Problem: Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Abhoy Charonarobindo Bhoktibedanto Shwamy Probhupad; 1 September 1896 - 14 November 1977) was a Gaudiya Vaishnavism spiritual teacher (guru) and the founder preceptor (Acharya) of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), commonly known as the "Hare Krishna Movement". Adherents of the ISKCON movement view Prabhupada as a divine avatar and messenger of Krishna. Born Abhay Charan De in Calcutta, he was educated at the Scottish Church College in Calcutta. Before adopting the life of a pious renunciant (vanaprastha) in 1950, he was married with children and owned a small pharmaceutical business.

In 1922, when he first met his spiritual master, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, he was requested to spread the message of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the English language. In 1933 he became a formally initiated disciple of Bhaktisiddhanta. In 1944, (from his front room at Sita Kanta Banerjee, Calcutta), he started the publication called Back to Godhead, for which he acted as writer, designer, publisher, editor, copy editor and distributor. He personally designed the logo, an effulgent figure of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the upper left corner, with the motto: "Godhead is Light, Nescience is darkness" greeting the readers. In his first magazine he wrote:  Under the circumstances since 1936 up to now, I was simply speculating whether I shall venture this difficult task and that without any means and capacity; but as none have discouraged me, I have now taken courage to take up the work.  In 1947, the Gaudiya Vaishnava Society recognised his scholarship with the title Bhaktivedanta, (bhakti-vedanta) meaning "one who has realised that devotional service to the Supreme Lord is the end of all knowledge" (with the words Bhakti, indicating devotion and Vedanta indicating conclusive knowledge).  His later well known name, Prabhupada, is a Sanskrit title, literally meaning "he who has taken the shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord" where prabhu denotes "Lord", and pada means "taking shelter." Also, "at whose feet masters sit". This name was used as a respectful form of address by his disciples from late 1967 early 1968 onwards. Previous to this, as with his early disciples, followers used to call him "Swamiji".  From 1950 onwards, he lived at the medieval Radha-Damodar mandir in the holy town of Vrindavan, where he began his commentary and translation work of the Sanskrit work Bhagavata Purana. Of all notable Vrindavana's temples, the Radha-Damodara mandir had at the time the largest collection of various copies of the original writings of the Six Gosvamis and their followers - more than two thousand separate manuscripts, many of them three hundred, some even four hundred years old. His guru, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, had always encouraged him to print books, and beholding his spiritual master, Abhay felt the words deeply enter his own life - "If you ever get money, print books."  referring to the need of literary presentation of the Vaishnava culture.

did he spread the message?

Answer with quotes: he started the publication called Back to Godhead, for which he acted as writer, designer, publisher, editor, copy editor and distributor.


Problem: Oldman was born in New Cross, London, the son of Leonard Bertram Oldman (1921-1985), a former sailor who also worked as a welder, and Kathleen (nee Cheriton; born 1919). He has stated that Leonard was an alcoholic who left the family when Oldman was seven years old. Oldman attended West Greenwich School in Deptford, leaving school at the age of 16 to work in a sports shop. He was a pianist as a child, and later a singer, but gave up his musical aspirations to pursue an acting career after seeing Malcolm McDowell's performance in the 1971 film The Raging Moon.

Oldman was charged with drunk driving in 1991 after a night out in Los Angeles with actor Kiefer Sutherland. A deputy city attorney stated that Oldman's blood alcohol content was found to be more than twice California's limit for legal intoxication.  Some media outlets reported that Oldman was unhappy with The Contender (2000) because DreamWorks had edited the film to reflect pro-Democratic leanings, stirring controversy. The claims were declared "sloppy sensationalism" by Oldman's manager, Urbanski, who said that Oldman was "the least political person he knew", that "neither he nor Oldman had made the statements attributed to them," that they had "produced the film every last cut and frame," and that "DreamWorks did not influence the final cut or have anything to do with it." It has been suggested that Oldman was blacklisted in Hollywood for several years as a result.  In an interview in the July/August 2014 issue of Playboy magazine while promoting Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Oldman criticized what he saw as excessive political correctness in American media and the entertainment industry's own discriminating hypocrisy, and argued in support of former controversial celebrities Mel Gibson and Alec Baldwin. He stressed that he did not relate with most of their viewpoints, but regarding the former, agreed, "Gibson is in a town that's run by Jews" (referring to Hollywood). After criticism from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Oldman apologised to them in an open letter. ADL director Abraham Foxman acknowledged that Oldman was remorseful, but felt his letter was insufficient and asked for "a little more introspection, a little more understanding and a little more education". Oldman then made a public apology on the 25 June edition of late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where he stressed that he was "profoundly sorry" for his "insensitive, pernicious and ill-informed" remarks.

How about more controversies that Oldman has been involed in?

Answer with quotes:
Oldman then made a public apology on the 25 June edition of late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live