disciples bumped into the Beatles, had skirmishes with the Russian KGB back in the communist era when people of the Soviet Union were warned to stay away from western culture, pop music and the Hare Krishnas, besides other landmarks in Prabhupada\u2019s life. \u201cEvery temple and institute has their own events lined up as well and this year, they will celebrate Janmashtami on a grand scale.<\/p>\n
\u201cDelhi will host the global finale to the celebrations in November where 15,000 devotees from 65 countries will take part at a function at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium,\u201d adds Yudhistir Govinda Das, deputy director and national coordinator, India Communications for Iskcon. There will also be a \u2018Clean Vrindaban Campaign\u2019 in which 10,000 devotees are expected to take part,\u201d he says. \u201cWe have over 10 million devotees worldwide,\u201d he says, beaming with pride at what the movement that spreads compassion and love among society has achieved. And it is this abiding message of love that has taken Iskcon members to where they are today, notwithstanding the controversies that they have had to wade through \u2014 of paedophilia incidents,of accusations that funds are being taken to the west,of the erstwhile Russian regime banning sales of the Gita. Eventually,the worldwide message of warmth and love that the Hare Krishna movement has been striving to disseminate has overcome any setbacks of earlier years, paving the way for a new era of universal love and peace.<\/p>\n
Source: http:\/\/www.speakingtree.in\/article\/50-years-of-krishna-consciousness<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Turning fifty this year, the International Society for Krishna consciousness (Iskcon) started by the then 70-year-old Swami Prabhupada has lost none of its youthful vim and vigour. Swamiji made his way to the US from West Bengal to spread the message of Sri Krishna in the western world. He reached there in 1965 and a year later, established the first temple of Iskcon at New York. Soon after, he sent off three couples to the UK who, like wandering minstrels, would sing the Hare Krishna mantra, in their famous kirtana style.They were walking down Soho when they bumped into Beatles George Harrison and John Lennon. Harrison accosted them: \u201cHare Krishna, where have you been? I have been waiting to meet you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-iskcon-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29472"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29474,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29472\/revisions\/29474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Hare](\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/-A_qcqYPuGCA\/V4X0WisjPtI\/AAAAAAAAc7c\/ASlSBWkYduY\/s0\/2016-07-13_09-57-13.jpg\")
By Reena Singh<\/strong><\/p>\n