Śrī Rūpānuga Paramārthika Vidyāpīṭha i
s one of the colleges of the Bhaktivedanta Academy’s Adult Education faculty. It has two departments 1. Bhaktivedanta Theological Seminary & 2. Yajña & Deity-worship
1. Bhaktivedanta Theological Seminary
The theological Seminary strives to educate students in all aspects of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Siddhānta so that they are able to effectively establish and propagate the pre-eminence of Lord Caitanya’s philosophy and the teachings of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Special emphasis is given to realization through practical application of this knowledge (nidhidhyāsana). Furthermore, the Seminary endeavors to assist students in developing their ability to view the sastra as per the principles of sambandha, abhideya and prayojana and to apply this vision in all aspects of life.
2. Yajña & Deity-worship
Yajña & Deity-worship aims at training devotees in the aspects of performing fire sacrifice (yajña) and the procedure of deity-worship (arcana-vidhi). Śrīla Prabhupāda describes the importance of deity-worship as follows:
Simple theoretical book knowledge is not sufficient for a neophyte devotee. Book knowledge is theoretical, whereas the arcana process is practical. Spiritual knowledge must be developed by a combination of theoretical and practical knowledge, and that is the guaranteed way for attainment of spiritual perfection. (ŚB 2.3.22 purport)
Teachers
HG Pandava Bandhava Das
Born in Bulgaria in 1973. Graduated from the Law School of Sofia University in 2000. Joined ISKCON in 1997. Received his initiation in 1999 and served as a book distributor in Sofia temple from 1999-2003. Served in BLS Radhadesh 2003-2005. Joined the Rūpānuga Paramārthika Vidyāpīṭha in 2005 and served in mainly curriculum development and also teaching. Since 2022 teaches at the Bhakti School NYC. Actively engaged in performing Harināms and book distribution in Bulgaria and NYC.
HG Caru Chandra Das
Carucandra Dasa, a disciple of H.H. Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu, began his practice of Vaiṣṇavism in Philadelphia in 1993. Since 2005 he has been spending half of each year in Śrīdhām Māyāpur where he has been helping develop the curriculum for the śāstric study courses for both the Māyāpur Institute and the Bhaktivedanta Academy. His remaining time is spent developing a Vaiṣṇava retreat center in Kentucky called the Bhagavat Commune.
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