Romapada Swami (; born Brian Rumbaugh, December 27, 1948) is a

Vaishnava Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, '' Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along wit ...

sannyasi ''Sannyasa'' (), sometimes spelled ''sanyasa'', is the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' ashramas'', the first three being ''brahmacharya'' (celibate student), '' grihastha'' (householder) and '' vanaprastha ...

, initiating

guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

and is currently on leave as a governing body commissioner of the

International Society for Krishna Consciousness The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement, is a religious organization that follows the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. It was founded on 13 July 1966 in New York City by ...

(commonly known as the

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna may refer to: * International Society for Krishna Consciousness, a group commonly known as "Hare Krishnas" or the "Hare Krishna movement" * Hare Krishna (mantra), a sixteen-word Vaishnava mantra also known as the "Maha Mantra" (Great ...

s or ISKCON).HH Romapada Swami's Biography
/ref>

Life and career

Romapada Swami is an initiating guru in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and one of the leading disciples of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of ISKCON. He has been a bhakti-yoga practitioner for over 50 years. He travels extensively across the continental United States and Asia giving invited presentations and workshops at universities, corporates, communities,

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

and cultural centers. He has lectured on Eastern and Western philosophies at universities in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

.Penn State Vedic Society
/ref> The youngest of five children, Romapada was born as Brian Rumbaugh and raised in a middle-class

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

family in (Skaneateles,New York)

Utica, New York Utica () is the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most populous city in New York, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 census. It is located on the Mohawk River in the Mohawk Valley at the foot of the Adiro ...

. He attended the

State University of New York, Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public research university in Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. The university was founded in 1846 as ...

, where he was a pre-med student. It was here, in 1969, that Brian met

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (; ) (1 September 1896 – 14 November 1977) was a spiritual, philosophical, and religious teacher from India who spread the Hare Krishna mantra and the teachings of "Krishna consciousness" ...

, founder of the

(ISKCON). Shortly after being accepted to Medical school, Brian joined ISKCON. He decided, that by dedicating himself to the spiritual life he would be more useful to the society. Brian became an initiated disciple of

in July 1971, receiving the name Romapada Das (Das meaning the servant of the Lord). He accepted the renounced order of

sannyasa ''Sannyasa'' (), sometimes spelled ''sanyasa'', is the fourth stage within the Hinduism, Hindu system of four life stages known as ''ashrama (stage), ashramas'', the first three being ''brahmacharya'' (celibate student), ''Gṛhastha, grihast ...

in 1983 (whence he was given the title of "

Swami Swami (; ; sometimes abbreviated sw.) in Hinduism is an honorific title given to an Asceticism#Hinduism, ascetic who has chosen the Sannyasa, path of renunciation (''sanyāsa''), or has been initiated into a religious monastic order of Vaishnavas ...

").GBC resolutions 1983
/ref>List of Sannyasis in ISKCON April 2008
ISKCON Sannyasa Ministry, Retrieved on 2008-05-05 In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Romapada Swami served in ISKCON as associate director of public affairs (1972–76), as a spokesman, and as a New York ISKCON temple president. Since 1978, Romapada Swami has traveled worldwide, presenting the

Gaudiya Vaishnava Gaudiya Vaishnavism (), also known as Chaitanya Vaishnavism, is a Vaishnava Hindu religious movement inspired by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) in India. "Gaudiya" refers to the Gaura or Gauḍa region of Bengal (present-day Malda dist ...

philosophy. Since 1986, Romapada Swami has served as an ISKCON diksa guru. In March 1992, he was appointed Governing Body Commissioner for

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. In 1994 he accepted the same responsibility for the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

. Currently he is based in

, and frequently travels to

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

on preaching missions. Since the past 20 years, he has been taking groups of bhakti practitioners annually to various holy places spread across the entire Indian subcontinent.

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Life and career

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