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David Frawley

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David Frawley (or Vāmadeva Śāstrī वामदेव शास्त्री) is an author on Hinduism, Yoga and Ayurveda, and the founder and director of the American Institute for Vedic Studies in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Through his institute, he offers courses on Yoga philosophy, Ayurveda, and Hindu astrology. He is also a Professor of Vedic Astrology and Ayurveda at the International Vedic Hindu University.

Biography

Frawley was born in 1950 into a Catholic family in La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States. He was the second of ten children: the first and he and another were boys, the rest girls. He attended a Catholic school until he was about ten years old. After that he and his family moved to Denver, Colorado.

As an American Hindu, Frawley is one of the few Westerners to be recognized by a major Hindu sect in India as a Vedacharya or teacher of the ancient wisdom.

He had first contact with Hindu writings about 1970 and after that got more interested in Vedic matters.

He learned Sanskrit from a Sanskrit grammar and a copy of the Vedas: as a result he learned Sanskrit the difficult way (Vedic first).

In 1991, under the auspices of the Hindu teacher Avadhuta Shastri, he was named Vamadeva Shastri (वामदेव शास्‍त्री), after the great Vedic rishi Vamadeva.

In 1995, he was given the title of Pandit along with the Brahmachari Vishwanathji award in Mumbai for his knowledge of the Vedic teaching.

In 1996 he received the Brahmachari Vishwanathji Award in Mumbai: this recognized him a a Pandit and Dharmacharya.

In 2000, he published his memoirs, "How I Became a Hindu", in which he details his own spiritual journey from his earlier Catholic upbringing to finally embracing Hinduism as his religion.

With the book In Search of the Cradle of Civilization, Frawley gained wide public attention in India with his writings attacking the Aryan Invasion Theory. His approach to ancient India stresses its spirituality.

Three of his works Arise Arujuna, Awaken Bharat, and Hinduism and the Clash of Civilizations have been often cited as highly influential foundational works responsible for the Hindu revival currently being witnessed both in India and worldwide. He has pleaded for a return to the teachings of the Vedas, interpreting these ancient texts as great sources of wisdom. In books like "The myth of the Aryan Invasion of India", he criticized racial interpretations of prehistoric Indian historiagraphy, such as the mythical conflict between invading caucasoid Aryans and Dravidians.

Frawley founded and is the director of the American Institute for Vedic Studies in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Through his institute, he offers courses on Yoga philosophy, Hindu astrology (jyotisha), and Ayurveda. In addition to directing his institute, he conducts major lecture tours in India every year, delivering talks at universities, Hindu conferences, and to the general public.

Notable works

In books like The Myth of the Aryan Invasion of India, Frawley criticizes obsolete 19th century racial interpretations of Indian prehistory, such as the theory of a conflict between invading caucasoid Aryans and Dravidians. In his book In Search of the Cradle of Civilization, Frawley attacks such historical scenarios of the "Aryan Invasion", stating:

"There is no racial evidence of any such Indo-Aryan invasion of India but only of a continuity of the same group of people who traditionally considered themselves to be Aryans."

Martha Nussbaum notes that:

"Even David Frawley, the most determined opponent of the "Aryan Migration" theory, does not contest the linguists' most basic claims."

Criticism

In an editorial published by The Hindu, Michael E. J. Witzel, a professor of Sanskrit at Harvard, claimed that Frawley has weak knowledge of Sanskrit. Frawley replied to this criticism in an article of his own.

Partial bibliography

  • Gods, Sages, and Kings, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-910261-37-7
  • From the River of Heaven, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-910261-38-5
  • Hinduism: The Eternal Tradition (Sanatana Dharma), Voice of India, New Delhi ISBN 81-85990-29-8
  • The Myth of the Aryan Invasion Theory online book, update, article
  • In Search of the Cradle of Civilization
  • How I Became a Hindu
  • The Rig Veda and the History of India ISBN 81-7742-039-9
  • Hinduism and the Clash of Civilizations.
  • Yoga and Ayurveda, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-81-0
  • Tantric Yoga, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-910261-39-3
  • Wisdom of the Ancient Seers, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-910261-36-9
  • Oracle of Rama, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-910261-35-0
  • Yoga and the Sacred Fire, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-940985-75-6
  • Ayurvedic Healing, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-97-7
  • Ayurveda and Marma Therapy, (with Ranade and Lele), Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-940985-59-4
  • Yoga for Your Type: Ayurvedic Guide to Your Asana Practice, (with Summerfield-Kozak), Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-910261-30-X
  • Ayurveda: Nature's Medicine, (with Ranade), Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-95-0
  • Yoga of Herbs: Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine, (with Lad), Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-941524-24-8
  • Ayurveda and the Mind, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-36-5
  • Astrology of the Seers, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-89-6
  • Ayurvedic Astrology, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-940985-88-8

Notes

  1. http://hua.edu/faculty/
  2. Arvidsson 2006:298 Arvidsson, Stefan (2006), Aryan Idols: Indo-European Mythology as Ideology and Science, translated by Sonia Wichmann, Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.
  3. Arvidsson, p. 298.
  4. Frawley, David. http://www.stephen-knapp.com/solid_evidence_debunking_aryan_invasion.htm
  5. Nussbaum, p. 369, note 8.
  6. Witzel, Michael. "A maritime Rigveda? How not to read ancient texts". Retrieved 2007-05-29.
  7. Frawley, David. "Witzel's Vanishing Ocean: How to read Vedic texts any way you like". Retrieved 2007-05-29.

References

  • Arvidsson, Stefan (2006). Aryan Idols: Indo-European Mythology as Ideology and Science. translated by Sonia Wichmann. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-02860-6.
  • Nussbaum, Martha (2007). The Clash Within: Democracy, Religious Violence, and India's Future. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-02482-6. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

See also

Hindu reform movements
Reform movements
Topics
Gurus and
revivalist writers
General

External links

Frawley on Indian history

Categories: