Prabhupāda is the honorific used by the

International Society for Krishna Consciousness The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known Colloquialism, colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Gaudiya Vaishnava Hinduism, Hindu religious organization. ISKCON was found ...

(ISKCON) to refer to ISKCON founder

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami (; 1 September 1896 – 14 November 1977) was an Indian Gaudiya Vaishnava guru who founded ISKCON, commonly known as the "Hare Krishna movement". Members of ISKCON view Bhaktivedanta Swami as a repr ...

Etymology

''Prabhupāda'' (প্রভুপাদ) is composed of the words ''

prabhu ''Prabhu'' means master or the Prince in Sanskrit and many of the Indian languages; it is a name sometimes applied to God. The term is also used by devotees of the Hindu God Lord Krishna/Vishnu as a title and form of address. It is also appended ...

'' (প্রভু) and '' pāda'' (পাদ). ''Prabhu'' means "Lord," while ''pāda'' means "foot" or "feet."

Interpretations

* Lord's Feet * At the Lord's Feet. * One Who Sits at the Lord's Feet * He at Whose Feet All Masters Sit (—Tamal Krishna Goswami)

Usage

* In

Gaudiya Vaishnavism Gaudiya Vaishnavism (), also known as Chaitanya Vaishnavism, is a Vaishnava Hindu religious movement inspired by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) in India. "Gaudiya" refers to the Gaura or Gauḍa region of Bengal, with Vaishnavism meanin ...

, "Prabhu" usually refers to Caitanya "Mahā Prabhu", i.e. "Great Lord Caitanya." * In the

Gaudiya Math The Gaudiya Math (, ; ) is a Gaudiya Vaishnava ''matha'' (monastic organisation) formed on 6 September 1920,Devamayī dāsi, "A Divine Life: Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda" in ''Prabhupada Saraswati Thakur: The Li ...

, "Prabhupāda" is used as an honorific for the founder

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati (; bn, ভক্তিসিদ্ধান্ত সরস্বতী; ; 6 February 1874 – 1 January 1937), born Bimala Prasad Datt (, ), was a Gaudīya Vaisnava Hindu guru (spiritual master), ācārya (philo ...

. * In the

ISKCON The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. ISKCON was founded in 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktive ...

, "Prabhupāda" has been used since 1968 exclusively to refer to

. From 1966 to 1968, his American disciples called him "Swamiji." In 1968 ACBS, objected to the term, and said that in India they called their guru "Prabhupāda." Satsvarūpa Dās Goswāmī, ''Srīla Prabhupāda-līlāmrta''. The ISKCON has called him "Prabhupāda" ever since and has made the honorific term so popular worldwide that most non-Indians mistakenly think that "Prabhupāda" and "Swāmī Prabhupāda" are his names – although A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami himself did not use this honorific to refer to himself.

Similar terms

This usage set a pattern for the " ISKCON Guru-Ācāryas" – who took over the ISKCON after the death of ACBS in 1977 – to create similar self-applied honorifics, such as " Ācāryapāda," " Bhaktipāda," " Gurupāda," " Tīrthapāda," etc. * ''Visnupāda'' = "

Visnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

's Feet" (an honorific for Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī) * ''Bhagavatpāda'' = "Lord's Feet" (a popular honorific for Sankara) * ''

Padma The Padma ( bn, পদ্মা ''Pôdma'') is a major river in Bangladesh. It is the main distributary of the Ganges, flowing generally southeast for to its confluence with the Meghna River near the Bay of Bengal. The city of Rajshahi is sit ...

pāda'' = "Lotus Feet" (a

disciple A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure. It can refer to: Religion * Disciple (Christianity), a student of Jesus Christ * Twelve Apostles of Jesus, sometimes called the Twelve Disciples * Seventy disciples in t ...

of Sankara) * ''Srīpāda'' = "Venerable Feet" (an honorific for Sankara, Rāmanuja, and

Madhva Madhvacharya (; ; CE 1199-1278 or CE 1238–1317), sometimes anglicised as Madhva Acharya, and also known as Purna Prajna () and Ānanda Tīrtha, was an Indian philosopher, theologian and the chief proponent of the '' Dvaita'' (dualism) sch ...

)See the Wikipedia disambiguation page Sripada. * ''

Sripadaraja Sripadaraja ( sa, श्रीपादराज; ) or Sripadaraya, also known by his pontifical name Lakshminarayana Tirtha (1422 - 1480), was a Hindu Dvaita philosopher, scholar and composer and the pontiff of the Madhvacharya mutt at Mulb ...

'' = "Kingly Venerable Feet" (the honorific for Dvaita teacher Svāmī Laksminārāyana Tīrtha) * ''Srīpāda'', ''Srīpādaru'', ''Srīpādangalavaru'' =

Satyatma Tirtha Sri Satyatma Tirtha () (born 8 March 1973), is an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru, scholar, spiritual leader, saint and the present pontiff of Uttaradi Math. He is the 42nd pontiff of Uttaradi Math since Madhvacharya, the chief proponent and th ...

* ''Krsnapāda'' = "

Krsna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one o ...

's Feet"Used as a name by

Krishnapada Ghosh Krishnapada Ghosh (1914–1987) was an Indian politician and trade unionist. He served as West Bengal Minister of Labour 1969–1970 and 1977–1985. He was a Central Committee member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He was also a membe ...

. * ''Rāmapāda '' = "

Rāma Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular ''avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Being ...

's Feet"Used as a name by

Ramapada Chowdhury Ramapada Chowdhury (28 December 1922 – 29 July 2018) was an Indian novelist and short story writer in Bengali. For his novel ''Bari Badle Jay'', he received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1988. He was also a recipient of the Rabindra Puraska ...

. * ''Kālīpāda'' = "

Kālī Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hinduism, Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In t ...

's Feet"Used as a name by

Kalipada Singha Thakur Kalipada Singha Thakur was the last King of Malla dynasty of Bishnupur. He became King of Mallabhum in the year 1930 C.E.Malabhum Bishnupur-Chandra, Manoranjan; 2004; Kolkata. Deys Publishing History There are at least three different opinions a ...

Kalipada Ghosh Tarai Mahavidyalaya Kalipada Ghosh Tarai Mahavidyalaya, also known as Bagdogra College, established in 1988, is the general degree college in Bagdogra. It offers undergraduate courses in arts, commerce and science . The campus is in the Darjeeling district. It is ...

Kalipada Ghoshal Kalipada Ghoshal (Bengali: কালিপদ ঘোষাল; September 1906 – 29 April 1995) (Kali-Pado means he who is under Mother Goddess Kali). He was an artist from Calcutta. He was a well regarded student of the Indian Society of Ori ...

, Kalipada Pahan. * ''Gangapāda''Used as a name by

Gangapada Basu Gangapada Basu (as known as Gangapada Bose) (12 March 1910- 23 May 1971) was a Bengali film and theatre actor. He was an actor in the Gananatya Sangha and Bohurupee theatre groups. Films * ''Tothapi (1950) * '' Chinnamul'' (1950) * ''Nagari ...

Notes

References

{{Reflist, 1 Titles in India Honorary titles * Bhakti movement