Bhadra Rupa Dasa performing with an ensemble at the event.

Bhadra Rupa Dasa, Ph.D., led an ensemble performing two of his own compositions inspired by the Gita Govinda of Sri Jayadeva Goswami to welcome Dr. S. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs of the Government of India. Members of the Geneva Indian Community, UN officials, and international diplomats, counted at 300 or more, were invited and present, along with Swiss news media. The Minister was in Geneva to dedicate the newly built Permanent Mission of India, which houses India’s Missions dealing with the UN and other international organizations.

The invitation to perform came from the Mission of India only six days prior to the event. Working around-the-clock, Dr. Bhadra Rupa gathered musicians, organized continuous rehearsals, rehearsed his own solo parts, and arranged the sound engineering and staging in coordination with the Mission.

In an interview afterward, Dr. Bhadra Rupa declared, “Only by the mercy of Guru and Gauranga was it possible. No musicians familiar with these songs were available. The Lord became the musical director.” Many attendees approached Dr. Bhadra Rupa personally to express their profound appreciation for his contemporary “world music” presentation of the divine themes of Gita Govinda.

By request of United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, Dr. Bhadra Rupa is now composing additional contemporary “world music” settings of Gita Govinda for the event, “Songs of Peace and Endurance” scheduled for Spring 2025 (TBA) at the Human Rights Council and Alliance of Civilizations Room at the UN in Geneva. For more information about this special one-evening event and for details of sponsorship, please click here.

Dr. S. Jaishankar is India’s External Affairs Minister since May 30th, 2019, and is a Member of the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) of India’s Parliament from the state of Gujarat. He is a recipient of the Padma Shri award in 2019 and has written several widely acclaimed best-selling books.

The performance was introduced by a representative of the Mission of India: “Inspired by the request of his guru maharaja, HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaj, to compose music for the Gita Govinda of Sri Jayadeva, Dr. Bhadra Rupa began his research from the University of Geneva (where he has been a member of the research team of the faculty of educational sciences for 12 years) in collaboration with Sangeet Natak Akademi in Delhi, India’s National Academy of Music and Ithaca College in New York. He further studied the science of Indian music with the noted authority, Pandit Gopal Chandra Panda of Odisha, the 2011 recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. Hridayananda Das Goswami (Howard J. Resnick) who holds a Ph.D. in Sanskrit and Indian Studies from Harvard University, was the director of research.

“Sony Music International Japan asked Dr. Bhadra Rupa to produce an album inspired by eight of the verses of the Gita Govinda. Mixing the finest elements of the music from India, Europe, and Peru and sung in the Spanish language, the album Rainbow of Endless Love was released to critical acclaim.”

Glories of Kirtan Advanced at UN Human Rights Council

Dr. Bhadra Rupa also spoke at the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva about the power of kirtan for individual and social progress toward full realization of human potential. He particularly stressed  interculturality, unity in diversity, character building and full development of human personality.

An official from the Education Unit of the United Nations Office High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva immediately reached out for further discussions.

UN Human Rights Council Meeting – Palais de Nations, Geneva.