Gokulānanda Gurukulam

Srila Prabhupada's Vision About Gurukula

Founder-Ācārya :
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Prabhupāda

“Gurukula is our most important project. If the children are given a Krishna conscious education from early childhood, then there is great hope for the future of the world.”

-- Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Letter (1973)

“The old system of Gurukula should be revived. It is the perfect system designed to produce great men, sober and responsible leaders, who know the real welfare of the citizens.”

“If such children are given practical guidance on the transcendental platform, above the bodily and mental conception of life, they will develop into perfect citizens: moral, honest, hard-working, lawabiding, clean, faithful to home and country, etc. That is the unmatched success of our Krishna conscious schooling system.”

-- Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Letter (1971)

Mission

Inspired by the teachings of Srila Prabhupada based on Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, Gokulananda Gurukulam was inaugurated on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya on 3-May-2022 as an educational initiative of ISKCON Belagavi.

This is a humble attempt to fulfil the desire of Srila Prabhupada who wanted children to be imparted Krishna conscious education from the very childhood. He gave various instructions on this matter in his books, lectures, letters and conversations which can be summarized in the following three aspects covering everything that a child may possibly need for his/her holistic development.

Krishna Consciousness (philosophy and devotional practices)
Culture and Lifestyle (a unique blend of Krishna Consciousness and Vedic Culture in modern times)
Academics and Life Skills (Integrated approach to traditional and modern knowledge systems)

Salient features

Gokulananda Gurukulam is a traditional gurukulam uniquely integrating the above three elements in its vision of education and is broadly based on Vedic tradition and culture and specifically focused on devotion to Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This provides a strong cultural and devotional foundation and the end output is character, devotion and discipline in addition to basic academic knowledge and life-skills.
Our education system imparts Krishna consciousness (philosophy and devotional practices) in the settings of Vedic Culture keeping in mind that we are living in the modern world.
Our system is very personalised. Children and teachers are part of one gurukula family and treated equally irrespective of their background.
There is a lot of emphasis on teachers in the gurukula including their personal life which must be exemplary.
Gurukula lifestyle based on the principle of “Simple Living and High Thinking” --

develops in children a healthy, respectful attitude towards Krishna consciousness and our Vedic culture and traditions.
inculcates in them a sense of simplicity, not only with respect to the physical atmosphere but also in their mind-set.
trains them to live in harmony and with respect and care for nature in their behaviour and mind-set. They are taught to wake-up early, sleep early and maintain certain level of cleanliness.