Lord Caitanya

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the incarnation of the Supreme Lord in this age of Kali, an age characterised by quarrel and hypocrisy. He descended in 1496AD in Sri- dhama Mayapur, India, and during the 48 years of His

presence, He established the sankirtana movement - chanting of the holy names of Lord Krishna. It is this congregational chanting from which the "Hare Krishnas" acquired their name, and in fulfillment of Lord Caitanya's prophecy that in every town and village in the world His name would be heard, devotees are seen dancing and chanting in the streets globally. Lord Caitanya's teachings were based on the ancient Sanskrit scriptures, the Vedas, specifically the 'Srimad Bhagavatam', and He established the Vaisnava view of the Supreme Absolute Truth being personal, in a time when impersonalism and voidism had pervaded society. He took sannyasa, the renounced order of life, and showed that anyone could become a spiritual master (guru), regardless of background, race or caste, and He personally instructed many disciples to propagate the sankirtana movement.

the Parampara Disciplic Succession

Lord Caitanya principally instructed disciples Rupa and Sanatana Goswami, the eldest of the 'six goswami's of Vrindavana', who in turn wrote many literatures on devotional service to Krishna. Passed down the chain from guru to disciple, Bhaktivinode Thakur received this transcendental knowledge in the 1800's from Jagannatha Das Babaji, and he predicted that a personality would soon emerge who would spread the movement across the Western world. His son Bhakti- siddhanta Sarasvati Thakur was a very influential preacher in India early this century, and in 1932 he initiated a Calcutta born man, Abhay Charan De, later to be world famous as His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.