Radhika Ramana Dasa

Ravi M. Gupta, also known as Radhika Ramana Dasa, is a notable Vaishnava scholar. Presently, he is Charles Redd Chair of Religious Studies at Utah State University and a member of the faculty at Bhaktivedanta College. He received his doctorate from Oxford University on the topic of Jiva Goswami's Vedanta, and has held research fellowships at Linacre College and the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. He is a disciple of Hanumatpreshaka Swami.

Childhood and early education

He was brought up by his parents Ananta-Rupa Dasa and Aruddha Dasi in Boise, Idaho. He was home schooled together with his brother Gopal with a curriculum based on the Bhagavata Purana, English, comprehension skills, critical thinking, debate, and communication. He also took Sanskrit, math and science as separate subjects, and was academically accomplished.

When he enrolled in the local Boise State University at the age of 13, on the first day, the professor of the English department sent Radhika to the honors writing course because all the introductory classes were full. Radhika Raman recalls.

At first, I was so intimidated by the curriculum. Rather than contemporary novels and story books, it was full of classical literature like Shakespeare, the Iliad and the Odyssey. But everything changed when I realized how similar they were to our own epics in many ways. Homer's Odyssey spoke about valiant warriors and their code of ethics, just like the Mahabharata. And the conflicts Shakespeare's Hamlet faced were very similar to those of Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita.

Five years later, at the age of seventeen, he left the University with a degree in philosophy, a BS in mathematics, and the university's highest honor, a silver medallion.

Post graduate education and career

He graduated from the University of Oxford at twenty-two with a doctorate in Hindu Studies and was one of the youngest students to gain a PhD from this University. He was assisted in his studies by Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies run by Shaunaka Rishi Dasa. From there he moved to the University of Florida, Gainesville to teach for one year. In 2006, he became Assistant Professor of Religion at Centre College, Kentucky. In 2008, he became Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2011.

Current career

In 2013, Ravi Gupta became the Charles Redd Chair of Religious Studies at Utah State University in Logan, Utah, where he lives with his wife Amrita Keli.

He has received three teaching awards: Rookie Professor of the Year, the David Hughes Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the Alumni Fellowship Award. He was also chosen by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to greet Pope Benedict XVI and presented a gift to him on behalf of the Hindu American community during the Pope's first visit to the United States.

He is the author of The Caitanya Vaisnava Vedanta of Jiva Gosvami (Routledge, 2007), co-editor of The Bhagavata Purana: Sacred Text and Living Tradition (Columbia University Press, 2013), and editor of Caitanya Vaisnava Philosophy: Tradition, Reason and Devotion (Ashgate Publishing, 2014). He is currently working on an abridged translation of the Bhagavata Purana to be published by Columbia University Press. He is also the author of numerous journal articles on Caitanya Vaisnavism and Vedanta philosophy.

In 2012, Ravi was elected President of the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies. In ISKCON, he serves in the Ministry of Educational Development on the executive board and teaches Sanskrit at the Bhaktivedanta College.