The Legacy of His Instructions to Us
His Glorious Life of Surrender to Srila Prabhupada
1945 – EARLY LIFE
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami is an inspirational leader and one of the foundational members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). He was born in Bengal in 1945 and spent most of his early life in the city of Calcutta. In 1970, he left India to study chemistry in Germany. Uncovering Vedic (ancient Indian) literatures whilst in Germany, he discovered the richness of India’s spiritual heritage. In 1975 he returned to India to wholeheartedly pursue a spiritual life.
After thoroughly studying the Vedic scriptures, Bhakti Charu Swami became aware of the need to find a spiritual master who could lead him on a sound spiritual course. After travelling to the Himalayas and searching for one year without coming across a spiritual master to whom he could fully surrender, he felt despondent and disappointed.
When he almost gave up hope, he came across a book called The Nectar of Devotion by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Srila Prabhupada).
1977 – A SEARCH FULFILLED
Becoming engrossed in the depths of that book, he realized that he had found his spiritual master and the path for which he was searching. As he continued to read Srila Prabhupada’s works, his conviction grew stronger, as did his desire to meet Srila Prabhupada. At that time, Srila Prabhupada was in America.
Bhakti Charu Swami joined the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Mayapur, West Bengal, India. When Srila Prabhupada returned to India at the end of 1976 from America, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami met him. Srila Prabhupada gave him the assignment of translating his books into Bengali and made him his Secretary for Indian Affairs. Within a few months Srila Prabhupada initiated him into the disciplic succession and soon thereafter awarded him the renounced order of Sannyasa.
Alongside his official responsibilities, Bhakti Charu Swami translated all of Srila Prabhupada’s works on major Vedic literatures, consisting of more than fifty volumes of books, into Bengali. Subsequently, he became a member of the Governing Body Commission of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and served as its chairman in 1989 and 2017.
1996 – 2021 A Life Dedicated to Devotional Service
As one of the leading exponents of Vedic wisdom, he travelled the world teaching the principles of bhakti yoga he learned from Srila Prabhupada.
In 1996, Bhakti Charu Swami took on the mammoth task of making a biographical video epic on the life of his spiritual master, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. Entitled Abhay Charan, this video series was broadcast on national television in India, and is distributed globally on DVD. He served as the ISKCON governor for France and South Africa at a time when each of these zones were facing immense difficulties, and through perseverance was able to positively transform the situations there.
In 2004, in response to an invitation from the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, he built a magnificent new ISKCON temple in just 10 months in Ujjain – the ancient and holy city also known as Avantika. The Ujjain ISKCON temple under the direction of Bhakti Charu Swami feeds more than 23,000 school children per day. To facilitate this feeding project Bhakti Charu Swami built a 6,000 sq. ft. (560 m2) industrial kitchen.
In 2013, he pioneered development of a new ISKCON temple in Panihati (West Bengal) – a very holy place in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, the home of Raghava Pandit and the place of Lord Nityananda’s Chipped Rice (Chida Dadhi) Festival.
In 2014, he established Arogya Niketan, a traditional and authentic Ayurvedic health clinic in Ujjain.
In the same year he joined Artha Forum and began delivering keynote speeches globally on spirituality to large audiences of business leaders.
He was also the Chairman of Annamrita Foundation, ISKCON’s midday meals programme, which feeds 1.2 million children across India.
He was an executive of the Governing Body Commission of Iskcon and the GBC Zonal Secretary for ISKCON in Mayapur, Kolkata, Ujjain, Bhubaneswar, Bangladesh and Seattle. He travels across India, US, UK, South Africa, the Middle East and Australia, holding spiritual retreats and seminars.
He also inaugurated a chain of schools in London (currently 10+ schools) and across India known as Krishna Avanti schools.
Bhakti Charu Swami has on many occasions displayed his mastery and expertise in the field of leadership, community building, and strengthening relationships. He has delivered presentations as a key note speaker at top management and engineering institutes of the world i.e. MIT, IIM’s and IITs.
In 2016 Bhakti Charu Swami was invited as an honorary guest to speak on various topics concerning conscious and ethical leadership, building credible leaders, the art of successful relationships and communities, the science of understanding one’s soul, cow protection, the principles of simple living, higher thinking and other similar topics at corporate enterprises such as Ernst & Young, Accenture, HSBC Bank (UK), Veda London, Cow Cultural Conferences and at law firms comprising the Magic Circle in the UK, including House of Lord of the UK Parliament.
In Cape Town (South Africa), he was invited as guest speaker addressing a group of young, successful entrepreneurs on the topic of “Conscious leadership for the modern age” as well as a conference on “Unity in Diversity” at the eThekwini (local Multiracial, multicultural) Municipality in collaboration with the Head of Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture (Durban, South Africa).
On, 17th of November 2016, Institute of International Social Development – New York, an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations awarded an accolade to His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami, as a display of their gratitude for all the support His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami gave them on behalf of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, in spreading the message of spirituality for the World Peace and Understanding between Nations and Civilizations.
In 2016, Bhakti Charu Swami launched a beautiful memoir, “Ocean of Mercy – A Search Fulfilled”, where he recollects his intimate interactions with Srila Prabhupada. This work describes how he developed a humble love and dedication to Srila Prabhupada who gave him a life of Krishna Bhakti, and thus revealed himself to be truly an “ocean of mercy.” He is also a community leader guiding thousands of people across the world.
And since 2018 had embarked on a new project, Veda Foundation and Cow Sanctuary, in Deland, Florida with the purpose of promoting Vedic culture, with a focus on simple living, and higher thinking in the United States.
Those who have met him, speak of his heart warming and inspiring lectures, his personal anecdotes and experiences and his commitment and dedication to the service of his spiritual master and helping others find true meaning in their life by connecting them to God.