His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada first met his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktsiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja, in Calcutta in 1922. Srila Bhaktsiddhanta liked this educated young man and instructed him to preach the message of Krishna consciousness throughout the world.
Srila Prabhupada recalled the key th his approaching his spiritual master: "When I first started going to see my Guru Maharaja, he said of me, 'This boy hears very nicely. He does not go away. So l shall make him a disciple.' That was my qualification, or whatever you may call it. I would simply ask when Guru Maharaja would be speaking, then I'd sit down and go on hearing. I would not understand; others would disperse, I'd not disperse. So he remarked, 'This boy is interested to hear.' Because I was serious in hearing, I am now serious about kirtanam, which means speaking or preaching. If one has heard nicely, then he will speak nicely."
Srila Prabhupada produced his books by speaking them into a dictaphone. He sometimes worked on more than five books at once. These books are a matter of realization, as he said, "When you become self-realized, you automatically write volumes of books." And one of the qualities of a devotee is he is poetic. Srila Prabhupada was alwaysimmersed in Krishna by speaking, dictating, singing about Krishna's glories, preaching formally at meetings or planning the expansion of the Krishna consciousness movement. In the Bhagavad-gita, Seventh Chapter, it is stated that out of thousands of men, few seek perfection, and out of thousands who attain perfection, hardly one knows Krishna. Lord Krishna also declares in the Eighteenth Chapter that the dearmost devotee of all is he who spreads the teaching of love of Krishna, "Never will there be one dearer to me."
In 1968, Macmillan published the Bhagavad-g;ta As It Is, translated with commentary by Srila Prabhupada. The Gita is the gist of the entire Vedic literature. Just this one book can free one from the clutches of material nature and fix one in eternal loving service to Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Srila Prabhupada also wrote a summary study of the transcendental pastimes of Krishna entitled Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead which was printed with the help of George Harrison who paid for the entire cost of printing the beautiful two-volume hardcover edition.
Srila Prabhupada published many books including Teachings of Lord Caitanya, which outlines the precepts of the golden incarnation of the Lord who appeared in India 500 years ago to propagate the Hare Krishna mantra as the means of God realization for the present age, and the Nectar of Devotion, a scientific study of the development of transcendental love. Srila Prabhupada also translated the entire Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, a seventeen volume description of the life and teachings of Lord Caitanya and the Srimad Bhagavatam, thirty volumes of the transcendental pastimes of Krishna, His incarnations and His devotees.
His Divine Grace was not a retired person, despite his prodigious literary output. He personally and very intimately guided his disciples through the most practical problems of daily life. Spiritual life is practical, and due to the predominant material atmosphere of Kali-yuga, often problematic. As spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada is the last recourse and the ultimate standard o f Krishna consciousness. He wrote some twenty-five letters a day to leaders and students of his various world-wide centers. Srila Prabhupada never resided in one place, he continually travelled from center to center and regularly spoke on Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam.