Bhakti Charu Swami

Bhakti Charu Swami is a Vaishnava swami and a religious leader of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). He is a Guru and a member of the Governing Body Commission of ISKCON. Previously he was simultaneously acting as ISKCON's minister of arts and culture. He is an initiated disciple of ISKCON's founder His Divine Grace, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and has translated Shrila Prabhupada's literary works in Bengali and also produced a television serial on Prabhupada's life entitled "Abhay Charan". He's also serving on an advisory panel of I-Foundation, a leading Hindu charity organisation in the United Kingdom.

Bhakti Charu Swami was born in Bengal in 1945, and spent most of his early life in the city of Calcutta. In 1970 he left India to study in Germany. He came across Vedic literatures while in Germany. In 1975 he returned to India to pursue spiritual life, and studied the Vedic scriptures.

Bhakti Charu Swami joined the International Society for Krishna Consciousness temple in Mayapur. When A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Srila Prabhupada) returned to India at the end of 1976, Bhakti Charu met him. Srila Prabhupada gave him the assignment of translating his books into Bengali and made him his Secretary for Indian Affairs. Within a few months Srila Prabhupada initiated him into the disciplic succession and soon thereafter awarded him the renounced order of Sannyasa.

Swami

A swami (Sanskrit: स्वामी svāmī [sʋaːmiː]) sometimes abbreviated “sw.” is an ascetic or yogi who has been initiated into the religious monastic order founded by some religious teacher. It is believed to be originally used for the ones who were initiated into to the Advaita Vedanta movement started by Adi Shankara. The usage of this word is not just for a yogi but also used for a religious guru, with or without disciples.

The Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology as

In the Bengali language, the word (pronounced [ˈʃami]), while carrying its original meaning, has a dual meaning of “husband”. The word also means “husband” in the Malay language, where it is spelled “Suami”. Swami also means husband in the Khmer language.

References

Bhakti

Bhakti (Sanskrit: भक्ति) literally means "attachment, participation, devotion to, fondness for, homage, faith or love, worship, piety to (as a religious principle or means of salvation)". Bhakti, in Hinduism, refers to devotion and the love of a personal god or a representational god by a devotee. In ancient texts such as the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, the term simply means participation in, devotion, and love for any endeavor, or it refers to one of the possible paths of spirituality and moksha as in bhakti marga mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita. The term also refers to a movement that arose between the 7th century and 10th century CE in India, focused on the gods Vishnu and Shiva, possibly in response to the arrival of Islam in India.

The Bhakti movement reached North India in the Delhi Sultanate and grew throughout the Mughal era evolving the characteristics of Hinduism as the religion of the general population as dhimmi, under the Islamic rulers in parts of the Indian subcontinent. Bhakti-like movements also spread to other Indian religions during this period, and it influenced the interaction between Christianity and Hinduism in the modern era.

His Holiness

His Holiness is a style and form of address (in the variant form Your Holiness) for supreme religious leaders, most notably the Pope.

Christian churches

His Holiness (Latin: Sanctitas) is the official style used to address the Roman Catholic Pope and the Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, as head of the Orthodox community. In February 2013, the Holy See announced that former Pope Benedict XVI would retain the style "His Holiness" after resigning and becoming Pope Emeritus.

The term is sometimes abbreviated or "HH" or "H.H." when confusion with "His/Her Highness" is unlikely. The associated form of address is "Your Holiness".

It is also used for certain other Eastern Patriarchs, notably those who head a church or rite which recognizes neither Rome's nor Constantinople's primacy, notably any Catholicos of the East.

Other religions

The English language honorific "His Holiness", and as female version "Her Holiness", has commonly been used for religious leaders from other traditions, including Buddhism (notably for the Dalai Lama), Shinto and in Ahmadiyya Islam for the Caliph.