ISKCON Rupanuga Vedic College - Kansas City

We are an ISKCON Hare Krishna temple/preaching center. Our main Deities are their most merciful Lordships Sri Sri Gaura Nitai. We are currently accepting males to live in the center and accept training through our Bhakta Program. Here are some links with more info:

www.BhaktaProgram.com
https://www.facebook.com/BhaktaProgram

We have a free Sunday Love Feast every week starting at 4pm. That includes kirtan (musical meditation), Bhagavad Gita class (Eastern philosophy), and prasadam (spiritual feast). We also have a Bhakti Yoga Club program every week at UMKC. Here is a link with more info:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/BhaktiYogaClubUMKC/

We are very enthusiastic about sharing the transcendental message of Lord Caitanya with everyone. Thus we regularly perform Harinama (public chanting) and home programs all over Kansas City and surrounding areas. Our doors are open to those few good souls who wish to develop pure love of Godhead and share that love with others. We love it when devotees come to visit us from abroad and share realizations. If you have any questions please contact us.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Chant Hare Krishna and be HAPPY :)

Temple President - JUGAL KISORE DAS - (816) 286-6819 or (816) 924-5619
Bhakta Program Director - BHAKTA NICK - (504) 644-7702

------------------------------------------------------------------------
HISTORY
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the 16th Century, Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's principle disciple was Rupa Goswami who presented this transcendental tradition in its fullness. (Please see the section "Srila Rupa Goswami" below). Four hundred years and ten disciplic generations later, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada [Srila Prabhupada as he is commonly known] carried forth the same original science.

In 1962, while residing at Srila Rupa Goswami's samadhi (burial memorial) in Vrndavan's Radha-Damodara Temple, Srila Prabhupada revealed openly, for the first time which we are aware of, his desire to establish a Vedic college of the name Rupanuga Para Vidyapitha (please see the section "The Meaning of Rupanuga"). He expressed this to Gauracandra Goswami and Sri Nripendra Natha Banerji, the two proprietors of Radha-Damodara Temple. Although at that time, the college did not fully manifest, Srila Prabhupada reminded Mr. Banerji about the plan four years later in a letter:

"Now one thing I beg to draw your attention is the Rupanuga Para Vidya Pitha which I wanted to start in Vrindaban within the vicinity of Radha Damodara Mandir. If it is possible to get some vacant land for constructing the building. My American students are ready to spend for this and I think if you give some land on lease terms, then I can immediately begin the work. Perhaps you may remember that when I first came to your temple, this was my proposal and both yourself and Gauracandra Goswami agreed to this."
(Letter to: Nripen Babu Bannerji— New York 15 December, 1966)

As time went on, Srila Prabhupada revealed many ideas for enlightening the world's population - from book publication to self-sufficient farm communities to prasadam (spiritual food) restaurants. History has witnessed how each of his ideas began as seeds and then grew and grew into tremendous spiritual desire trees which spread throughout the world and fulfill everyone's desires. We may therefore mark 1962 as the date of Srila Prabhupada's founding the Rupanuga Vedic College.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE MEANING OF RUPANUGA
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The name Rupanuga may be understood as follows. Rupanuga is a combination of two Sanskrit words namely rupa and anuga. Rupa (lit. - spiritual form) refers here to Srila Rupa Goswami (1489-1564) The word anuga means followers. So Rupanuga indicates the followers of Srila Rupa Goswami and the Rupanuga Vedic College is an institution where they may learn the science of bhakti as taught by Srila Rupa Goswami.

The Sanskrit word Vidyapitha, as mentioned above, literally means "place of education" i.e. a school or college. However the added word para meaning "transcendental", indicates that the Rupanuga college could not be an ordinary one - it must specialize in presenting supramundane, transcendental topics.

Five months prior to writing Nripen Babu, Srila Prabhupada founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in New York. (Please see "The College's Founder" section for more information on ISKCON). This was keeping in line with his former plan to establish the Vedic college. He once commented, "Actually, every center [of ISKCON] should be a college, and this is our training, singing, dancing, working, temple worship, like that." Be that as it may, Srila Prabhupada still wanted another institution within the greater ISKCON to concentrate exclusively on Vaisnava education.

"Our program is there for…one Rupanuga Vidyapitha—that is a school for educating brahmanas and Vaisnavas. We have enough of technological and other types of educational institutions, but perhaps there is none where actual brahmanas and Vaisnavas are produced. So we will have to establish an educational institution for that purpose."
(From a letter written by Srila Prabhupada to a disciple; January 12, 1969)