Prabhupada Vani Research Academy

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Prabhupada Vani Research Academy (PVRA) is a department of Bhaktivedanta Library Services a.s.b.l. (BLS), a non profit organization which is situated adjacent to the Radhadesh community in Belgium.

PVRA is dedicated to offer comprehensive research of excellent quality to greatly enhance the education of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s followers and the people in general into the essence of Krsna conscious siddhanta as found in the teachings of Śrīla Prabhupāda.

PVRA's first project is Vanipedia - an online comprehensive encyclopedia of compilations from the realized truths established in the teachings of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda. We will make these predominantly available via the website vanipedia.org, and later on, if possible, as a series of books printed by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.

Contents

PVRA’s Mission Statement

  • To offer a global platform for Śrīla Prabhupāda to profoundly inspire millions of human beings to awaken their dormant love for Kṛṣṇa by taking up the process of devotional service.
  • To offer a global platform for Śrīla Prabhupāda to clearly express his vision for the spiritual upliftment of human society via the establishment of daiva varnasrama and the sankirtana yajna.
  • To follow the Vaisnava-Brahminical principles of simple straightforwardness, mercy, truthfulness, and action from a non political platform.
  • To present in compiled form the multifarious Kṛṣṇa conscious truths established by Śrīla Prabhupāda in his teachings.
  • To facilitate the understanding of philosophical truths on essential & various subjects.
  • To facilitate the education & training of Śrīla Prabhupāda's followers to assist him as empowered servants of the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Movement.
  • To assist in identifying the essential principles from Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in concise form with the hope that one day they will be established as the guiding principles for the worldwide Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Movement, via a constitutional process, and other formats of implementation.

The time line of how we got to here

1987

  • July: Visnu Murti dasa begins a compilation from Śrīla Prabhupāda's letters, consisting of 200 (A4) pages divided into 17 subjects, all taken from the five-volume set Letters from Śrīla Prabhupāda, which had been recently published for the first time, in June 1987.

1988

  • January: We visit the Bhaktivedanta Archives in Los Angeles and learn that they are the publishers of the 5 volume set Letters from Śrīla Prabhupāda, and that the Archives have a lot more of Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings that have still not been released.
  • May: We finish the compilation from the letters, print 150 copies and distribute them to the devotees.
  • August: We again visit Ekanath dasa and Ranjit dasa at Bhaktivedanta Archives and team up with them to help with the production and distribution of Śrīla Prabhupāda's remaining teachings to the devotees.
  • August: We arrive in England, start distribution and team up with Ajamila dasa who is working on a far superior compilation from Śrīla Prabhupāda's letters, named Śikṣāmṛta.

1988 thru 1995

  • We travel throughout Europe to assist in the publication and distribution of:
  • Books
    • Conversations with Śrīla Prabhupāda (37 volumes)
    • Collected Lectures on Bhagavad-gītā As It Is (7 volumes)
    • Collected Lectures on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11 volumes)
    • Collected Teachings of His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda (7 volumes)
    • Śrīla Prabhupāda Śikṣāmṛta (3 volumes)
    • Back to Godhead 1944-1960 The Pioneer Years
    • The Jaladuta Diary
    • The Beginning
    • Festivals with Śrīla Prabhupāda
  • Audio
    • Sets of the lecture tapes of Śrīla Prabhupāda (711 cassettes)
    • Sets of the new realized lecture tapes of Śrīla Prabhupāda (320 cassettes)
    • Śrīla Prabhupāda's bhajans on CD (the first CD's in Iskcon)
  • Computer Program
    • The VEDAbase

1995

  • September 14th: In a property adjacent to Radhadesh in Belgium, the non profit organization Bhaktivedanta Library Services a.s.b.l. is founded to facilitate the distribution of Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings to the devotees.

1995 thru 2005

  • BLS solidifies its distribution network by developing a mail order service, a shop, and wholesale customers.

2001 thru 2003

  • BLS starts to develop and manage the Bhaktivedanta College in Radhadesh, being convinced that systematic training and education in Śrīla Prabhupāda's books is a very good way to help the devotees imbibe his teachings.
  • We experience that there is not enough emphasis on Śrīla Prabhupāda's books in the curriculum.

2004

  • BLS stops it's involvement with the College.

2005

  • We ponder over the need for a serious research facility to assist comprehension and education in the teachings of Śrīla Prabhupāda.
  • We compile extensively from Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in excel and doc files.
  • We develop a comprehensive methodology for the compilations.

2006

  • June: We decide that the Web is the best platform for the research facility to develop.
  • September: Eivind Morland from Norway joins BLS in Radhadesh and with him we bounce things back and forth and take the decision to inaugurate the project.
  • October: We buy the domain brahmana.org thinking that we would develop a Website under that name.
  • November: We establish a department of BLS named Prabhupada Vani Research Academy
  • October thru December: Eivind starts researching for good Web-based software for the execution of the research.

2007

  • January thru April: Eivind concentrates fully on the development. He concludes that Wiki is the best software, and starts to familiarize himself with it.
  • January thru April: We share the vision with different devotees and get a lot of encouragement to perform the sacrifice.
  • January 15th: We decide on the name Vanipedia and buy the domain name.
  • May: Acyutananda Caitanya dasa from Colombia joins the team in Radhadesh and starts the process of building Vanisource by extracting the data from Vedabase
  • May: We present the project to the BBT Trustees at their annual meeting. Get very enthusiastic response and a license to develop the project.
  • August Lakshmi Parmar from India (Dubai) comes forward to assist with the compiling.
  • October: Siddha Rupa dasi from Mexico (Mexico city) comes forward to assist with the compiling.
  • October: We set the launch date of version 0.1 for Gaura Purnima on the 21st of March 2008.
  • November: Anasuya dasi from Belgium (Gent) comes forward to assist with the compiling.
  • November: We conduct a survey to find out the subjects in Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings that the devotees think need to be better understood.
  • December: Nayan Ruparelia from Kenya (London) joins the team as the systems architect to make sure that we do the necessary technical development in order for the project to be able to sustain it's natural growth.
  • December: Syamananda dasa from Ireland (based in Radhadesh) comes forward to assist with the compiling.
  • December: Valabhi Radha dasi from Uruguay (London) comes forward to assist with the compiling.
  • Throughout the year Visnu Murti continues to communicate the project to many devotees and receives good input for it's development.

2008

  • January: Arundhati Biswas from India (Montreal) comes forward to assist with the compiling.
  • January thru March: Intense service for everyone. The Vanipedia boat leaves the shore and we start our voyage onto the ocean of Vani. Aspirations high, a voyage into the unknown with Śrīla Prabhupāda as our captain. Start extensive exploration into the depths of the ocean. Lots of fine tuning the vision. Great team building.
  • February: Sahadeva dasa from England (Vrndavana) comes forward to assist with the compiling.
  • February: Pranab Kumar Paramban from India (London) comes forward to assist with the compiling.
  • February: We go to the dhamas of Mayapura and Vrndavana to pray for the mercy to be successful in this great task. Receive the blessings from many saints and sages, and a lot more encouragement from the assembled devotees.
  • March: Madhudvisa dasa from Australia comes to Radhadesh to join the team, happy to offer his services for some time.
  • March 21st: Public launching of Vanipedia's first version 0.1 with 4,702 pages begun and less than 900 categories.
  • April 9th: Reached 5,000 pages
  • May 2nd: Reached 6,000 pages
  • May 20th: Rita Gupta (USA) contacts us and requests to offer services in the core team
  • May 23rd: Reached 7,000 pages and 1,685 categories
  • May 27th: Madhudvisa dasa stops offering service for Vanipedia
  • June 9th: Reached 2,000 categories and 7,575 pages
  • June 12th Jamuna Priya devi dasi (India) comes forward to assist with the compiling
  • June 14th Vraj Kishori devi dasi (London) comes forward to assist with the compiling
  • June 15th: Reached 8,000 pages and 2,242 categories
  • June 20th Matea Zajec (Croatia) comes forward to join the core team
  • June 25th: Rita Gutpa (USA) relocates to PVRA to join the core team
  • July 7th: Reached 2,500 categories and 8,206 pages
  • Sept 10th Eivind leaves the core team after two full years of wonderful service
  • Sept 12th Reached 9,000 pages and 3,748 categories
  • Sept 15th Archana devi dasi (Singapore) comes forward to assist with the compiling
  • Sept 22nd Chris Fellingham (UK) comes forward to assist with the compiling
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