In these essays Srila Prabhupada expands on themes found in the Bhagavad-gita, discussing such topics as why people are averse to God, the ultimate causes of suffering, and how the world’s troubles are extraordinarily fleeting when seen from the standpoint of eternity.
Students of Srila Prabhupada will recognize the same common-sense writing style in Renunciation Through Wisdom as in his later, well-known works such as Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita As It Is, as well as his expertise at distilling the essence of India's ancient Vedic wisdom into powerful, convincing, practical, and easily readable directives.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896–1977) is the author Bhagavad-gita As It Is, the most widely read commentary on the Bhagavad-gita in the world, along with a multivolume commentated translation of the eighteen-thousand-verse Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana). He also wrote Easy Journey to Other Planets. Before he passed away in 1977 he wrote more than fifty volumes of authoritative commentated translations and summary studies of the philosophical and religious classics of India. Highly respected by scholars for their authority, depth, and clarity, his writings have been translated into over eighty languages. In just twelve years after arriving in the United States in 1965, despite his advanced age, Srila Prabhupada established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and then circled the globe fourteen times on lecture tours that took him to six continents. In spite of such a vigorous schedule, Srila Prabhupada continued to write prolifically. His writings constitute a veritable library of Vedic philosophy, religion, literature and culture.