Dr David Frawley D.Litt. (Pandit Vamadeva Shastri), born in 1950, is an American Hindu and a Vedic teacher and Hindu acharya. He is the author of more than fifty books published in over twenty languages worldwide. His fields of expertise include yoga, Ayurveda, Vedanta, Vedic astrology and ancient Vedic texts. He has also written on historical, social and cultural issues confronting Hinduism and India today. Honoured with the Padma Bhushan Award, the third highest civilian award of the Government of India, in 2015 Dr Frawley has a D.Litt from S-VYASA (Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana), Bengaluru, and another D.

Litt from Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University, Uttar Pradesh. He is also the recipient of a National Eminence Award from the South Indian Educational Society (SIES), Mumbai. Vamadeva, as he is popularly known, carries on the teachings of Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni, the chief disciple of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. He is a disciple of Sadguru Sivananda Murty of Andhra Pradesh and has been associated with many Hindu organizations including Swaminarayan BAPS, Chinmaya Mission, Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Sri Ramanashram and the magazine Hinduism Today . He is the director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies (www.vedanet.com).