David Frawley (born 1950) is one of the few Westerners ever recognized in India as a Vedacharya or teacher of the ancient wisdom. In 1991, under the auspices of Indian teacher Avadhuta Shastri, he was named Vamadeva Shastri, after the great Vedic Rishi Vamadeva. In 1995 he was given the title of Pandit along with the Brahmachari Vishwanathji award in Mumbai for his knowledge of the Vedic teaching.
David Frawley gained wide public attention in India with his writings debunking the Aryan Invasion Theory. His approach to ancient India stresses its spirituality. He has pleaded for a return to the Vedas.
Frawley is the director of the American Vedic Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Partial bibliography:
- Gods, Sages, and Kings
- From the River of Heaven
- The Myth of the Aryan Invasion Theory
- In Search of the Cradle of Civilization
- How I Became a Hindu
- The Rig Veda and the History of India
- Hinduism and the Clash of Civilizations.
