Bhaktisvarupa Damodar Swami

Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami (IAST: Bhaktisvarūpa Dāmodara Svāmī; 9 December 1937 – 2 October 2006), also known as Dr. Thoudam Damodara Singh and by the honorific Sripada (Śrīpāda), was a Gaudiya Vaishnava spiritual leader, chemist, writer about religion and science, and poet. In 1971 he received spiritual initiation from A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. A few years later he became one of the religious leaders of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (also known as the Hare Krishna Movement).

For more than thirty years he was the international director of the Bhaktivedanta Institute which promotes the study of the relationship between religion and science (Vedanta). Srila Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami Maharaja was a pioneer in "advancing the dialogue on synthesis of science and spirituality throughout the world". He was a co-founder and regional director of United Religions Initiative, a member of Metanexus Institute, founding rector of University of Bhagavata Culture (2000) in the State of Manipur (India) and founding member of the World Vaisnava Association. He authored and edited several books and organised a number of significant conferences and world congresses around the world, where a number of prominent scientists and religious leaders including several Nobel Laureates participated. He was the Editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Bhaktivedanta Institute entitled, Savijnanam: Scientific Exploration for a Spiritual Paradigm.