Swami in a Strange Land

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is known as the teacher who brought love of Krishna to the West. In the midst of the war-torn and drug-saturated ’60s and ’70s, Prabhupada unleashed a flood of robe-wearing, yoga-practicing, Krishna-chanting devotees onto the streets of America and forever changed Western perceptions of spirituality. The story of his life is one of faith, failure, sincerity, discipline, and ultimately--success. Written by noted biographer Joshua M. Greene, this dramatic, humorous, and enlightening account combines extensive scholarship with a broad range of primary sources to create a gripping portrait of the world’s leading exponent of Bhakti, or devotional Yoga. Now known as one of the 20th century’s most charismatic spiritual leaders, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada came to the United States when he was seventy years old. He landed in New York with mere pennies in his pocket and without any contacts in the country. Through sheer power of will and devotion he created one of the world’s largest international religious organizations, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), revitalized understanding of Vedic cosmology, karma, and dharma, popularized chanting (kirtan) around the world.