At a recent campaign event, U.S. Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance sparked controversy by commenting on his wife Usha Vance’s Hindu background, suggesting that she came from “not a particularly religious family.” His remarks have drawn sharp criticism from sections of the Indian diaspora and Hindu community, who say Vance misrepresented his wife’s heritage to appeal to a conservative Christian voter base.
Speaking at a campaign town hall, Vance said, “Yes, my wife did not grow up Christian. I think it’s fair to say that she grew up in a Hindu family but not a particularly religious family in either direction. In fact, when I met my wife, we were both I would consider myself an agnostic or an atheist and that’s what I think she would have considered herself as well.”
However, historical records and accounts from Usha’s extended family in Andhra Pradesh reveal a very different picture, one deeply rooted in religious learning, Vedic scholarship, and devotion to Hindu traditions.
A Family of Vedic Scholars and Teachers
Usha Vance descends from the Chilukuri family of Vadluru village near Tanuku, Andhra Pradesh, a lineage known for its erudition and contributions to Sanskrit and Vedic education. In the mid-1800s, four brothers from the family, revered locally as the “Chilukuri Chatushtaya” (the Four Pillars of Knowledge), walked on foot to Varanasi, India’s spiritual capital, to study the Vedas. After years of training, they returned to Andhra Pradesh to teach Hindu scriptures and philosophy in their village.
According to Prof. Chilukuri Shanthamma, a senior member of the family and Usha’s grandaunt, “They were erudite and proficient in Sanskrit.” Shanthamma herself is a scholar of Vedic mathematics and spectroscopy, widely believed to be the first woman in India to earn a PhD in physics. Now professor emeritus at Centurion University, she has translated the Bhagavad Gita from Telugu to English and authored five volumes on Vedic mathematics.
A Legacy of Service, Learning, and Faith
The family’s commitment to education spans generations. Shanthamma’s late husband, Prof. Chilukuri Subramanya Shastri, was a Telugu professor at Andhra University and an ardent scholar of the Gita. He was also associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and was jailed during the Emergency for his ideological activism. Even in prison, he reportedly conducted classes on the Gita for fellow inmates.
After his release, he continued to teach Hindu philosophy and social service across southern India. The couple eventually donated their residential property, valued at around ₹15 crore to the Vivekananda Medical Trust, an RSS-affiliated charitable organization.
Another distinguished family member, Prof. Chilukuri Ramashastr, Usha’s grandfather served as head of the Department of Physics at IIT Madras and taught at IIT Kharagpur. He collaborated on Indo-German research projects in the 1960s and spent two years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on deputation. His contributions are honored with an award named after him at IIT Madras.
From Tanuku to Yale
Usha’s father, Radhakrishna Chilukuri, followed in this academic tradition, graduating from IIT Madras before moving to the United States for higher studies and joining San Diego State University as a lecturer. Usha was born in 1986 and went on to study law at Yale University, where she met JD Vance. The couple married in 2014.
Family members in Visakhapatnam describe Usha’s lineage as one steeped in learning and devotion. Prof. Shanthamma, now 96, says she has not met Usha but follows her public life from afar. “Lord Krishna said we were born to do our duty. I am doing mine,” she said when asked about her continuing work.
Vance’s campaign comments have prompted disappointment among those familiar with the Chilukuri family’s religious and academic legacy. To them, the portrayal of Usha’s heritage as “non-religious” overlooks generations of scholarship, piety, and contribution to India’s cultural and spiritual traditions.
Whatever his political motivations, one fact stands undisputed: Usha Vance’s ancestry is not atheist or irreligious; it is one of devout Hindu learning and service, rooted deeply in the Vedic tradition.
(Source: The Week)
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