In 1944, during the Second World War, when paper was scarce and people were not very wealthy materially or spiritually, Srila Prabhupada began his magazine, Back to Godhead, which is still being published today. To pay for the printing, he would collect donations. To publish the issues, he would write, edit, and do the layout. To sell them, he would go out himself.

In 1950, he left his home and family and dedicated his life to preaching Krsna Consciousness. In 1959, he took the order of sannyas -- full renunciation from material life. Soon afterward he wrote three volumes of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Again he wrote, edited, proofread, bought the paper, and got the books printed and bound. After delivery, he sold the books through bookstores and agents in the larger cities of India.

Now he had these three books in English. Feeling the weight of his spiritual master's order and knowing Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's assurance that His holy name would be heard in every town and village throughout the world, Srila Prabhupada was determined to go to America somehow or other and preach. He was convinced that if the Americans would take up Krishna consciousness, all the other countries in the world would follow.

Begging passage on the Jaladuta, a cargo liner of the Scindia Steamship Corporation, and traveling 35 painful days across the ocean incurring two heart attacks during the journey, Srila Prabhupada arrived in New York City. He later related, "I didn't know where to turn, left or right". After a difficult six months, living here and there, he rented a small storefront on 26 Second Avenue in New York's Lower East Side, not the best neighborhood by any estimation. It was here that some sincere searchers for spiritual knowledge gathered and gradually found shelter at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada, whom they affectionately called, "Swamiji".

Soon Srila Prabhupada gathered the most interested of these searchers and brought them to Tompkins Square Park, where they held the first outdoor chanting session (sankirtan) outside India. Onlookers were amazed, and the boys who had gone with him were feeling the ecstasy of chanting. Soon there were regular chanting parties, and the first devotees became initiated by Srila Prabhupada. In July of 1966, Srila Prabhupada officially incorporated The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and began to develop his infrastructure for spreading the message of Krishna throughout the world. Srila Prabhupada revived his Back to Godhead magazine, which the newly-initiated devotees distributed on the streets.

Regularly Srila Prabhupada would hold chanting sessions and give lectures to the eager groups of people who would come to his storefront. Always he would distribute prasadam, and soon he started the first Sunday feasts.

After the New York devotees became more steady in their spiritual practice, Srila Prabhupada went to San Francisco to establish ISKCON on the West Coast of the USA. Many hippies joined his movement and spread spiritual love and peace throughout the community. Srila Prabhupada sent his disciples to preach in other parts of the world and establish Krishna Conscious centers. They first started preaching in London, then later in Berlin, India, and many cities throughout the USA.

Srila Prabhupada wrote over 50 volumes of transcendental literature. From original Sanskrit or Bengali texts, he would write word-for-word and complete translations for each verse and comment on the text in his famous Bhaktivedanta purports. He called these purports "my emotional ecstasies". In clear and lucid language, he exposed the foolishness of the modern materialistic society, which often acts no different than polished animals. But merely exposing the modern society was not his main purpose. He sincerely wished the best for all living entities. Therefore he presented the vast science of spiritual knowledge in such a manner that even any slightly intelligent person could understand the truth: We are eternally parts of Krishna; we are His eternal servants.

Srila Prabhupada's works include the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Srimad Bhagavatam (12 Cantos), Caitanya-caritamrta (17 volumes), The Nectar of Devotion, Krishna - the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Teachings of Lord Caitanya, The Teachings of Lord Kapila, The Teaching of Queen Kunti, Sri Isopanisad, The Nectar of Instruction, and dozens of other smaller books.

Srila Prabhupada slept only 3 hours a day and ate only a handful of food. The early morning hours, between 1:30 and 4:30 a.m., he would spend writing, and later in the day he would preach to all classes of people in public and in private. Even up to the last day, when his physical body was at its end, he was dictating the final purports to his last book. By any calculation, he is an extraordinary person.