Bhagavad Darshanam

Bhagavad Darshanam

In 1944, with the Second World War at its peak, Abhay Charan began publication of the English Back to Godhead magazine from his home in Calcutta in 1944. In 1959, he accepted the sannyasa order and received the name A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami. Simultaneously he started work on his life’s masterpiece – an English translation and commentary to the 18000-verse Srimad Bhagavatam.

On August 13th 1965, days before his 69th birthday A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada set out for America. With a free passage from a local steamship company, he travelled as the only passenger on board a small weathered cargo ship, named Jaladuta. In possession he had an umbrella, a supply of dry cereal, about seven dollars worth of Indian rupees, and several boxes of books.

Surviving two massive heart attacks on board the Jaladuta, when the Swami arrived in New York 37 dayslater he was totally alone. He had come to America knowing no one, with no clear means of support; he carried on board the ship only a handful of possessions. He had no friends, money, followers and not his youthful age and good health. He didn’t even have a clear idea of how he could accomplish his mission – to present the spiritual knowledge of the Vedas to the western world and in turn to the entire world.

In July of 1966, while still working alone from an obscure storefront in the Lower East Side of New York City, Srila Prabhupada founded the society intended for the entire world’s participation. He named it the INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY for KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS or ISKCON for short.

At the time of the creation of his society, Srila Prabhupada had not even got one committed follower. Undeterred, he enlisted volunteers from some of the regular attendees at his evenings lectures to act as ISKCON’s first trustees. That was during the very beginning of ISKCON history. Today the International Society for Krishna Consciousness has more than 800 temples, farms, schools and special projects throughout the world, with a strong congregation

Abhay Charan starts the English magazine Back to Godhead (BTG) on the auspicious Appearance day of his guru Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. The front banner bears the motto “Godhead is Light, Nescience is darkness. Where there is Godhead there is no Nescience.”

Due to the ongoing World War II, India was short of printing paper. Abhay Charan persists and gets permission to print his first issue. He writes nearly all the articles, oversees the printing, sells or gives out every copy, mostly by approaching people on the street. After just two issues, the magazine stops print but Abhay continues to write articles

Abhay moves to Allahabad and revives BTG. He not only distributes it to respectable Indian people but makes plans to send it to important people around the world.

Now a sannyasi by the name A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami, he continues printing and distributing the magazine in Delhi. He would go to tea stalls and spend hours to sell even one copy.

In 1965, A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami, also known as Srila Prabhupada, travels to the United States and opens the first center of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), in New York City. Soon after, in October of 1966, he relaunches Back to Godhead. He gives the job of writing and publishing Back to Godhead to his first American disciples. These early issues are printed on a mimeograph machine. Setting a lofty goal, Srila Prabhupada tells his disciples they  should work hard and make BTG as popular as Time, Life, or Reader’s Digest.

BTG continues to be published as a full-color International English Bimonthly. Simultaneously, it is being published in tens of languages all over the world, including several Indian languages.

BTG’s Malayalam edition is launched during Onam at a function held in  Thiruvananthapuram. The magazine is named “Bhagavad Darshanam”.

About BTG Malayalam

“Bhagavad Darshanam”, the Malayalam version of Back to Godhead (BTG)  magazine, was released to the public on July 31, 2010 in a glittering function held in Thiruvananthapuram. Sri Soorya Krishnamurthy, artist and cine personality performed the release of  the magazine. The first copy of Bhagavad Darshanam was received by Sri Rajagopal, Principal, Police Training College, from HH Bhakti Vinoda Swami, Zonal Secretary, ISKCON Kerala.

Vedic Thoughts Words from the Chief Editor

His Holiness Bhakti Vinoda Swami

• Back to Godhead, the magazine founded by Srila Prabhupada in 1944 finally came up in Malayalam language in 2010, after a gap of 66 years.
• We have great confidence that Srila Prabhupada’s books and especially his Bhagavad Darshanam magazine can offer, like no other, the perfect satiation for the intellectual thirst of Kerala’s educated populace.
• Kerala’s tourism department calls the state ‘God’s Own Country’. Therefore, among the multitude of magazines doing the rounds in Kerala, Bhagavad Darshanam is destined to stand out: it will help the people of God’s Own Country go Back to Godhead.
• Bhagavad Darshanam is not a mundane magazine reporting mundane news, it is meant to help people understand, relate to and enter into the reality of spiritual world. Keralites are known to experiment things that are new and different, therefore we request all Keralites to wholeheartedly welcome this unique magazine!