Srila Prabhupada’s Vision for Education

When Srila Prabhupada founded ISKCON, he placed a profound emphasis on education, embedding it deeply within our glorious movement’s mission. Remarkably, four out of the seven core purposes of ISKCON are dedicated to education, underscoring its importance. Srila Prabhupada’s visionary approach led to the creation of foundational courses like Bhakti-Sastri, aimed at nurturing a proper understanding of the scriptures among devotees. His Divine Grace foresaw the need for even more advanced educational programs through other courses such as Bhakti-Vaibhava, Bhakti-Vedanta, and Bhakti-Sarvabhauma.

Through such a committed study of Srila Prabhupada’s books, which are saturated with the teachings of the previous acharyas, it is natural that a few devotees may develop the desire to learn further the works of the previous torchbearers of our sampradaya.

Launch of BhaktiGranthaSeva.com

Srila Prabhupada conveyed this desire many times through his Bhaktivedanta purports, classes, and conversations. In homage to His Divine Grace, and on the auspicious occasion of his 128th Vyas Puja, the BhaktiGranthaSeva.com portal is being launched. It is a humble attempt to contribute in a small but meaningful way to the educational vision of our beloved Founder-Acharya.

This new platform is dedicated to offering courses based on the revered books of our great acharyas in the Gaudiya-sampradaya, including Srila Prabhupada, Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, Srila Jiva Gosvami, Sri Rupa Gosvami, and contemporary teachers like Sivarama Swami, to name just a few.

About The Courses & Facilitator

The courses on BhaktiGranthaSeva.com are presented as “reflective reading sessions,” where participants engage in in-depth reading and discussion of the acharyas’ works. The course facilitator and attendees collaboratively explore the material, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of the texts. Balarama Sakti Dasa, a disciple of Radhanatha Swami, facilitates the courses.

While pursuing his PhD at Pennsylvania State University in 2005, Balarama Sakti Dasa embraced Krishna Consciousness. Eventually, this led him to ISKCON Chowpatty, Sri Sri Radha-Gopinatha temple, in Mumbai, India, where he joined as a brahmachari in 2007. In 2010, he moved to Govardhan EcoVillage near Mumbai. Encouraged by senior devotees there, he became one of the founding faculty members of Bhaktivedanta Vidyapitha.

Course Fees and Study Materials

The site was built by inspired participants who benefited from online Zoom sessions coordinated over WhatsApp by Balarama Sakti. Identifying an opportunity to make timeless wisdom more accessible to the wider devotee community, this small team of working professionals, geographically spread across India, Australia, and America, got together. Despite some technical challenges, the project moved forward and is now live.

All courses, present and future, will always remain entirely free. Each course includes:

– Engaging YouTube video for visual learning

– An MP3 audio file for convenient on-the-go listening

– PDF notes with detailed session slides and class notes

Live Sessions

In addition to these pre-recorded courses, ongoing live courses are also available, and these can be joined through the Live Zoom Sessions link on the homepage.

Other Helpful Features

The site’s responsive design ensures a seamless experience on any device. Its minimalist and intuitive layout aims to provide a distraction-free learning environment.

Additionally, the Dark Mode reading option offers a sleek, eye-friendly interface that minimizes screen light emission, ensuring a comfortable browsing experience in low-light environments.

Seeking Blessings

The team seeks the blessings of the Vaishnava community so that BhaktiGranthaSeva.com can inspire devotees in their surrender to Srīla Prabhupada and Sri Krishna.

For more information, you can also email the Bhakti Grantha Seva team.