Page 41 - MMOSP (English)
P. 41
About Bhakti Vikäsa Swami
The author was born in Britain in 1957 and joined ISkcoN
in London in 1975. Later that year, he was formally accepted
as a disciple of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupäda, the founder-äcärya of ISkcoN, and renamed
Iläpati Däsa.
From 1977 to 1979 Iläpati Däsa was based in India, mainly
distributing Çréla Prabhupäda’s books throughout West Bengal.
In the following ten years, he helped pioneer ISkcoN activities
in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand.
In 1989 he was granted the order of sannyäsa, receiving the
name Bhakti Vikäsa Swami, and again made his base in India.
Since then he has been preaching Kåñëa consciousness mostly
throughout the subcontinent, lecturing in English, Hindi, and
Bengali. He also spends a few months each year preaching in
the West. His television lectures in Hindi have reached millions
worldwide.
Bhakti Vikäsa Swami writes extensively on Kåñëa conscious
topics. His books have been translated into over twenty
languages, with more than one and a half million in print.
Additionally, he is involved in developing several gurukulas
and also Vedic rural projects based on simple living and high
thinking.
223