Why This Hare Krishna Moment ?

Why This Hare Krishna Movement?

In 1965, at the age of 69, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada boarded the steamship ‘Jaladuta’ from Mumbai to the United States. At an age when most people think of retiring, Srila Prabhupada undertook this arduous journey to fulfill the mission of Lord Caitanya and follow the instruction of his spiritual master, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, to carry the message of Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam to the Western world.

After arriving in New York City in September 1965, Srila Prabhupada struggled alone for the first year to establish his Krishna conscious movement. He lived simply, lectured whenever and wherever he got the opportunity, and gradually began to attract some small interest in his teaching. In July of 1966, while still working from an obscure storefront on New York City’s Lower East Side, Srila Prabhupada nonetheless founded a spiritual society intended for worldwide participation. He called it the International Society for Krishna Consciousness or ISKCON for short, and thus began the Hare Krishna movement in America.

Initially, with no committed followers, he inspired volunteers from his regular attendees to become ISKCON’s first trustees. That was then. Today, ISKCON has more than 400 temples worldwide, 40 rural communities, and over 100 vegetarian restaurants. Projects like “Food for Life” share free, pure vegetarian meals across the globe.