Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura was the spiritual master of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder-Ācārya of the Worldwide Hare Krṣṇa Movement. He was the son of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, a great Vaiṣṇavā Ācārya in the line of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism.

At the age of only seven, Bimalā Prasād Datta, who was later to be known as Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, had memorized all seven hundred verses of the Bhagavad-gītā and could explain each and every one of them. At the age of ten, he was initiated by his father into the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and a Nṛsiṁhadeva mantra. Later on he attended a special Sanskrit college where he became an expert in Sanskrit grammar, Vedic śāstra and different views of philosophy. Due to his lifelong celibacy he had such a clear memory that even in his last days he could reproduce word for word any passage of any book he had read fifty years back. He was known as a walking encyclopedia.

In 1933, eager to spread Lord Caitanya’s message beyond the borders of India, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Ṭhākura sent some of his sannyāsa disciples to England to preach and open up Gauḍīya Maṭhas in the West, but not being able to convince the Westerners to take up spiritual life, they returned to India unsuccessful after 3 years. Fortunately for the benefit of all people of the world, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda’s most beloved disciple, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda later on carried out his Guru Mahārāja’s order and has spread Lord Caitanya’s nama-saṅkīrtana movement to every corner of the globe, and is now being assisted by thousands of his disciples in this preaching work.