Bhaktivedanta, A. C. P.
(01 September 1896–14 November 1977)
- Gail Hinich Sutherland
Extract
Bhaktivedanta, A. C. P. (01 September 1896–14 November 1977), founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, was born Abhay Charan De in Calcutta, India, the son of Gour Mohan De, a cloth merchant, and Rajani (maiden name unknown). Abhay was brought up in a strict Bengali Vaishnava family, devoted to the worship of the god Krishna. His father had decided from the beginning not to send his son to England to be educated, lest his piety and moral purity be compromised. Instead Abhay entered the Scottish Churches College in Calcutta in 1916. During his schooling, a marriage was arranged for him with an eleven-year-old girl named Radharani Datta, with whom he would not live for several years. They later had three children....
