David Frawley (born 1950) is an American author,

astrologer Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...

, teacher (''

acharya In Indian religions and society, an ''acharya'' (Sanskrit: आचार्य, IAST: ; Pali: ''ācariya'') is a preceptor and expert instructor in matters such as religion, or any other subject. An acharya is a highly learned person with a tit ...

'') and a proponent of

Hindutva Hindutva () is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism in India. The term was formulated as a political ideology by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923. It is used by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the ...

. He has written numerous books on topics spanning the

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

Ayurveda Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population repo ...

and

Vedic astrology Jyotisha or Jyotishya (from Sanskrit ', from ' “light, heavenly body" and ''ish'' - from Isvara or God) is the traditional Hindu system of astrology, also known as Hindu astrology, Indian astrology and more recently Vedic astrology. It is one ...

. His works have been popular among the general public. In 2015 he was honored by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

with the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, the third-highest civilian award in India. A prominent ideologue of the Hindutva movement, he has also been accused of practicing

historical revisionism In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of a historical account. It usually involves challenging the orthodox (established, accepted or traditional) views held by professional scholars about a historical event or times ...

Early life and education

David Frawley was born to a Catholic family in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and had nine siblings. Frawley is largely an autodidact. He studied Ayur Veda under Dr. B. L. Vashta of Mumbai for a span of about a decade, and obtained a "Doctor of Oriental Medicine" degree via a correspondence course from the International Institute of Chinese Medicine, Santa Fe, New Mexico, a school for acupuncture which closed in 2003 due to "administrative and governance irregularities" and financial problems." Frawley is the founder and the sole instructor at the American Institute of Vedic Studies at

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

and is a former president of the American Council of Vedic Astrology. He also previously taught Chinese herbal medicine and western herbology.

Views and reception

Views

Frawley rejects the

Indo-Aryan migration theory The Indo-Aryan migrations were the migrations into the Indian subcontinent of Indo-Aryan peoples, an ethnolinguistic group that spoke Indo-Aryan languages, the predominant languages of today's North India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lank ...

in favor of the

Indigenous Aryans Indigenous Aryanism, also known as the Indigenous Aryans theory (IAT) and the Out of India theory (OIT), is the conviction that the Aryans are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, and that the Indo-European languages radiated out from a homela ...

theory, accusing his opponents of having a “European missionary bias”. In the book ''In Search of the Cradle of Civilization'' (1995), Frawley along with

Georg Feuerstein Georg Feuerstein (27 May 1947 – 25 August 2012) was a German Indologist specializing in the philosophy and practice of Yoga. Feuerstein authored over 30 books on mysticism, Yoga, Tantra, and Hinduism. He translated, among other traditional texts ...

and

Subhash Kak Subhash Kak is an Indian-American computer scientist and historical revisionist. He is the Regents Professor of Computer Science Department at Oklahoma State University–Stillwater, an honorary visiting professor of engineering at Jawaharlal ...

has rejected the widely supported

Indo-Aryan migration The Indo-Aryan migrations were the migrations into the Indian subcontinent of Indo-Aryan peoples, an ethnolinguistic group that spoke Indo-Aryan languages, the predominant languages of today's North India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lank ...

, rhetorically calling it the Aryan Invasion Theory, an outdated and inaccurate term, and supported the

fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts * Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, known as "the Fringe" * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * The Fringe, the ...

theory. Frawley also criticizes the 19th-century racial interpretations of Indian prehistory, and went on to reject the theory of a conflict between invading caucasoid Aryans and Dravidians.Arvidsson 2006:298 Arvidsson, Stefan (2006), Aryan Idols: Indo-European Mythology as Ideology and Science, translated by Sonia Wichmann, Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press. In the sphere of market-economics, Frawley opposes socialism, stating that such policies have reduced citizens to beggars. He is a practitioner of Ayurveda, and recommends the practice of ascetic rituals along with moral purification as indispensable parts of the

Advaita ''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the orthodox Hindu school Vedānta. The term ''Advaita'' (lit ...

tradition.

Reception

Popular reception

While being rejected by academia, he has successful in the popular market; according to Bryant, his works are clearly directed and articulated at such audiences. He's been a prominent voice in the introduction of Ayurvedic medicine and Vedic astrology among a western, nonmedical trained audience. According to Edwin Bryant, he is "well-received" by "the Indian community," noting that a Westerner rejecting the Aryan Migration Theory has an obvious appeal in India and Frawley (along with

Koenraad Elst Koenraad Elst (; born 7 August 1959) is a Flemish right wing Hindutva author, known primarily for his support of the Out of India theory and the Hindutva movement. Schola ...

) fits in it, perfectly. Frawley commands a significant following on Twitter, as well.

Academia

=Hindutva

= He has been described as a prominent figure of the Hindutva movement and numerous scholars have also described him as a Hindutva ideologue and apologist. He has been widely accused of practicing

Martha Nussbaum Martha Craven Nussbaum (; born May 6, 1947) is an American philosopher and the current Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, where she is jointly appointed in the law school and the philosoph ...

and others consider him to be the most determined opponent to the theory of

Indo-Aryan migrations The Indo-Aryan migrations were the migrations into the Indian subcontinent of Indo-Aryan peoples, an ethnolinguistic group that spoke Indo-Aryan languages, the predominant languages of today's North India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lank ...

Meera Nanda Meera Nanda (born 1954) is an Indian writer and historian of science, who has authored several works critiquing the influence of Hindutva, postcolonialism and postmodernism on science, and the flourishing of pseudoscience and vedic science. Sh ...

asserts Frawley to be a member of the Hindu far right, who decries Islam and Christianity as religions for the lower intellects and whose works feature a Hindu Supremacist spin. Sudeshna Guha of

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

notes him to be a

sectarian Sectarianism is a political or cultural conflict between two groups which are often related to the form of government which they live under. Prejudice, discrimination, or hatred can arise in these conflicts, depending on the political status quo ...

non-scholar and as a proponent of a broader scheme for establishing a nationalist history.

Irfan Habib Irfan Habib (born August 10, 1931) is an Indian historian of ancient and medieval India, following the methodology of Marxist historiography in his contributions to economic history. He identifies as a Marxist and is well known for his strong ...

rejected considering Frawley as a scholar, and instead, noted him to be a Hindutva pamphleteer, who "telescoped the past to serve the present" and was not minimally suitable of being defined as a scholar, of any kind. Bryant notes him to be an unambiguously pro-Hindu scholar.

Peter Heehs Peter Heehs is an American historian living in Puducherry, India who writes on modern Indian history, spirituality and religion. Much of his work focuses on the Indian freedom fighter and spiritual leader Sri Aurobindo. His publications includ ...

deems of him to be part of a group of reactionary orientalists, who professed an avid dislike for the Oriental-Marxist school of historiography and hence, chose to rewrite the history of India ''but'' without any training in relevant disciplines; he also accused Frawley of misappropriating Aurobindo's nuanced stance on the

hypothesis.

Bruce Lincoln Bruce Lincoln (born 1948) is Caroline E. Haskell Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of the History of Religions in the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, where he also holds positions in the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Co ...

attributes Frawley's ideas to "parochial nationalism", terming them "exercises in scholarship (= myth + footnotes)", where archaeological data spanning several millennia is selectively invoked, with no textual sources to control the inquiry, in support of the theorists' desired narrative. His proposed equivalence of Ayurveda with vedic healing traditions has been rejected by Indologists and David Hardiman considers Frawley's assertion to be part of a wider Hindu-nationalist quest.

Joseph Alter Joseph S. Alter is an American medical anthropologist known for his research into the modern practice of yoga as exercise, his 2004 book ''Yoga in Modern India'', and the physical and medical culture of South Asia. Biography Joseph S. Alter wa ...

notes that his writings 'play into the politics of nationalism' and remarks of them to be controversial from an academic locus.

= Book reviews

= In a review of ''Hymns from the Golden Age: Selected Hymns from the Rig Veda with Yogic Interpretation'' for the '' Journal of the American Oriental Society'', Richard G. Salomon criticized Frawley's "fanciful" approach to stand in complete contrast to the available linguistic and scholarly evidence, and perpetuated Vedic myths in what seemed to be a bid to attract readers for the recreation of the ancient spiritual kingdom of the Aryans. A review by

M. K. Dhavalikar Madhukar Keshav Dhavalikar (M. K. Dhavalikar; 16 May 1930 – 27 March 2018) was an Indian historian and archaeologist. Life and career Dhavalikar was born in 1930 at Patas, Bombay State (now Maharashtra). He received B.A. in Economics and ...

in '' Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute'' called ''In Search of the Cradle of Civilization'' a "beautifully printed" contribution that made a strong case for their indigenous theory against the supposed migratory hypotheses but chose to remain silent on certain crucial aspects which need to be convincingly explained.

Prema Kurien Prema Ann Kurien (born 1963) is Professor of Sociology at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University, New York, US. She specializes in the interplay between religion and immigration experiences, with focus on people from India. She has written a ...

noted that the book sought to distinguish expatriate Hindu Americans from other minority groups by demonstrating their superior racial and cultural ties with the Europeans. Dhavalikar also reviewed ''The Myth of the Aryan Invasion of India'' and found it to be unsupported by archaeological evidence.

criticized Frawley's invoking the

Sarasvati River The Sarasvati River () is a deified river first mentioned in the Rigveda and later in Vedic and post-Vedic texts. It played an important role in the Vedic religion, appearing in all but the fourth book of the Rigveda. As a physical river, i ...

in the book as an assault against common sense.

Honors and influences

In 2015, the

South Indian Education Society South Indian Education Society (SIES), founded in 1932, is one of the oldest educational societies in Mumbai. SIES has established a high school, a group of arts, science and commerce colleges, along with academic and professional institutions of ...

(SIES) in Mumbai, India, an affiliate of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, conferred upon him their special "National Eminence Award" as an “international expert in the fields of Ayurveda, Yoga, and Vedic Astrology.” On 26 January 2015, the Indian Government honored Frawley with the

award. Referring to his book ''Yoga and Ayurveda'', Frawley is mentioned as one of the main yoga teachers of

Deepak Chopra Deepak Chopra (; ; born October 22, 1946) is an Indian-American author and alternative medicine advocate. A prominent figure in the New Age movement, his books and videos have made him one of the best-known and wealthiest figures in alternati ...

and

David Simon David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work on ''The Wire'' (2002–08). He worked for ''The Baltimore Sun'' City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote '' Hom ...

in their book, the ''Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga'' (2005). In 2015, Chopra said of Frawley's book, ''Shiva, the Lord of Yoga'', "Vamadeva Shastri has been a spiritual guide and mentor of mine for several decades. For anyone who is serious about the journey to higher divine consciousness, this book is yet another jewel from him."

Selected publications

Hinduism and Indology

# ''Hymns from the Golden Age: Selected Hymns from the Rig Veda With Yogic Interpretation''. Motilal Banarsidass Publications, 1986. . #''Wisdom of the Ancient Seers: Mantras of the Rig Veda''. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers (Pvt. Ltd), 1999. . # ''Arise Arjuna: Hinduism Resurgent in a New Century''. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018. . # ''Awaken Bharata: A Call for India’s Rebirth''. Bloomsbury India, 2018. . # ''What Is Hinduism?''. Bloomsbury India, 2018. .

Yoga, Vedanta and Ayurveda

# ''Ayurvedic Healing''. Passage Press, 1989. . # ''Ayurveda and the Mind: The Healing of Consciousness''. Motilal Banarsidass Publications, 2005. .

Co-authored

# ''The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine''. Motilal Banarsidass Publications, 2004. .

Notes

References

External links

David Frawley's homepageOnline books by David FrawleyOnline version of Hinduism and the Clash of Civilizations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frawley, David 1950 births Living people American Hindus Converts to Hinduism from Christianity Former Roman Catholics 20th-century astrologers 21st-century astrologers Hindu astrologers Ayurvedacharyas American astrologers Hindu writers American spiritual writers American astrological writers American male non-fiction writers Indigenous Aryanists 20th-century Hindus 21st-century Hindus Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in other fields American Indologists American yoga teachers Pseudohistorians Voice of India writers Hindutva