The story
Founded by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in 1972.1
Background
Viṣṇu was a minor deity in the historical Vedic religion, to which Vaiṣṇavism has only "a very indirect connection". In the ancient Sanskrit epic Mahābharāta, Kr̥ṣṇa is both God and an ally of the Pāṇḍavas. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa enumerates numerous avatāras of Viṣṇu and of them considers Kr̥ṣṇa to be Svayam Bhagavān; many concepts integral to the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava tradition such as līlā, acintyabhedābheda, overflowing emotion in bhakti, and reciting the names of Hari find their foundation in this text. The theme of emotional devotion to Kr̥ṣṇa continued in bhakti poetry such as the Sanskrit Gīta-Govinda of Jayadeva and the Bengali poems of Caṇḍīdāsa, both of which were influential to Gauḍiya Vaiṣṇavism.
The Gauḍīya sampradāya claims to originate from the Madhva sampradaya through Lakṣmīpati Tīrtha and Mādhavendra Puri; scholars debate the historicity of this connection and most consider them to have been Vaishnava-oriented Shankarite aka Dashanami sannyasis (many consider Baladeva Vidyabhushana to be responsible for connecting the Gaudiya's to the Madhva lineage). Caitanya Mahāprabhu, born in sixteenth century Bengal, is considered the founder of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism, called such because it was spread in Gauḍa (region) i.e. Bengal. During the period around Caitanya's life, Bengal was ruled by a Muslim government which nevertheless patronized Vaiṣṇavas and their cultural work. There exist several biographies of Caitanya which are capped by the Caitanya-Caritāmr̥ta of Kr̥ṣṇadāsa Kavirāja; each biography explores Caitanya's life and Gauḍīya conceptions of his divinity. Caitanya started life as a precocious paṇḍita but soon became a sannyāsī ("ascetic") entranced with ecstatic devotion to Kr̥ṣṇa who developed a strong following centered around the recitation of Kr̥ṣṇa's names. Caitanya went on a pilgrimage of South India and is depicted as debating various religious groups and converting them to Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism; scholars also believe he was searching for Vaiṣṇava traditions that did not survive in the Muslim-dominated North India. In Caitanya's pilgrimage of Vraja, he visited sites associated with Kr̥ṣṇa's life and is depicted as exhibiting ecstasies indicative of his true nature as Kr̥ṣṇa. Of sites in Vraja, Rādhā Kuṇḍa was considered by Gauḍīya's to be the most esoteric. On the return journey, he tasked Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī (future leaders of the Six Goswamis of Vrindavan) to develop the theology of his saṁpradāya. The temple of Jagannātha in Caitanya's resident city of Puri is an important religious site for Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas and other Hindus; the Jagannātha deity has very old traditions regarding its origin, relation to the Gajāpati rulers and devadāsīs, and the Ratha Yātrā. Caitanya did not give anyone initiation nor he did he appoint a successor, but served as a "rallying point" for his contemporaries and was considered a yuga-avatāra (a contemporary incarnation of Krishna).
Sādhanā is the means or method used to increase devotion to God; in the Gauḍīya sampradāya sādhanas include worship of an arcā-vigraha (God in an idol form), smaraṇa (recalling) of Kr̥ṣṇa's līlās, saṅkīrtana (congregational chanting about Kr̥ṣṇa), vaidhī bhakti (following fixed ritual injunctions), rāgānugā bhakti (spontaneous and passionate devotion while assuming a personality from Kr̥ṣṇa's life). The Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava tradition considers Brahman to be infinite and having all personal qualities; it is strongly opposed to the Advaita philosophy that Brahman is indescribable and impersonal with no qualities. The Gauḍīya philosophy of acintya-bhedābheda considers reality to be inconceivably different and non-different at the same time; the Six Goswamis of Vrindavan were powerful scholarly figures who were able to rationalize the philosophy and give it prestige. Hinduism has a long tradition of what has been termed "sonic theology", i.e. the spiritual and mundane effects of speaking certain syllables; the Gauḍīya tradition's sonic theology focuses on the loud chanting of Kr̥ṣṇa's names and the Hare Kr̥ṣṇa mantra to increase Kr̥ṣṇa devotion. Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism has aspects of mysticism, where devotees attempt to attain certain ecstatic emotional states (sāttvika bhāvas) which has been termed "divine madness" (divyonmāda); through līlā smaraṇa devotees assume a dual identity as a mañjarī (a preteen handmaiden of Rādhā or Rādhā's friends) in Kr̥ṣṇa līlā and as a Bengali brāhmaṇa boy in Gaura līlā (the life of Caitanya). In Gauḍīya theology, rasa refers to the cultivated emotion a devotee has for Kr̥ṣṇa, the highest being madhura rasa or selfless erotic love for Kr̥ṣṇa. The līlā smaraṇa and mañjarī sādhana techniques are found to a greater extent among Gauḍīya ascetics; whereas householder (gr̥hastha) devotees more often access Kr̥ṣṇa līlā physically through pilgrimage to Vraja. While not mentioned directly in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, the goddess Rādhā is considered chief among the gopīs (the cowherd girls of Vraja). Gauḍiya theology considers her to have the highest level of loving devotion for Kr̥ṣṇa (mahābhava) and Rādhā-Kr̥ṣṇa is considered the ultimate esoteric reality and receives the highest worship by Gauḍiya Vaiṣṇavas. After Caitanya's death in 1534, the movement's philosophy and teachings were consolidated by his followers but eventually declined in popularity. In eastern India, Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyā is a Vāma-Tantra tradition in which male and female devotees imitate the erotic relationship between Kr̥ṣṇa and Rādha; this tradition is met with abhorrence by the orthodox Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava tradition, which asserts that devotees can only serve and may not imitate the divine couple. The theologies of the Vrindavan goswamis were brought to Bengal in the late-sixteenth century and consolidated the teachings of Radha-Krishna worship in madhura rasa, pancha tattva (recognition of Chaitanya's associates as incarnations of Krishna's associates), and raganuga bhakti/siddha pranali.
The Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition accepted the existing tradition of hereditary Brahmin kula gurus. The Hari-bhakti-vilasa and Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu of the Vrindavan goswamis approved of householder gurus and dissallowed ascetics to take disciples. The Gaudiya tradition rejected the Brahmin-only Dashanami sannyasa tradition of Chaitanya and his predecessors; unlike the saffron robes of the Shankarites Gaudiya renunciates (of any caste) wore white (a practice called bhekh) and were called babajis. Despite concessions of Krishna bhakti to lower castes, Gaudiya Vaishnavism remained in Brahmanical control and preserved the social status quo.
In the 19th century, the leading castes in Bengal included the Kulīna Brāhmanas who served as priests and teachers and Kulīna Kāyasthas who served as writers and scribes. Below them were Non-Kulīna Brahmanas who were landowners and entrepreneurs and non-Kulīna Kāyasthas, who achieved great economic success under British rule and were subject to Westernization. The Westernized non-Kulīna Brāhmanas and Kāyasthas were attracted to Western philosophies but viewed Gaudiya Vaishnavism with distaste as idol-worshipping superstition. Bhaktivinoda Thakur (born Kedarnath Dutt), a Westernized Gaudiya Vaishnava Kayastha, developed a rigorous intellectual interest in Gaudiya religious literature and began a personal mission to publish its texts and promote its teachings. Bhaktivinoda oriented his philosophies to a Westernized Bengali Hindu audience, arguing that Gaudiya Vaishnavism is a sophisticated universal religion in contrast to the hereditary caste-based nature of orthodox Brahmanism. Bhaktivinoda was a vocal opponent of Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyā (which had increased in popularity by the 19th century), "rediscovered" the "lost" birthplace of Caitanya, and deemphasized the external exhibition of caste. He also attempted to spread Caitanyite teachings among the Western world by sending texts to foreign universities. Bhaktivinoda utilised contemporary 19th-century scholarly methods (adhunika vada) to critically analyse Gaudiya Vaishnavism. He developed innovative theological principles such as his categorisation of spiritual seekers based on their intellectual capacity and his division of religious knowledge into phenomenal knowledge (which he considered subject to logical scrutiny) and transcendental knowledge (which he considered inscrutible).
Bhaktivinoda's son was Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati (born Bimala Prasad Dutt), who continued his father's mission and extended its views on social equality. Bhaktisiddhanta claimed to be the initiate of Gaura Kishor Das Babaji, but details of his initiation are mysterious. In contrast to the standard pancharatrika diksha most sources claim he received bhagavati diksha (a practice unknown in Vaishnava circles). Bhaktisiddhanta claimed he belonged to an invented Bhagavata parampara which focused on raganuga bhakti which he contrasted with the ritualistic Pancharatrika tradition which he claimed had infested Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Nevertheless, Bhaktisiddhanta initiated his own disciples in the standard Pancharatrika form and did not give clear instructions on how to continue the bhagavata tradition. In contrast to his father's deemphasis on caste, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati allowed any devotee who exhibited the proper characteristics to consider themselves a brahmin (brāhmaṇa) and adorn the corresponding dress, challenging the existing system of hereditary Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava temple priests. Unlike his father, Bhaktisiddhanta was not employed in any official position which allowed him the time to create and manage the Gaudiya Math (Gauḍīya Maṭha), the first formal organisation of Vaiṣṇava sādhus/sannyāsīs. The Gaudiya Math broke with Gaudiya tradition by adopting the saffron robes of the Shankarites and the tridanda ("triple staff") of Puranic tradition. Prior to Bhaktivedanta, the Gaudiya Math had sent individuals to the West to convert foreigners to very little success. Prior to his death, Bhaktisiddhanta gave three disciples joint governorship of the Gaudiya Math: Ananta Vasudeva, Kunjabihari, and Paramananda. A council of Gaudiya Math leaders elected Ananta Vasudeva (later Puri Maharaj or Puri Das) as acharya, a decision which was rejected by Kunjabihari (later Bhaktivilas Tirtha) and his followers. Many other disciples also split off to create their own independent organisations. Puri Das discarded secondary literature of post-Chaitanyite figures and began to focus on the works of the Six Goswamis of Vrindavan (the Gaudiya Math ignored content from their works that was not purely philosophical or spiritual) and eventually became a major critic of the Gaudiya Math. Highlighting differences between traditional Gaudiya Vaishnavism and the Gaudiya Math, Puri Das encouraged Bhaktisiddhanta disciples to instead take initiation in traditional Gaudiya lineages. During this period Bhaktivedanta was a minor househoulder who unsuccessfully urged a return to the "hard" institution of Bhaktisiddhanta's time. By the mid-20th century the Gaudiya Math was no longer a "hard" institution but a loose collection of disciple lines and independent organisations.
Indian immigrants and Hindu thought among (particularly occult) White Americans began filtering into the United States in the 19th century, and both elicited negative reactions from the American public. The public viewed Indians and Hinduism as backward and its public visibility as threatening to white Christian Americans. After the Asian Exclusion Act, there was a 30-year lull in reactions to Hinduism, which changed after the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and the foundation of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, at the time the most visible face of Hinduism in America. The Hare Krishna movement differed from these earlier expressions of Hindu philosophy in the West in that it was an explicitly theistic religious tradition that required absolute adherence to its rules and taboos. Earlier expressions of Hinduism in the West tended to belong to the monistic tradition of Advaita Vedanta and were propagated by "streamlined swamis" who greatly diluted Eastern thought and did not require people to give up their current lifestyles.
Foundation and initial growth
Abhay Charan De met Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati in 1922; in 1932, Bhaktisiddhanta initiated him as a disciple under the name Abhay Charanaravinda and granted him brahminhood as per his progressive theology. From their first meeting, Bhaktisiddhanta ordered Abhay to spread Gaudiya Vaishnavism in the Western world in the English language, an order that was reiterated weeks before Bhaktisiddhanta's death in 1937. Abhay eventually left his family life and career, at the same time increasing his involvement in preaching and publishing texts on Gaudiya Vaishnavism, being honored with the title of Bhaktivedanta for his knowledge in 1939. Bhaktivedanta chose not to participate in the power struggle following his guru's death and the Gaudiya Math split. In 1959 he took a vow of Sannyasa (renunciation of the world) under the name A.C. Bhaktivedānta Svāmī in Vrindavan, and in 1965 arrived in New York City.
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After failing to attract interest from the upper class, Bhaktivedanta moved into a poor district in New York City, where he made connections with young people of the 1960s counterculture (bohemians, later called hippies) who were already semi-familiar with Indian culture from previous experiences and were attracted by Bhaktivedanta's charisma. In July 1966 he founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, whose purpose would be to propagate spiritual consciousness of Krishna as per the Bhagavad Gita and Shrimad Bhagavatam, the Chaitanyite form of public chanting, and publication of texts. In the September of the same year he initiated his young companions as disciples and led the first public kirtana in Washington Square Park. In the early years of the movement in New York City, Prabhupada gave little emphasis to the lifestyle principles of ISKCON and tolerated violations to traditional purity and ritual structures; this allowed the movement to spread through social networks. The only structure in the movement was the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra; gradually Bhaktivedanta educated his disciples in aspects of the original Indian tradition. After relocating the movement to Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco, California in 1967, the movement grew rapidly due to large itinerant hippie population amenable to public preaching. In the next two years the movement gained followers in North American cities and he became known to his followers as Śrīla Prabhupāda. Soon after, Prabhupada decided to establish a Governing Body Commission (GBC) as the central authority of ISKCON on 28 July 1970, who would have zonal authority over temples and centers. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust was established to centralize the publication of ISKCON texts. The first Hare Krishna commune, New Vrindavan (West Virginia), was established by disciples in 1968. In 1968 disciples successfully established contact with George Harrison of the Beatles in the United Kingdom, who recorded the hit single Hare Krishna Mantra. The first ISKCON temple in Europe was founded in Bury Place, London.
Prabhupada's goal was to spread Chaitanyite Vaishavism across the world in a strategy he termed "cultural conquest". He was pessimistic towards modern industrial society and advocated a self-sufficient, rural agrarian economy; nevertheless he did not oppose utilising modern technology as long as it was for devotional service. Prabhupada stated that the Bhagavata Purana (aka Srimad Bhagavatam) and other such texts could only be understood if recited by a "self-realised" person who stands as a "bona fide representative" of Shuka (the traditional composer of the text). The only manner to be a bona fide representative according to Prabhupada was to be in the disciplic succession (parampara) stretching back to Shuka and from there to Krishna himself. Prabhupada repeatedly stated he wants many of his disciples to become gurus but stressed that a disciple must perfectly follow the teachings of his guru (who in turn perfectly replicates his own guru linking back to Krishna) and not "manufacture" any new innovations. Prabhupada preached that reciting the Hare Krishna mantra and hearing the Bhagavata Purana being recited renders direct experience of divinity, a process he considered a "science of the spirit".
Despite the creation of the GBC, Prabhupada retained autocratic control over ISKCON during his lifetime. Key to the spread of ISKCON were Prabhupada's writings and translations including the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Kṛṣṇa: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrīmad-bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, and the Back to Godhead magazine. Prabhupada went on cross-country tours to establish ISKCON internationally. His devotion-oriented English translations and commentaries of Gaudiya Vaishnava texts were oriented to the neophyte Western mind. According to Hopkins, young Westerners were eager to submit themselves to Prabhupada's strong disciplinary structure (opposite to the loose ways of the 1960s counterculture) and his example of a devotional path. When instructing his disciples he instilled them the belief that no matter what work they had to do, Krishna would help them.
Global spread
As ISKCON established centers throughout the United States, it adapted its recruitment modes depending on the environment of the city and neighborhood at hand. As ISKCON became more closed off in the 1970s up until Prabhupada's death, movement sympathizers were key to its spread. In the late 1970s, some ISKCON centers became more open to public relationships and influences, to the chagrin of conservative centers.
After returning to India with his Western disciples, Prabhupada was keen on establishing large temple complexes in Bombay, Bengal, and Vrindaban; by displaying the Krishna devotion of his non-Indian devotees, Prabhupada wanted to awaken a religious revival among Indians. Prabhupada was aware that in order to gain legitimacy from Indians; his foreign followers had to maintain strict behavior rules in India and display proper devotion in order for people to take seriously their claims of being Vaishnavas and brāhmaṇas.
Finances
Until 1972, ISKCON's finances were covered by the practice of sankirtana: the practice of distributing literature on the street and soliciting donations. In following years this profitable practice expanded to other public spaces such as airports. However, as the movement grew larger and its monetary needs increased, the nature of sankirtana began to change from preaching Krishna consciousness to book-selling: disciples targeted people perceived to have more money, disguised their religious affiliations to more easily distribute books and solicit donations, engaged in the practice of change-up (re-negotiating for a higher price after the target already agreed on an amount), and even sold non-religious merchandise without any missionary activity (a practice called picking). ISKCON leadership's newfound preference for picking rather than book distribution drew the ire of public bodies in the late 1970s at the same time the movement and its finances were going into a decline. Picking was morally justified by the finance-conscious leaders, and devotees who earned ISKCON the most money were given special privileges. The religious convictions of the majority of devotees remained unaffected by these practices and treated them as an organizational adaption, a smaller group rejected its ideology but remained within the movement, while the smallest group of idealists defected. Courts of justice generally upheld the rights of ISKCON devotees to proselytize in airports, fairs, and highway rest stops under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution's protection of freedom of religion.
From Wikipedia’s article on Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4