Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami, born Abhay Charan De and called Prabhupada in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), was an Indian Gaudiya Vaishnava guru who founded ISKCON, commonly known as the "Hare Krishna movement". Members of ISKCON view Bhaktivedanta Swami as a representative and messenger of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organisation. ISKCON was founded in 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Its core beliefs are based on Hindu scriptures, particularly the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavata Purana, and the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, which has had adherents in India since the late 15th century and American and European devotees since the early 1900s.
Narottama Dasa Thakura, also known as Thakura Mahasaya, was a Gaudiya Vaishnava saint who was responsible for spreading Vaishnava bhakti throughout Odisha in and outside of Bengal in India. Narottama Dasa was the son of King Krishnananda Datta and Narayani Devi who resided in Gopalpur Pargana of the Rajshahi district of Bangladesh. According to some, after the death of his father he entrusted his royal duties to the eldest paternal uncle's son and left for Vrindavana.
The Governing Body Commission (GBC) is the managerial authority of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). ISKCON's founder, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, created the GBC in 1970 and since then it has met on an annual basis, usually in Mayapur, India.
Satsvarupa das Goswami is a senior disciple of Bhaktivedanta Swami, who founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), better known in the West as the Hare Krishna movement. Serving as a writer, poet, and artist, Satsvarupa dasa Goswami is the author of Bhaktivedanta Swami's authorized biography, Srila Prabhupada-lilamrta. After Prabhupada]]'s death, Satsvarupa dasa Goswami was one of the eleven disciples selected to initiate future disciples. Satsvarupa dasa Goswami,, is one of the first few Westerners ordained by Bhaktivedanta Swami in September 1966. He is a Vaishnava writer, poet, and lecturer, who published over a hundred books including poems, memoirs, essays, novels, and studies based on the Vaishnava scriptures.
Bhakti Chaitanya Swami is a Gaudiya Vaishnava swami and a religious leader of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He is a member of its Governing Body Commission and is the leader of ISKCON in South Africa, the Baltic states and Russia.
The Chaitanya Charitamrita, composed by Krishnadasa Kaviraja in c. 1557, is written in Bengali with a great number of Sanskrit verses in its devotional, poetic construction, including Shikshashtakam. It is one of the primary biographies detailing the life and teachings of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. The stories of Chaitanya's life are mixed with philosophical conversations detailing the process of Bhakti yoga, with special attention given to congregational chanting of Krishna’s names and the Hare Krishna mantra.
Kirtanananda Swami, also known as Bhaktipada, was a Gaudiya Vaishnava guru and the co-founder of New Vrindaban, a Hare Krishna community in Marshall County, West Virginia, where he served as spiritual leader from 1968 until 1994.
Mukunda Goswami is a spiritual leader (guru) within the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
Rupa Goswami was a devotional teacher (guru), poet, and philosopher of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. With his brother Sanatana Goswami, he is considered the most senior of the six Goswamis of Vrindavan associated with Caitanya Mahaprabhu, a hidden avatar (incarnation) of Krishna in Kali Yuga.
Vishnujana Swami, born Mark Stephen D'Atillo, was a disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and a sannyasi within the International Society for Krishna Consciousness who disappeared in 1976. He made recordings of himself singing the Hare Krishna mantra.
Giriraj Swami is an initiating guru in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and one of the leading disciples of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of ISKCON.
Bhakti Prajnan Keshava, addressed by the honorific Mahārāja, was a disciple of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and the founder of the Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organisation Sri Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti, formed in Calcutta in 1940.
Yadunandana Swami, Principal of Bhaktivedanta College, is the first Spanish second generation sannyasi of ISKCON. He was approved by ISKCON's GBC body, in February 2009, as an ISKCON sannyasa. He is one of the original developers of VTE courses and is currently an Executive Member of Governing Body Commission Ministry of Educational Development.
Hridaya Chaitanya Dasa, also known as Herman Janssens, is temple president of Radhadesh, leader and Governing Body Commissioner for Belgian ISKCON, Co-GBC for the Benelux, and a member of the "Executive Committee of the ISKCON GBC Society". He and his wife are disciples of Satsvarupa dasa Goswami. Belgian by origin he has joined the Hare Krishna community of Amsterdam in 1980 at the age of thirty after leaving a teaching job. Hridaya Caitanya is the GBC since 2002. More recently he became the current Euro-GBC for Benelux. He is part of the Durbuy community of Radhadesh from 1980. In 1986 he became temple president of the largest Belgian centre which includes a traditional bakery, an Indian boutique, a cafeteria, a vegetarian restaurant, Gopinatha's Garden, and, as from July 2002, a guest house. Bhaktivedanta College is part of the same campus. The official name of Radhadesh is Maison d'hôtes Radhadesh and it is a prominent ISKCON facility with a conference room and educational courses. The Radhadesh is the most important temple in the Benelux and second prominent temple of European ISKCON. The tours in and around the castle form one of the most important sources of income of his project. One of the most attractive features of his temple is that educational seminars are held there making it a Vaishnava education centre of Europe. From 2008 he has taken up service of an administrator/manager (gerant) with a responsibility of coordinating the task force in regard to the ISKCON Dole project.
An ISKCON guru is a person who is permitted to initiate disciples into the International Society for Krishna Consciousness system. The guru system has undergone several changes and reform since its beginnings in the 1960s. Upanayana as a traditional "sacred thread ceremony" of the Gayatri Mantra, commonly known Hindu Samskara, is complemented by Pancaratric mantras of the Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya and follows the principal initial nama initiation ceremony, referred to respectively as brahmana diksa and Hari nama diksa.
ISKCON schools are primary and secondary schools run by, or otherwise affiliated with, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), also known as the Hare Krishna movement. ISKCON schools have been established all over the world. ISKCON schools are generally run independently, although the ISKCON Ministry of Educational Development (MED) may provide support and guidance in the establishment and running of these schools.
Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar was an Indian guru, writer, sannyasi and spiritual leader in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
