His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupāda (1896 –1977), Founder-Ācārya of the Bhaktivedanta Institute was one of the most prominent spiritual and cultural ambassadors of the 20th century. He belongs to the monotheistic Gaudiya Vaishnava Vedanta tradition of India which upholds the three stages of realization of the Absolute Truth namely, Impersonal Brahman, Super Soul and finally Supreme Personality of Godhead as revealed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the natural commentary on the vedantasutra, and various other spiritual traditions of the World. He had a profound notion of the many facets of science and religion. He strongly felt that scientific knowledge would remain incomplete if we ignore consciousness based paradigms offered by religions of the world in their search for the deeper meaning of our existence. He felt that a synthesis of science and spirituality would only be possible through the joint efforts and open discussions by the deep thinkers of the world. He promoted the concept that “Life comes from Life” indicating a non-material origin of life, and was hopeful that that scientists across the world would be open to scientific exploration of this alternative paradigm.
Śrīla Prabhupāda was very concerned about how science and technology was directing humanity in the modern world towards a purely materialistic worldview. In his commentary to the Bhagavad-gita (9.2), he wrote “Generally, people are not interested in this confidential knowledge; they are educated in external knowledge. As far as ordinary education is concerned, people are involved with so many departments: politics, sociology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, astronomy, engineering, etc. There are so many departments of knowledge all over the world and many huge universities, but there is, unfortunately, no university or educational institution where the science of the spirit soul is instructed. Yet the soul is the most important part of this body; without the presence of the soul, the body has no value”. When he addressed the students of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), Boston in 1968, he said, “You are all students of technology. This Krishna consciousness movement is also another technology…Unfortunately, there is no department for distributing knowledge of the science of the soul. But, that is the most important thing.” Srila Prabhupāda critiqued the modern reductionist framework which tries to explain life solely in terms of atoms and molecules. Drawing from the conclusions of the teachings of Śrī Caitanya, and the timeless message of the Vedic literatures, Śrīla Prabhupāda taught that the living being or life is beyond molecules, and the fundamental property of life is consciousness and consciousness is nonmaterial. Further the origin of consciousness or life is Śrī Krishna, the Supreme Being or God.
Śrīla Prabhupāda also envisioned that there would be lasting peace and harmony in society at large if the modern sciences and arts were used in the glorification of God rather than for selfish and exploitative objectives.In one of his commentaries to the ancient Indian text the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.5.22, he wrote “When advancement of knowledge is applied in the service of the Lord, the whole process becomes absolute…therefore, all the sages and devotees of the Lord have recommended that the subject matter of art, science, philosophy, physics, chemistry, psychology and all other branches of knowledge should be wholly and solely applied in the service of the Lord…Advanced people are eager to understand the Absolute Truth through the medium of science, and therefore a great scientist should endeavor to prove the existence of the Lord on a scientific basis.”
It was with this view that Śrīla Prabhupāda formed the Bhaktivedanta Institute in 1974. He formed the Bhaktivedanta Institute with a vision to encourage humanity to inquire about the nature of the Absolute Truth, the nature of reality, and the nature of our existence. He provided the vision and mission for the Bhaktivedanta Institute, which was implemented by its Director Dr. T. D. Singh and other members. In 1977, just a month before his death, Śrīla Prabhupāda oversaw the Bhaktivedanta Institute’s first international conference entitled “Life comes from Life”. Srila Prabhupāda’s writings continue to be an inspiration for the scientists and scholars associated with the Bhaktivedanta Institute.
Śrīla Prabhupāda is also renowned for founding the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in 1966. Today ISKCON has hundreds of thousands of members from all races, religions, nations, and occupations and is dedicated to disseminating knowledge of the soul to the general public.
