Bhakti Charu Swami
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Bhakti Charu Swami is a Vaishnava swami[1] and a religious leader of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).[2] He is one of the ISKCON's initiating gurus and a member of ISKCON's Governing Body Commission.[2] Previously he was simultaneously acting as ISKCON's minister of arts and culture.[2] He is an initiated disciple of ISKCON's founder A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and has translated Prabhupada's literary works in Bengali[2] and also produced a television serial on Prabhupada's life entitled "Abhay Charan".[2] He's also serving on an advisory panel of I-Foundation,[3] a leading Hindu charity organisation in the United Kingdom.[4]
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[edit] Biography
Bhakti Charu Swami was born in Bengal in 1945 and spent most of his early life in urban Calcutta.[5] In 1976 he joined ISKCON. During his first meeting with Srila Prabhupada, he was instructed to translate Prabhupada's books into Bengali. Soon afterwards, Srila Prabhupada awarded him first and second initiations simultaneously, and appointed him as his secretary for Indian affairs. About three months later Srila Prabhupada gave him sannyasa.
Bhakti Charu Swami is a member of the Governing Body Commission, the Minister of Culture and an initiating spiritual master. He has gained respect throughout the movement for his scholarship and Vaisnava qualities. In 1996, he embarked on a 104 episode television mega-series on the life of Srila Prabhupada called Abhay Caran in conjunction with the Indian National Television. He is one of the pioneers of the VIHE in Vrindavan, and taught Vaishnava Etiquette in 1987 and 1988, and Brihat Bhagavatamrita in 1989.
In February 2006, Bhakti Charu Swami built a temple with three huge altars for the worship of Gaura Nitai, Radha Madan Mohan and Krishna Balaram. This temple is situated in the holy town of Ujjain. The Ujjain ISKCON temple under the direction of Bhakti Charu Swami feeds 23,000 school children per day. To facilitate this feeding project Bhakti Charu Swami built a 6,000 sq ft (560 m2) industrial kitchen. This feeding project has plans to feed up to 100,000 children by beginning of 2009.
[edit] Publications
- Bhakti Charu Swami (1998), "The Pada-Yatra of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu", Journal of Religious Culture 21, <http://web.uni-frankfurt.de/irenik/relkultur21.pdf>
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ List of Sannyasis in ISKCON April 2008 ISKCON Sannyasa Ministry, Retrieved on 5 May 2008
- ^ a b c d e Kuppan 2006
- ^ I-Foundation
- ^ Britain's first Hindu school gets planning permission
- ^ Kirtan personalities interviewed in The Yoga of Kirtan
[edit] References
- Rosen, Steven J. (2008), The Yoga of Kirtan: Conversations on the Sacred Art of Chanting, Folk Books, ISBN 0615205100, <http://books.google.com/books?id=k0qAPgAACAAJ>
- Shivadas, P.C. (August 11, 1997), "Labour of love for spiritual guru", New Straits Times, <http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KvIVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HBUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6760,1757609>
- Kuppan, Irene (October 18 2006), "'Lack of spirituality making world evil'", The Daily News: 2, <http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=139&art_id=vn20061018095827869C571572>
- Gupta, Suchandana (17 August 2007), "MP madrassas boycott Iskcon's mid-day meals", The Times of India, <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/MP_madrassas_boycott_Iskcons_mid-day_meals/articleshow/2286310.cms>
- Burke, Daniel (January 20, 2008), "For 'Dharma Indexes,' Firms' Conduct Matters", The Washington Post: F03, <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/19/AR2008011900055.html>
- White, Charles S. J. (2009), The Yoga of Kirtan: Conversations on the Sacred Art of Chanting Book Review, <http://www.yogaofkirtan.com/Site/White_Review.html>
- ISKCON News Staff (April 1 2008), "Bhakti Charu Swami Hospitalized for Heart Condition", ISKCON News Weekly, <http://news.iskcon.com/node/966>
[edit] External links
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