Special Guest Lecture - HG Mukund Datta Das

HG Mukunda Datta dasa is a direct disciple of his Divine grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda,founder-acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). 

Originally from Los Angeles, he joined ISKCON at age fifteen after reading Śrīla Prabhupada’s books, and travelled on the Radha-Damodara Travelling Sankirtana Party. He then served under Tamal Krishna Gosvami for two decades in Texas. 

He has also studied Indian classical and devotional music in both India and America, and plays pakhāvaj (classical mṛdaṅga) in the Hindusthani style. He sings and plays the khol in the traditional Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava padāvalī-kīrtana style of Bengal, and has made several recordings and performed internationally.  

He holds a graduate degree in South Asian Languages and Literature from the University of Washington, where he specialized in Sanskrit, Bengali, and medieval Braja-bhāṣā. He earned his BA (hons) from University of Texas at Austin, Department of Asian Studies. 

In 2000, he was invited to serve as a charter member of the Sastric Advisory Council to the Governing Body Commission of ISKCON, and served in that capacity for many years. He later served under the late Gopiparanadhana prabhu as a Sanskrit translator and researcher for the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT). He is currently serves on the ISKCON India Scholars Board, and resides with his wife Sri Murti in Vṛndāvana, India.