Ravi M. Gupta
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Occupation | Professor, author, editor |
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Ravi M. Gupta, also known as Radhika Ramana Dasa (IAST: Rādhikā Ramaṇa Dāsa), is a notable Vaishnava scholar, is an author and editor, has a doctorate in Hinduism from Oxford, holds the Charles Redd Chair of Religious Studies at Utah State University, and serves as Director of the Religious Studies Program at USU.[1][2][3] He is a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
Early life and education[]
In Boise, Idaho, he was raised and home-schooled along with his younger brother with a curriculum based mostly on the Srimad Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana), from which he learned English, comprehension skills, critical thinking, debate, and communication. He also took maths and science as separate subjects, as well as Sanskrit, which he loved.[4]
At the age of thirteen he enrolled at the Boise State University, and in 1999 when he was seventeen he received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics as well as the University's highest honor, the Silver Medallion.[2][4] He recalls,
On my first day, the chair of the English department sent me to the honors writing course because all the introductory classes were full. 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.[4]
He enrolled at the University of Oxford at the age of seventeen, their youngest student ever,[5][6] and in 2000 he received a Master of Studies (MSt) in the Study of Religion.[2][3]
In 2004, he received a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in Hinduism from the University of Oxford.[1][2][3] At the age of twenty-two, he became the youngest-ever student to gain a doctorate at the world-famous University.[7][8] His thesis focused on the early development of Vedanta philosophy in the Chaitanya Vaishnava tradition, based on original manuscript sources.[5]
Career[]
He has taught at the University of Florida, Centre College, and the College of William & Mary.[1][3]
He holds the Charles Redd Chair of Religious Studies and serves as Director of the Religious Studies Program at the Utah State University, and was a Visiting Scholar at the Maxwell Institute during Fall 2020. He received four teaching awards, a National Endowment for the Humanities summer fellowship, and two research fellowships at the University of Oxford. He is a Permanent Research Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and a past president of the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies.[1][2]
His research areas are world religions, Hinduism, Sanskrit, and religious studies (theory and method). His research interests are the Bhagavata Purana's Sanskrit commentaries, Vaishnava bhakti traditions, interreligious dialogue, and the relationship between faith, scholarship, religion and ecology.[1][2]
Published works[]
Books
- Goswami, Tamal Krishna; Gupta, Ravi M. (2005). "Chapter 4 — Krishna and Culture: What Happens When the Lord of Vrindavan Moves to New York City". In Forsthoefel, Thomas A.; Humes, Cynthia Ann (eds.). Gurus in America. Albany, New York: SUNY Press. pp. 81–95. ISBN 0-7914-6573-X.
- Gupta, Ravi M. (2007). The Caitanya Vaiṣṇava Vedānta of Jīva Gosvāmī: When Knowledge Meets Devotion. Forward by Flood, Gavin. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-40548-5.
- Gupta, Ravi M. (2010). "Bhakti and Vedānta: Do They Mix? The Case of Caitanya Vaiṣṇavism". In Bronkhorst, Johannes; Preisendanz, Karin (eds.). From Vasubandhu to Caitanya: Studies in Indian Philosophy and its Textual History (Papers of the 12th World Sanskrit Conference). Vol. 10. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 143–153. ISBN 978-81-208-3472-9.
- Gupta, Ravi M.; Valpey, Kenneth R., eds. (2013). The Bhāgavata Purāṇa: Sacred Text and Living Tradition. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-14999-0.
- "Introduction — Churning the Ocean of Līlā: Themes for Bhāgavata Study". pp. 1–20. By Gupta; Valpey.
- Gupta, Ravi M., ed. (2014). Caitanya Vaiṣṇava Philosophy: Tradition, Reason and Devotion. London: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-0-754-66177-1.
- "Where One is Forever Two: God and World in Jīva Gosvāmī's Bhāgavata-sandarbha". pp. 35–60. By Gupta.
- "A Pearl Necklace of Propositions: Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa's Prameyaratnāvalī". pp. 113–134. Translated by Gupta.
- Gupta, Ravi M.; Valpey, Kenneth R. (2016). The Bhāgavata Purāṇa: Selected Readings. Forward by Brown, C. Mackenzie. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-54234-0.
- Gupta, Ravi M. (2020). "Chapter 4 — Accomplishing the Impossible: Jīva Gosvāmī and the Concept of Acintya in Caitanya Vaiṣṇava Vedānta". In Maharaj, Ayon (ed.). Volume: The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Vedānta. Series: Bloomsbury Research Handbooks in Asian Philosophy. In Ram-Prasad, Chakravarthi; Tan, Sor-hoon (series eds.). In et al. (advisory eds.). (1st ed.). New York: Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 131–153. ISBN 978-1-3500-6323-5.
Encyclopedias
- Gupta, Ravi M. (2008). "Caitanya". In Cush, Denise; Robinson, Catherine; York, Michael (eds.). Encyclopedia of Hinduism (1st ed.). Routledge. pp. 128–129. ISBN 978-0-7007-1267-0.
- Gupta, Ravi M. (2012). "Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism". In Hiltebeitel, Alf (ed.). Oxford Bibliographies Online. New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/OBO/9780195399318-0140. OCLC 871820156.
- Gupta, Ravi M. (2012). "Jīva Gosvāmī". In Jacobsen, Knut A.; Basu, Helene; Malinar, Angelika; Narayanan, Vasudha (eds.). Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Vol. IV. Leiden: Brill. p. 249. doi:10.1163/2212-5019_BEH_COM_9000000110. ISBN 978-90-04-17895-3.
Journals
- Gupta, Ravi M. (December 5, 2006). "Making Space for Vedānta: Canon and Commentary in Caitanya Vaiṣṇavism". International Journal of Hindu Studies. 10 (April 2006): 75–90. doi:10.1007/s11407-006-9003-7. ISSN 1574-9282. S2CID 170935738.
- Gupta, Ravi M. (2010). "'He is our master': Jesus in the Thought of Swami Prabhupada". Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies. 23. Article 7 (pp. 15–19). doi:10.7825/2164-6279.1459. ISSN 2164-6279.
- Gupta, Ravi M. (2016). "VIEWPOINT: Hinduism and the Academy: Towards a Dialogue Between Scholar and Practitioner". Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies. 29 (pp. 62–66). Article 9. doi:10.7825/2164-6279.1632. ISSN 2164-6279.
- Gupta, Ravi M. (March 5, 2018). "Translators' Troubles: Seeking a Method that Suits the Bhāgavata Purāṇa". International Journal of Hindu Studies. 22 (April 2018): 175–189. doi:10.1007/s11407-018-9221-9. ISSN 1574-9282. S2CID 149119813.
- Gupta, Ravi M.; Valpey, Kenneth R. (July 18, 2018). "Introduction: New Directions in Bhāgavata Purāṇa Studies". Journal of Hindu Studies. 11 (1, May 2018): 1–3. doi:10.1093/jhs/hiy006. ISSN 1756-4263.
- Gupta, Ravi M. (June 13, 2018). "Restoring Sight to Blinding Love: The Bhāgavata Purāṇa's Transformation of the Urvaśī–Purūravas Narrative". Journal of Hindu Studies. 11 (1, May 2018): 67–79. doi:10.1093/jhs/hiy004. ISSN 1756-4263.
- Gupta, Ravi M. (August 24, 2020). "Why Śrīdhara Svāmī? The Makings of a Successful Sanskrit Commentary". Religions. 11 (9: 436): 436. doi:10.3390/rel11090436. ISSN 2077-1444.
- Gupta, Ravi M. (April 8, 2021). "Battling Serpents, Marrying Trees: Towards an Ecotheology of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa". Journal of Dharma Studies. 4 (April 2021): 29–37. doi:10.1007/s42240-021-00097-z. ISSN 2522-0926. S2CID 234824406.
References[]
- ^ a b c d e Maharaj, Ayon, ed. (2020). The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Vedānta. Bloomsbury Research Handbooks in Asian Philosophy. Bloomsbury Academic. p. viii. ISBN 978-1-3500-6323-5.
Ravi M. Gupta is the Charles Redd Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Religious Studies Program at Utah State University. He is the author or editor of four books, including The Caitanya Vaiṣṇava Vedānta of Jīva Gosvāmī (Routledge, 2007). He has completed an abridged translation of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa (with Kenneth Valpey), published in 2017 by Columbia University Press. Professor Gupta received his DPhil at Oxford University and subsequently taught at the University of Florida, Centre College in Kentucky, and the College of WIlliam and Mary. He has received four teaching awards, a National Endowment for the Humanities summer fellowship, three research fellowships at Oxford, and a book award. He is a permanent research fellow of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and a past president of the Society for Hindu Christian Studies. His current research focuses on the Bhāgavata Purāṇa's Sanskrit commentaries, and he codirects the international Bhāgavata Purāṇa Research Project.
- ^ a b c d e f "Ravi Gupta". Utah State University. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Prof. Ravi M. Gupta". Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. October 3, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
- ^ a b c Smulln, Madhava (September 20, 2008). "Radhika Ramana Dasa: Leaping Across Oceans". ISKCON News. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
- ^ a b OCHS alumni Archived April 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
- ^ ISKCON News Staff (April 16, 2008). "Young Vaisnava Scholar to Bring a Gift to the Pope". ISKCON News. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
- ^ Jha, Lalit K. (May 19, 2005). "Boise temple produces genius one after another". Hindustan Times. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
- ^ Smulln, Madhava (May 20, 2016). "Newly Appointed Professor Talks Scholarship's Role in Vaishnavism". ISKCON News. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
- Boise State University alumni
- Alumni of the University of Oxford
- Fellows of Linacre College, Oxford
- American people of Indian descent
- People from Boise, Idaho
- College of William & Mary faculty
- Centre College faculty
- American Hare Krishnas
- Bhaktivedanta College
- Living people
- Hindu studies scholars
- Academics of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies