From a childhood steeped in philosophy and devotion to becoming a key force behind one of the world’s most ambitious spiritual projects, the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (TOVP), Sharmila Ford, wife of Alfred Brush Ford, heir to the Ford legacy, has dedicated her life to cultural preservation and spiritual service.
In this second part of the interview she gave to Parveen Chopra, Founder and Editor of A Lotus in the Mud online magazine, Sharmila Ford (aka Svaha Devi Dasi) shares her journey from Sharmila Bhattacharya, who earned a PhD in medicine, to becoming a prominent figure in the ISKCON community and her efforts in preserving India’s cultural and spiritual heritage.
Parveen Chopra: What led you to ISKCON?
Sharmila Ford: I grew up in an environment where we understood that more was expected of us because we were fortunate to experience abundance and love. My grandparents and parents welcomed sannyasis into our home, taught us to give in charity, and both of my grandmothers were deeply religious and observed all the important festivals.
In my early teens, I helped my father translate the Bhagavad Gita from Bengali into Hindi at the request of a sannyasi. That experience awakened my curiosity about spiritual knowledge, although I did not yet fully understand the Gita.
My first encounter with ISKCON came unexpectedly while I was studying at the University of Melbourne in Australia. I heard the chanting of “Hare Krishna” in the street and was intrigued. In Australia in the 1970s, there were relatively few Indians, and most of the people I saw chanting were Westerners in traditional Indian clothing, taking part in kirtan.
One of them gave me a magazine. I made a small donation and received a laddu as prasad. I read the magazine, visited the Melbourne ISKCON temple, and felt an immediate connection. I began reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and attending programs, and gradually became deeply involved.
Did you ever meet Srila Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON?
Sharmila Ford: No, and that remains one of my greatest regrets. Srila Prabhupada visited Australia during the final years of his life, but I was not yet aware of ISKCON.
I learned about him primarily through his followers, his books, and teachings after his passing. In many ways, his presence continues through those teachings, through the movement he established, and through the devotees who carry his message forward.
What is ISKCON’s core message?
Sharmila Ford: At its heart, ISKCON offers a message of love, harmony, and spiritual awakening through devotion to Krishna.
The Bhagavad Gita takes us beyond a purely material understanding of life and toward an understanding of our eternal spiritual nature. Srila Prabhupada envisioned and established temples and communities where people from every background could come together, chant the holy names, study these teachings, and rediscover their relationship with Krishna.
“The path of Krishna consciousness reveals that we all belong to an eternal spiritual world, and we can find our way back there by living harmoniously in this world by serving Krishna and respecting all creation.”
~ Sharmila Ford
Doesn’t ISKCON trace itself back to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu?
Sharmila Ford: Yes. Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of ISKCON, belonged to the Gaudiya Vaishnava lineage associated with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
In this tradition, Krishna appeared as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and Balarama as Nityananda. Together, they spread devotion to Krishna by chanting the Hare Krishna mahamantra.
In fact, while touring the antardvipa area in Mayapur, where our present temple is being built, Lord Nityananda predicted our TOVP, declaring that an astounding temple would appear to propagate the teachings of Lord Chaitanya. The TOVP is intended to serve as a global center for this knowledge.
For anyone who wants to understand why Mayapur holds such significance, the TOVP offers a remarkable opportunity to encounter that history, philosophy, and spiritual tradition in one place.
Srila Prabhupada brought this wisdom to the West and created a worldwide movement. How did he manage to do it?
Sharmila Ford: Srila Prabhupada was an ambassador from the spiritual world, personally sent by Krishna for this divine contribution. This is not our conjecture, but a statement he made himself.
In 1922, Srila Prabhupada received the instruction from his guru to spread this knowledge in English. His education at Scottish Church College in Calcutta gave him a strong command of the language and helped him communicate across cultures.
He studied the works of the Gaudiya Vaishnava acharyas, including his guru, HDG Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, and translated important Sanskrit and Bengali texts into English. He ultimately wrote more than 60 volumes, beginning with Bhagavad Gita As It Is.
When he arrived in America in 1965, he had very little money and carried only a small number of volumes of the Srimad Bhagavatam. Yet, within eleven years, before his passing in 1977, he had established ISKCON as an international movement and founded temples around the world.
As a devotee from Bengal, I feel a particular connection to his mission and to his conviction that India’s spiritual heritage should be shared with the world. I humbly pray that my small efforts can contribute to that vision.
What motivates you to take on so many responsibilities?
Sharmila Ford: A deep sense of gratitude and purpose.
I am grateful to Srila Prabhupada for the teachings he brought to the world and for the example of service he set throughout his life. His courageous journey—from leaving India at the age of seventy with very little money to establishing a worldwide spiritual movement—inspires us.
His compassion, love, and purity were the force, and his faith and conviction in Krishna made him accomplish the impossible.
We believe the TOVP will become a place where that spirit of loving devotional service continues as a living center of learning, devotion, and spiritual exploration for generations to come.
Sharmila, you come from an extraordinary lineage. Tell us about your forefathers and their contributions.
Sharmila Ford: My mother’s great-great-grandfather, Shri Sansar Chandra Sen, was Prime Minister of Jaipur in Rajasthan. He was involved in governance and social reforms and traveled to England with the Maharaja of Jaipur in 1902 for the coronation of King Edward VII, where he received the Coronation Medal. In 1905, the Prince of Wales decorated him with the Royal Victorian Order, and in 1909 he received the C.I.E. A road in Jaipur still bears his name.
My father’s great-grandfather, Pandit Hara Prasad Shastri, was a distinguished Sanskrit scholar, archivist, and historian of Bengali literature. Born Hara Prasad Bhattacharya, he received the title “Shastri” after earning his M.A. He taught at Presidency College in Calcutta and made important contributions to Indology.
He served as president of the Asiatic Society and was an honorary member of the Royal Asiatic Society in London. He also served for twelve years as president of the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad.
I feel fortunate to come from a family that so deeply valued scholarship, culture, and service.
You hold a PhD degree and have an impressive academic background. Did you not want to pursue a professional career?
Sharmila Ford: I did. When Alfred and I first met, I told him that I intended to pursue my career after marriage, and he was very supportive. I enjoyed the rigors of academic research, publishing papers, and presenting at conferences, including an international conference on Atherosclerosis in West Berlin.
After our first child was born, however, my priorities changed. I felt that I had been given a wonderful opportunity to devote myself to raising our children, and I wanted to be fully present for them.
Looking back, I am very grateful for that choice.
That was a big decision, made with so much heart. Tell us about your two daughters.
Sharmila Ford: I am very proud of both of them.
Our younger daughter, Anisha, married in 2025. She and her husband are proud parents of a one-year-old son. She has always combined strength of character with a gentle nature. She completed her postgraduate studies at Harvard and, as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago, volunteered with children in underserved communities, which led to her interest in early childhood education.
Our older daughter, Amrita, is the kindest, gentlest person and a friend to everyone. She earned a master’s degree in medical science from Boston University. She is compassionate, generous, and a devoted mother of two. She and her husband, a Harvard graduate and practicing lawyer, are also involved in community service at the ISKCON temple in Washington, D.C.
What matters most to me is not simply what they have accomplished, but the kind of people they have become.
Coming to your husband’s background, are you or your family still actively involved with the Ford Motor Company?
Sharmila Ford: Alfred was involved in a number of charitable initiatives associated with the Ford family, particularly the Ford Fund, and has served on the board of Henry Ford Health System, including its cancer research initiatives. Over time, however, he has stepped away from many of these commitments to devote more of his attention to the TOVP.
You and Alfred have set up your own foundation.
Sharmila Ford: We established the Alfred and Sharmila Ford Foundation in Detroit to support social and cultural initiatives, particularly in education and spiritual projects.
We believe philanthropy is most meaningful when it not only addresses an immediate need but also creates opportunities for lasting growth—through education, culture, and spiritual development.
That aligns perfectly with your work on TOVP.
Sharmila Ford: Our service at the TOVP is a gift that we feel fortunate to share with the whole world.
The A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Legacy Museum, which opened last year, occupies approximately 21,000 square feet and is devoted to preserving and presenting Srila Prabhupada’s life and legacy. We are continuing to gather photographs, artifacts, and other materials from people around the world who knew him.
Exhibits at different museum levels will explore the soul’s journey through the realms described in the Brihad Bhagavatamrita. One story we are attempting to bring to life is Gopa Kumar’s journey through successive realms that ultimately leads to Goloka Vrindavan.
We hope to present these stories immersively, so visitors don’t simply read about them but can enter the world they describe.
Alfred is also interested in the possibility of a Vedic museum in Washington, D.C. Srila Prabhupada had expressed a desire for such a museum in the US capital, and it would be wonderful to see that vision one day become a reality.
How do you see your journey ahead?
Sharmila Ford: I hope to continue serving the TOVP. What inspires me most is seeing the vision of our predecessor acharya, HDG Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur Mahashaya, unfold. He saw people of all nations come together in Sri Dham Mayapur, chanting Hare Krishna and dancing with loving devotion and compassion for all living entities. This has already come to pass, with devotees from many nations living and serving together.
Srila Prabhupada, as the expert visionary, knew how to attract people to Mayapur and let them taste the sweetness and love of Krishna Bhakti.
What excites me most is the possibility that people who would never have encountered Mayapur will want to visit, even just out of curiosity, and find themselves rewarded with an enriching, life-changing experience.
The TOVP brings together architecture, art, science, cosmology, history, and spirituality to answer life’s existential questions: Who are we? What is the purpose of life? What is consciousness? And what does it mean to live with love and compassion?
As for my own journey, I hope to continue each day with devotion, service, compassion, and gratitude. I remain deeply grateful to Srila Prabhupada for the teachings that have enriched my life and for the opportunity to continue learning what it means to love and serve Krishna, as well as all living beings, alongside fellow devotees.
Thank you very much for this opportunity. And Happy Diwali to your Lotus readers.
For more information about the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (TOVP), go to https://tovp.org/
For Part 1 of this exclusive interview with Sharmila Ford, click here:
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