Page 37 - Sri Vamsidasa Babaji (English)
P. 37
The Author
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, who
gave him the Vaiñëava name Iläpati Däsa.
From 1977 to 1979 Iläpati Däsa was based in India, mostly
traveling in West Bengal distributing Çréla Prabhupäda’s
books. He spent the following ten years helping to pioneer
iskcon’s preaching 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 preached Kåñëa consciousness
throughout the subcontinent, lecturing in English, Hindi,
and Bengali. He also spends a few months each year
preaching in the West. His television lectures (mostly 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 seven hundred
thousand in print.
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