Srimad-Bhagavata Vidyapitham

[Guest guest]

Why become an academic scholar

when you can be a natural scholar in the eternal

Vaisnava tradition?

 

Why be vague about your future

when you can be serving the central aims of Srila

Prabhupada’s heart?

 

Why not consider joining the BBT’s new, dynamic school, the

Srimad-Bhagavata Vidyapitham

in Krsna’s favorite place, Sri Govardhana?

 

The first aim of the Vidyapitham is to train Sanskrit translators and

editors for the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. But since those who do these

services should be seriously dedicated Vaisnavas with the consciousness and

behavior of proper brahmanas, the school also does everything it can to

promote a natural, balanced lifestyle that is both devotional and sattvic.

The main strength of the Vidyapitham, its assurance of faithfulness to the

mission of Srila Prabhupada, is its insistent focus on the study and

propagation of Srimad-Bhagavatam.

 

Modern university education has its value for preaching and other

purposes, but it is not truly brahminical. Traditional brahmanical education

has altogether different methods: It is based on respect for the authority

of guru, sastra, and sadhu. It prefers deep study of a few texts to

superficial surveys of hundreds. And it is given free of charge, so that it

will be received as a gift from above rather than a purchasable commodity.

 

Currently the Srimad-Bhagavata Vidyapitham is offering a three-year

Bhagavata-sastri course, the students of which learn the Sanskrit grammar of

Sri Jiva Gosvami, acquire the skills to read and speak Sanskrit fluently,

and are immersed in study of the major Bhagavatam commentaries of our line.

Graduates of this course will be able to pursue further individualized study

and will have the opportunity to become translators and editors for the

Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, or find other engagement in ISKCON as teachers and

researchers.

 

The school is the process of developing its forest-asrama campus on the

side of Govardhana Hill in Mathura District, India. The environment will be

conducive to brahminical development—peaceful and clean, with all

necessities and basic comforts provided, but avoiding the wasteful luxuries

of materialistic life. To promote natural good health, Ayurvedic dietary

principles will be followed and there will be daily practice of asanas and

pranayama.

 

Students entering the Bhagavata-sastri program should expect a

challenging, disciplined course of study that encourages not competitiveness

and selfish goals but rather a team spirit of working together for ISKCON’s

preaching mission. There are no tuition charges. Those who have been

accepted for the three-year program after a two-month trial period are given

free maintenance for the duration of the program, with all their expenses

covered other than travel outside of India. The program is in session nine

months of the year, according to this schedule:

 

First trimester: Oct 1 – Jan 31 (123 days,

90 in Govardhana)

session in South India: Dec 30 – Jan 31 (33 days)

Spring break: Feb 1 – Mar 14 (42 days)

Second trimester: March 15 – May 24 (71 days)

Summer break: May 25 – June 30 (37 days)

Third trimester: July 1 – Sept 25 (87 days)

Short break: Sept 26 – 31 (6 days)

 

At the beginning of October each year, new students are accepted for

officially starting the Bhagavata-sastri program. Students who want to have

a head start may be allowed to come for an introductory period before the

school year begins.

 

The asrama’s early morning program is:

 

4:30 mangala arati

 

7:10–7:25 pranayama

7:15–7:45 Deity greeting, guru-puja, Bhagavatam recitation

7:45–8:15 Bhagavatam class

8:15–8:45 yoga asanas

 

Classes are conducted six days a week, following this schedule for the first

two years of the program:

 

10:00–10:50 Sanskrit grammar: Hari-namamrta-vyakarana

11:00–11:50 Sanskrit workshop

12:00–1:00 Commentary study

 

5:00–5:50 Bhagavatam overview

 

In the third year, the Sanskrit language study is replaced with surveys of

philosophy and the theory of poetry, and workshops in translation skills and

class-giving.

 

In the Bhagavatam recitation each morning, everyone chants together one

chapter of the Sanskrit text, so that the entire Bhagavatam is completed in

a one year.

 

In the Sanskrit grammar course, taught by Matsya Avatara Prabhu, the

entire system of Srila Jiva Gosvami’s Hari-namamrta-vyakarana in an

abbridged version of one thousand sutras is presented with thorough

explanation. By memorizing the sutras, the students have knowledge of the

language literally on the tip of their tongues.

 

The Sanskrit worshop course exercizes the students daily in speaking

the language and using the grammar they have learned.

 

In the third daily course, taught by Gopiparanadhana Dasa, verses of

the Bhagavatam are studied one after another along with their commentaries.

Each verse is analyzed grammatically, first word by word and then

reconstructing the sentences by identifying their basic skeletons

(subject-verb-object) and adding on all the other words by their syntatic

connections. After this, commentaries on the verse are studied in their

original Sanskrit, including those of Sridhara Svami, Srila Sanatana

Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami, and Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura.

 

The last course of the day is an overview of the Bhagavatam, in

English, with special focus on Srila Prabhupada’s purports. The overview

covers the entire twelve cantos in three years, which allows two or three

days for each chapter. It is taught by Mukunda Datta Prabhu, Arya Siddhanta

Prabhu, and visiting senior devotees.

 

One more requirement for completing the Bhagavata-sastri program is for

each student to memorize the Sanskrit text of a section of the Bhagavatam of

his own choice. Thirty-five sections of the Bhagavatam are available on a

first-come first-choice basis, with lengths varying from six to twelve

chapters.

 

And as an option for those who need it, remedial training in English is

available, as will also be training in Hindi for local preaching. The

Vidyapitham organizes preaching programs for its staff and students in

Govardhana and nearby Mathura.

 

Those who want to be admitted as students of the Bhagavata-sastri

program should fill out our application form, in which they are asked about

their background and service history in ISKCON. Candidates are encouraged to

provide recommendations from authorities they have served under in ISKCON.

Selected candidates will be invited for a trial period at the beginning of

the next school year or before. Free accomodations will be offered for this

period, but candidates should pay for their own travel to India, with return

tickets, and should have situations to return to in case they do not

continue past the trial period.

 

In special cases, individual programs may be arranged for those who

cannot attend the entire Bhagavata-sastri program.

 

Those who are interested can contact Gopiparanadhana Dasa at

gopipa (AT) pamho (DOT) net.