Hare Krishna

Hare Krishna, popular name of a semimonastic Vaishnava Hindu organization founded in the United States in 1966 by A.C. Bhaktivedanta (Swami Prabhupada; 1896–1977). This movement is a Western outgrowth of the popular Bengali bhakti (devotional) yoga tradition, or Krishna Consciousness, which began in the 16th century. Bhakti yoga’s founder, Chaitanya (1485–1534?), advocated the pursuit of mystical devotion through repetitive chanting, especially of the Hare Krishna mantra: As a young man, Bhaktivedanta was instructed by his...