About H.H.Bhakti Charu Swami
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami was born in Bengal in 1945, His
Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami spent most of his early life in the city
of Calcutta. In 1970, he left India to study in Germany. Coming across
Vedic literatures while in Germany, he discovered the richness of
India’s spiritual heritage. In 1975 he returned to India to
wholeheartedly pursue the spiritual path.
After thoroughly studying the Vedic scriptures, His Holiness became
aware of the need to find a spiritual master who could lead him on a
sound spiritual course. After searching for one year without coming
across a spiritual master to whom he could fully surrender, he felt
despondent and disappointed. When he almost gave up his hope to find
his spiritual master, he came across a book called The Nectar of
Devotion by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Becoming engrossed in the depths of that literature, he realized that
he had found his spiritual master and the path for which he was
searching. As he continued to read Srila Prabhupada’s works, his
conviction grew stronger, as did his desire to meet Srila Prabhupada.
At that time, Srila Prabhupada was in America. His Holiness joined the
temple in Mayapur and became more involved in devotional service to
the Lord, all the while awaiting Srila Prabhupada’s return to India.
When Srila Prabhupada returned to India at the end of 1976, the
meeting between His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami and Srila Prabhupada
finally took place. From their very first meeting, Srila Prabhupada
gave His Holiness the assignment of translating his books into Bengali
and made him his Secretary for Indian Affairs. Within only a few
months, Srila Prabhupada gave him initiation into the disciplic
succession and soon thereafter, awarded him the order of Sannyasa.
Along side his official responsibilities, His Holiness translated all
of Srila Prabhupada’s works on major Vedic literatures, consisting of
more than fifty volumes of books, into Bengali, as Srila Prabhupada
had instructed in their very first meeting. Subsequently, he became a
member of the Governing Body Commission of the International Society
for Krishna Consciousness and served as the Chairman of the Governing
Body in 1989.
In 1996, His Holiness took on the mammoth task of making a
biographical video epic on the life of his spiritual master, A.C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. This video series, entitled
Abhay Charan has been seen all over the world, as well as on Indian
National Television. At present His Holiness is currently developing
projects in Ujjain, India. In February 2006, His Holiness constructed
a beautiful temple in Ujjain. The temple has three huge alters for the
worship of Sri Sri Madan Mohan, Sri Sri Krishna Balaram and Sri Sri
Gaura Nitai.