Bhakti Prema Swami
Bhakti Prema Swami is a Gaudiya Vaishnava sannyasi in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He is a disciple of His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami, who is a disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON.
About Bhakti Prema Swami
Bhakti Prema Swami is a Gaudiya Vaishnava sannyasi in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He is a disciple of His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami, who is a disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON.
Bhakti Prema Swami Maharaj was born on 31st December 1967 and was raised in a traditional gaudiya vaishnava culture. Maharaj came in contact with ISKCON in 1994, and in his very first meeting with his spiritual master, he decided to dedicate himself fully to this movement. Thus he joined as a full-time devotee in 1995 in Mayapur. He received Harinama initiation in 1996, Brahmin initiation in 1998, and subsequently Sannyasa initiation on the auspicious occasion of Gaura Purnima 2015 at the lotus feet of HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj. He served as the Head of the Medical Department in Mayapur Temple from 1996 to 2001 and as a Brahmacari counselor from 1997 to 2001. In 2000, he completed the Bhakti Sastri Course and subsequently taught the same under MIHE University. In 2001, he was asked to serve as the Vice President of ISKCON Kolkata (WB) and served in that capacity till 2004. During those three years he was actively involved in temple management as well as youth preaching in Kolkata.
In 2004, HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj started a new temple project in Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh) and appointed him as the Temple President. In 2006, the Governing Body Commission (GBC) gave him the ISKCON Global Excellence Award for his significant contribution to opening a new ISKCON project in Ujjain with a marble temple of Sri Sri Radha Madanmohana, Sri Sri Krishna Balarama and Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, a separate Jagannath temple serving prasadam to about 33,000 students daily, an Ayurveda clinic, goshala, guest house, Govinda's restaurant, deity workshops, and a primary school. He served in that capacity till 2011 and is currently the Co-President of ISKCON Ujjain.
He is very actively involved in preaching to youth as well as congregations through various school, college, and village preaching programs. Maharaj preaches in English, Hindi, and Bengali in India, Bangladesh, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the USA, and many other parts of the world. As a sannyasi he visits many villages encouraging them to practice Krishna Consciousness, regularly contributes to sankirtana buses to distribute Srila Prabhupada's books in various parts of India, conducts preaching programs for college students, and leads congregational programs for householders.
After becoming aware of one specific desire of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati — to have student hostels to guide them in Krishna Consciousness — Maharaj established BSC – Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Chattravas (Spiritual Student Hostels) to preach Krishna Consciousness effectively to the youth. Around 18 such youth preaching centers are effectively functioning under his guidance in central India.
His uniqueness is in his melodious Vaisnava bhajans with beautiful purports and his humble, loving relationships with everyone who comes in contact. His future preaching plans involve youth preaching programs, developing devotee village communities, establishing Vedic education and culture for sustained community growth, and traveling worldwide to propagate Krishna Consciousness.