In the years the followed, Srila Prabhupada wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita, assisted the Gaudiya Matha in its work and, in 1944, without assistance, started an English fortnightly magazine, Back To Godhead, edited it, typed the manuscripts, and checked the galley proofs. He even distributed the individual copies and struggled to maintain the publication. The magazine is now being continued by his disciples in the West and is published in nineteen languages.

Recognizing Srila Prabhupada's philosophical learning and devotion, the Gaudiya Vaisnava Socitey honored him in 1947 with the title "Bhaktivedanta." In 1950, at the age of fifty-four, Srila Prabhupada retired from married life, adopting the vanaprastha (retired) order to devote more time to his studies and writing. Srila Prabhupada traveled to the holy city of Vrndavana, where he lived in very humble circumstances in the historic medieval temple of Radha-Damodara. There he engaged for serveral years in deep study and writing. He accepted the renounced order of life (sannyasa) in 1959. At Radha-Damodara, Srila Prabhupada began work on his life's masterpiece: a multi-volume translation of and commentary on the eighteen-thousand-verse Srimad Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana). He also wrote Easy Journey to Other Planets.

After publishing three volumes of the Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada came to the United States, in 1965, to fulfill the mission of his spiritual master.

One must try to understand that Srila Prabhupada was neither an Indian author nor Indian culturist nor Hindu sectarian. The first teaching of the Bhagavad-gita is that no one is Indian, no one is American - our real self is beyond this temporary bodily designation; our permanent identity, eternal, blissful and full of knowledge, is with the Supreme Personality of Godhead as His eternal servant; and our position is to be situated beyond the material universes in the spiritual planets, within the spiritual sky. This is the platform of Krsna consciousness.

To think, "I am American," "I am Russian" etc., is our disease, and is due to forgetfulness of our eternal nature as spirit soul. Unfortunately, under the spell of illusion, every embodied creature is satisfied with his present material body. Even the worm in the stool is thinking, "I am all right." Despite so many disadvantages and miseries, all living entities are engaged in satisfying their senses and are thinking it is all right. Therefore, when the bona fide guru comes with the transcendental message, calling sould back to home back to Godhead, they do not want to come out of the material encagement. Often, people prefer to be encouraged in illusion and therefore pay fees to learn that they are God or equal to God in all respects and thus "free" to go on "enjoying" a material life of sense gratification. So we see yoga and mediation teachers advertising that they will improve one's material facilities. They overlook the fact that elimination of sense gratification is the first step in the standard yoga, or transcendental system. Srila Prabhupada did not encourage unrestricted sense gratification, or the belief theat one is God, or the God is impersonal or void. He is passing on, as it is, the information from Vedic literature that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is a person and that devotional service unto Him is the perfection of all purificatory processes. Lord Krsna in Bhagavad-git is recognized as the Supreme Lord, and Sri Isopanisad confirms the Personality of Godhead as the anti-material supreme controller and the only enjoyer. Srila Prabhupada is teaching surrender to Krsna, the Supreme Lord.

Srila Prabhupada was the living example of the saintly person pointed to in all Vedic literature who is personally free from all material contamination and active in spritual understanding. Such a person is the Krsna conscious personality who is so dear to Krsna, who understand that highest welfare is not to pose oneself as the friend of humanity but to teach that God - Krsna - is the dearmost friend who alone is capable of alleviating the miseries of each and every living entity. Srila Prabhupada taught what is really common sense to our intelligence, but we are so bewildered by the glitter of the material nature that we are distrated for his message. He is simply canvassing for God on the order of his spiritual master. Once Srila Prabhupada was asked, "Are you an incarnation of God?" "No," he answered, "I am servant of God." Then he paused and went on, "Not exactly servant. To be servant of God is not an ordinary thing." The servants or devotees of Krsna are so great that they are beyond the desire to merge with God. Sometimes, in their intimate association and exchange with God, they even become "greater" than Him, as when He allows some devotee to become His mother or lover. Prabhupada's mission is not less than to distribute this topmost love of God to all persons. It is stated in the Vedic literature that a small man wants to make only himself happy, a somewhat bigger man wants to make his family or his country happy, but the great man wants to make all persons happy.

Srila Prabhupada produced his books by speaking them on a dictaphone. At one point he was working on five books at once. The books are a matter of realization. As he said, "When you become self-realized, you automatically write volumes of books." And one of the qualifications of a devotee is that he is a poet. Srila Prabhupada was always immersed in Krsna by speaking, dictating, and singing about Krsna glories, or planning the expansion of the Krsna consciousness movement. In the Bhagavad-gita, Seventh Chapter, is it stated that out of thousands of men few seek perfection, and our of the thousands who attain perfection hardly one knows Krsna. Lord Krsna also declared in the Eighteenth Chapter that the dearmost devotee of all is he who spreads the teaching of love of Krsna: "Never will there be one dearer to Me."

Srila Prabhupada's spiritual master, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, once drew a picture of a mrdanga (drum used on sankirtana) and, beside it, a printing press. He said that the mrdanga can be heard for several blocks, but the press can be heard around the world. He therefore called the printing press "the big mrdanga."

In 1968 in an abridged edition and then completely in 1972, Macmillan published The Bhagavad Gita As It Is, translated with commentary by Srila Prabhupada. The Gita is the gist of the entire Vedic literature. Just this one book can free anyone from the clutched of material nature and fix one in eternal loving service unto Sri Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In just twelve year, in spite of his advanced age, Srila Prabhupada circled the globe fourteen times on lecture tours that took him to six continents. In spite of such a vigorous schedule, Srila Prabhupada continued to write prolifically. His writing constitute a veritable library of Vedic philosophy, religion, literature, and culture. Highly respected by the academic community for their authoritativeness, depth and clarity, they are used as standard textbooks in numerous college courses. His writings have been translated into twenty-eight languages.