The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), popularly known as the Hare Krishna movement, is a worldwide association of devotees of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. God is known by many names, according to His different qualities and activities. In the Bible he is know as Jehovah (“the almighty one”), in the Koran as Allah (“the great one”), and in the Bhagavad-gita as Krishna, a Sanskrit name meaning “The all-attractive one.”

The movement’s main purpose is to promote the wellbeing of human society by teaching the science of God conciousness (Krishna conciousness) accourding to the timeless Vedic scriptures of India

Many leading figures in the international religious and academic community have affirmed the movement’s authenticity. Diana L. Eck, professor of comparative religion and Indian studies at Harvard University, describes the movement as “a tradition that commands a respected place in the religious life of humankind.”

In 1965, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, known to his followers as Srila Prabhupada, brought Krsna conciousness to America. On the day he landed in Boston, on his way to New York City, he penned these words in his diary: “My dear Lord Krsna, I am sure that when this transcendental message penetrates [the hearts of the westerners], they will certainly feel gladdened and thus become liberated from all unhappy conditions of life.” He was sixty-nine years old, alone and with few resources, but the wealth of spiritual knowledge and devotion he possessed was an unwavering source of strength and inspiration.

“At a very advanced age, when most people would be resting on their laurels,” writes Harvey Cox, Harvard University theologian and author, “Srila Prabhupada harkened to the mandate of his own spiritual teacher and set out on the difficult and demanding voyage to America. Srila Prabhupada is, of course, only one of thausands of teachers. But in anothersense, he is one in a thousand, maybe one in a million.” In 1966, Srila Prabhupada founded the International Society for Krishna Conciousness, which became the formal name for the Hare Krsna movement.

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