Board of Examinations

Board of Examinations, BOEX, was set up in 1990 under the following mandate from the GBC.

A standing committee, called the ISKCON Board of Examinations shall be formed. This committee shall have power to review and approve proposed examinations for the awarding of the degrees Bhakti Sastri, Bhakti Vaibhava, Bhakti Vedanta, and Bhakti Sarvabhauma. The basis for review and approval shall be the guidelines given by Srila Prabhupada for the awarding of these degrees. No ISKCON center may award these degrees without seeking the approval of the ISKCON Board of Examinations.

Thus, the GBC empowered Board of Examinations (BOEX) to institute a system for approving ISKCON centres authorized to award ISKCON sastra degrees.

This Board of Examinations (BOEX) now functions under the supervision of the ISKCON Ministry of Education.

Functioning

The Board members come together twice a year for formal face-to-face meetings during Gaur Purnima in Mayapur.
Issues from various centres are received by the Secretary by e-mail.
When resolved, the Chairman issues a resolution to the Secretary.
The concerned centre is accordingly informed by the Secretary about the Board’s decision on the matter raised by the centre.
The Board Secretary incorporates changes, if any agreed, into the standards for various sastric degrees and issues the standards formally.
The Secretary / Asst. Secretary also issue an Annual Report at the end of a calendar year to highlight the key activities, decisions and resolutions passed during the year.

 

Members of BOEX

 

Yadunandan Swami

 

Yadunandana Swami principal of Bhaktivedanta College, teacher, and spiritual counselor is a sannyasi (monk, religious mendicant) in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). He is an initiated disciple of His Holiness Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami and a sannyasa disciple of His Holiness Jayadvaita Swami, who are both disciples of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder Acharya of ISKCON. Yadunandana Swami has been studying and practicing Caitanya Vaishnavism since 1977. Presently, his main services in ISKCON are focused on systematic God-centered education by developing educational initiatives and by teaching courses on Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana), and other subjects. He is convinced that such education is the best way to improve the lives of individuals, develop communities, and, ultimately, better the world. Apart from his services in education, he is also active in interreligious dialogue and lectures on the philosophy and culture of Krishna consciousness in many countries around the world.

 

 

 

Atula Krsna Das

 

Atul Krsna dasa joined ISKCON’s Melbourne Mahaprabhu Mandir in Australia in 1985. He served as a book distributor and fundraiser in ISKCON Melbourne for 12 years. Prabhu spent the subsequent 4 years, under the personal guidance of his mantra guru, preaching in Bangladesh, during which time he learnt fluent Bengali. Prabhu resides in Sri Dhama Mayapur, and teaches sastra and teacher training in both English & Bengali mediums, throughout India, Bangladesh and the Middle East. He currently serves as the Chairman of the ISKCON Board of Examinations.

 

 

 

 

Gauranga Darshan Das

Gauranga Darshan Das, a disciple of His Holiness Radhanath Swami, is an educator, TEDx speaker and a spiritual author of over thirty-two books. He holds a master’s degree from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He is a resident of the ISKCON Govardhan Ecovillage (GEV) and serves as the dean of the Bhaktivedanta Vidyapitha. He is also a member of the ISKCON Board of Examinations and GEV Administrative Council.

He regularly delivers online and residential discourses for children and adults in various forums, including temples, ashrams, schools, colleges, corporate events and platforms such as TEDx, Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Rotary Club, Hindustan Times, etc. He is a regular speaker on Hare Krsna TV. He has conducted over forty-five online courses (www.vidyapitha.in) and over 7500 hours of lectures. He travels to various places in India, Australia, United States, etc. to teach and inspire spiritual seekers.

Some of his literary contributions include the Subodhini series of study guides, the Pravaha series of storybooks, self-enrichment books like Disapproved but Not Disowned, children’s book series like Bhagavatam Tales and Gita Wisdom Tales, and shloka compilations like the Ratnamala series. He runs a monthly ezine called Bhagavata Pradipika whilst penning thought-inspiring articles for international and Indian Back to Godhead magazines.
Find more about him on www.gaurangadarshan.com

 

 

 

Devakinandana das

Devakinandana das grew up in a devotee family in Minsk, Belarus. From 2005 he was living in brahmachari asram. He got a bachelor’s degree in teaching English. He received first initiation in 2008 and 2nd in 2009.
In 2010 he moved to brahmachari asram in Almaty, Khazakstan. His main service was sankirtana and education programs. He got married in 2014 – in the same year he started active traveling and preaching in Russia, Khazakstan, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, and other parts of Europe.
He has been HG Chaitanya Chandra Charan Prabhu’s secretary since 2010.
He holds a Bhakti-sastri and Bhakti-vaibhava degree, and is a member of the Governing Council in Almaty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gaurasundara Kṛpāmaya Dāsa

Gaurasundara Kṛpāmaya Dāsa (1980) is a disciple of HH. Jayapatākā Swami. He first met ISKCON devotees in 1996 and joined full-time in 2007.  In 2011 he received his BA and in 2016 his MA degree in Vaisnava Theology from Bhaktivedanta College, Budapest (Hungary). In 2021, he was awarded a doctorate degree with summa cum laude honors at ELTE. His thesis was on Manipuri saṅkīrtana.

Since 2010, he is the Head of the Bhaktivedanta Library at Bhaktivedanta College (Hungary), and since this year he also teaches courses (e.g. several Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Cantos, logical reasoning, scientific research) at the College. He continued his service as the Rector of the institution since 2021. Also from this year onwards, he is a member of ISKCON Hungary’s Governing Body. His main research interests are in Caitanya-vaiṣṇava epistemology and hermeneutics, avatāra-tattva, he has published several articles on these topics. Besides his administrative duties, he regularly performs pūjārī-services (including various samskāras and initiation-yajñas), participates in the Śrīla Prabhupāda Marathon every year, and frequently gives lectures on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam at the Budapest temple.

 

 

 

 

Hanumatpresaka Swami

Hanumatpresaka Swami (Professor H. H. Robinson) was born January 12, 1948, on the Pacific Island of Guam, when his parents were working there at the end of WWII on government contract. He grew up in Arizona and Southern California, and then graduated with a 1st-place prize (Phi Beta Kappa) in Psychology from the University of California in 1970, headed East, got a Black Belt in Okinawan based Uechi Ryu Karate, and was initiated as a disciple of Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Prabhupada, in 1974. Took Sannyasa vows from H. H. B. S. Damodara Swami, and joined Maharaja’s Bhaktivedanta Institute, as a researcher and Member of the Board of Director’s in 1984. He became an ISKCON diksa guru in 1994, and in 2004 he co-founded the NIOS (North American Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies) which, by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, has been able to organize wonderful events with Indian Museum, Kolkata; National Library, Peru et al. He is currently finishing his work in four NIOS videos to consolidate whatever little contribution he has been able to make to Lord Caitanya’s mission.

 

 

 

Nitai Madhav Das

 

Nitai Madhav Das has completed Bachelor of Pharmacy, MBA and PhD on psychology of Bhagavad Gita.
He has been engaged in various services in ISKCON such as youth preaching, festivals, Corporate programs, Sankirtan bus party, Center manager and fund raising.
He has been involved in Shastric training of devotees by teaching bhakti Shastri, Shastric teacher training courses, etc
He is responsible for the administration of the ISKCON Disciples course.
He lives in Sridham Mayapur with his family and is serving as the Principal of Bhaktivedanta Academy Gurukula where young students are taught the values and skills pertaining to a devotee lifestyle.