Prabhupāda
Prabhupāda is an honorific popularised outside India by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Previously, the word was not known to non-Indic speakers. The term is used on the title page of all BBT books authored by Bhaktivedānta Swāmī, seemingly as part of his name.
A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda: "Prabhu's feet" (i.e. Caitanya Mahā Prabhu)
Spellings
- Prabhupāda — Standard and scholarly rendition according to the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration.
- Prabhupada — Non-standard, non-scholarly, popular spelling, that does not take into account that the term's second "a" is a different letter in Sanskrit from the first and the third "a."
- Prabhupad — Non-standard, non-scholarly, popular phonetic spelling which renders the final "a" silent.
- Prabhupaada — Old-fashioned Anglicism.
- prabhupAda — Newfangled concoction created for computer systems without diacritical support.
- [prabhʊ'pɑdə] — Phonetic spelling according to the IPA standard.
Etymology
Prabhupāda (প্রভুপাদ)[1] is composed of the words prabhu (প্রভু) and pāda (পাদ). Prabhu means "Lord," while pāda means "foot" or "feet." Prabhupāda, hence, literally translates as "One who sits at Lord's Feet." Its actual meaning, in Indian context, will need to take into consideration nuances of language, culture, and belief that shall necessitate extensive linguistic elaboration for non-Indic speakers.
Similar terms
- Visnupāda = "Visnu's Feet" (an honorific for Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī)
- Bhagavatpāda = "Lord's Feet" (a popular honorific for Sankara)
- Padmapāda = "Lotus Feet" (a disciple of Sankara)
- Srīpāda = "Venerable Feet" (an honorific for Sankara, Rāmanuja, and Madhva)[note 1]
- Srīpāda Rāya = "Kingly Venerable Feet" (an honorific for Svāmī Laksmīnārāyana Tīrtha)
- Srīpāda, Srīpādaru, Srīpādangalavaru = Svāmī Satyātma Tīrtha
- Krsnapāda = "Krsna's Feet"[note 2]
- Rāmapāda = "Rāma's Feet",[note 3]
- Kālīpāda = "Kālī's Feet",[note 4]
- Gangapāda[note 5]
Usage
- In Gaudiya Vaishnavism, "Prabhu" usually refers to Caitanya "Mahā Prabhu", i.e. "Great Lord Caitanya."
- In the Gaudiya Math, "Prabhupāda" is used as an honorific for the founder Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī.
- In the ISKCON, "Prabhupāda" has been used as an honorific exclusively for the "Founder-Ācārya" Abhaya Caranaravinda Bhaktivedānta Svāmī since 1968. 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."[2] 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 ACBS himself did not use this honorific on himself.
- 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.
- In the Science of Identity / Chaitanya Mission (an ISKCON offshoot), "Prabhupad" is used as an honorific exclusively for the founder Chris Butler. (They call the ISKCON Founder-Ācārya as "Srila Bhaktivedanta.")
Notes
- See the Wikipedia disambiguation page on "Sripada."
- Used as a name by Krishnapada Ghosh.
- Used as a name by Ramapada Chowdhury.
- Used as a name by Kalipada Singha Thakur, Kalipada Ghosh Tarai Mahavidyalaya, Kalipada Ghoshal, Kalipada Pahan.
- Used as a name by Gangapada Basu.
References
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