https://hcommons.org/groups/indology/ Activity feed for the group, Indology. Sat, 04 Apr 2026 08:14:26 -0400 https://buddypress.org/?v=10.6.0 en-US 30 hourly 2 7e7cc72caae281508207196e7f796e21 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1901228/ Thu, 10 Oct 2024 03:00:44 -0400 It is an article on Premchand's most controversial short story, Kafan. This article attempts to describe how the story gives an alternative voice to the downtrodden and how the characters define a morality of their own, which is outside the purview of the Brahmanical framework. In an extremely hierarchical religious structure as in Hinduism, this…[Read more]

]]> 0 24c06fe6c24fdad98e67816e09eac0ff https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1890602/ Sat, 29 Jun 2024 03:06:22 -0400 As Āyurveda is at its core a highly individualistic science, information on how collective suffering was understood and treated is scarce in its foundational works. While the passages referring to epidemics and similar events have attracted some attention in the last decades, endemic diseases are an almost completely neglected topic. Francis…[Read more]

]]> 0 32055263d69f1a609440081ebf933593 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1889648/ Thu, 20 Jun 2024 03:00:40 -0400 Usually theories on disease causation and treatment in early Āyurveda focus on the individual patient, his diet, and his lifestyle. There are however certain contexts, in which the locality or origin of factors jeopardising health is significant. Some climatic regions are understood to constitute more unhealthy surroundings in relation to others.…[Read more]

]]> 0 16a8286b3bf19f171aeb546f4c91fc30 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1881079/ Thu, 28 Mar 2024 03:02:22 -0400 The incorporation of the goddess Tārā into the Hindu pantheon appears to have begun around the turn of the first millennium, a couple of centuries after her first mentions in Buddhist sources. The earliest Hindu texts concerned with Tārā tend to acknowledge this through a narrative wherein the Vedic sage Vasiṣṭha must travel to ‘Greater China’ to…[Read more]

]]> 0 ebb9927c505a41a7633b3921a9a7ffc1 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1874090/ Wed, 31 Jan 2024 03:00:28 -0500 In Vālmīki’s Sanskrit Rāmāyaṇa, in an episode I am calling ‘Hanumān’s medicine journey’, we learn about a resuscitative plant that grows in the Himalayas called saṃjīvanī. Although the plant has a somewhat unclear place in the materia medica of India’s classical ‘life science’ (āyurveda), in recent decades politicians in north India have attempte…[Read more]

]]> 0 c0ab8f4f1457aac0654f73c0821d87cd https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1869005/ Sat, 23 Dec 2023 03:01:15 -0500 This essay shows that physicians of early Āyurveda adopted a pragmatic approach to the challenges dharma imposed on them. While the concept and its importance is generally accepted in the medical compendia, various passages stress the fact that good health is an indispensable precondition to pursue dharma and other goals of life. In the interests…[Read more]

]]> 0 3ed802c5bcf0a31ff97395485bc667b0 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1868291/ Sun, 17 Dec 2023 03:00:14 -0500 article + 6 photographs from the Manuscriptistan Project

]]> 0 1c202a24530e46b0b6647e4590cfa591 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1868102/ Fri, 15 Dec 2023 03:00:25 -0500 Abstract: The causes of suffering are a central topic in Buddhism as well as in Ayurveda. The Pāli Canon and other early Buddhist texts like the Milindapañha mention eight specific causes resulting in disease or suffering at several places. In contrast, early Ayurveda, as presented in the Carakasaṃhitā, knows a threefold causal complex of dise…[Read more]

]]> 0 01e87117b60b24ecac4dc735c85b2520 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1862536/ Wed, 25 Oct 2023 03:00:22 -0400 Although a plethora of ancient South Asian sources refer to situations that would be considered crises by modern standards, the early Sanskrit vocabulary lacks a word that we could understand as a distinct equivalent of the term “crisis” and its Greek and Latin predecessors. Nevertheless, the descriptions and discussions of personal and col…[Read more]

]]> 0 9dbc83d7e4aae6816453aa3f6df78b47 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1856254/ Thu, 24 Aug 2023 01:08:10 -0400 In modern understanding, a crisis can be an event or a period of (or leading to) an unstable or dangerous situation. It can affect an individual, a group or the whole society. However, a crisis is not only a threat, it also implies the need for (and the chance for) change and improvement. Historically, the term was borrowed from Greek…[Read more]

]]> 0 4003d25081c8f2b60a7ab9911e4999b3 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1853595/ Wed, 02 Aug 2023 02:24:15 -0400 Āyurveda, the predominant medical system in pre-modern South Asia, is by definition a very individualistic tradition of healing, discerning and treating the patients under special consideration of their personal constitution, diet, physical strength, habituation, character and age. Furthermore, the āyurvedic source texts show a strong commitment t…[Read more]

]]> 0 2af1841eaf0d996694d7014d89eee707 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1850223/ Sun, 25 Jun 2023 02:24:01 -0400 While the colonial and modern history of epidemics in South Asia is well researched, the earlier developments of this subject area have hardly been studied. The project Epidemics and Crisis Management in Pre-modern South Asia aims to fill part of this gap by exploring the intellectual history of epidemics and similar disasters in South Asia and…[Read more]

]]> 0 70d0c9fe69332df08f9571ab56171876 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1837326/ Wed, 15 Mar 2023 02:24:43 -0400 Although the many extant Sanskrit versions of the story of King Śibi and the dove have been thoroughly studied, one version, from the Vahnipurāṇa, has so far escaped the attention of scholars. This paper presents a new, critical edition of the Sanskrit text, based on all available material — an existing edition, quotations, and a recently disco…[Read more]

]]> 0 50511c61720249c0b3390330044c081c https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1828206/ Wed, 04 Jan 2023 02:24:09 -0500 Presentation in the working group "History of Science in Early South Asia" at https://www.chstm.org/early-south-asia on Dec. 19th 2022.

]]> 0 98c13ce559f24f5e1c75c63c93dba081 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1824832/ Sat, 03 Dec 2022 02:24:44 -0500 The seminal 1989 study “Mantra in Ayurveda” by Kenneth G. Zysk1 describes four areas in which mantras were used in early Ayurveda: the treatment of wounds and swellings/tumours, of poisoning, of mental disorders, and the collection and preparation of certain medicines. Although this article is a highly important contribution to the study of the…[Read more]

]]> 0 b830a7b595e794e4c6ae2e3a16b87453 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1824826/ Sat, 03 Dec 2022 02:24:18 -0500 The seminal 1989 study “Mantra in Ayurveda” by Kenneth G. Zysk1 describes four areas in which mantras were used in early Ayurveda: the treatment of wounds and swellings/tumours, of poisoning, of mental disorders, and the collection and preparation of certain medicines. Although this article is a highly important contribution to the study of the…[Read more]

]]> 0 98eda48a37a745719b5186e3df1ae6a0 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1823968/ Sun, 27 Nov 2022 02:23:38 -0500 Although he was the first professor of Tibetan in Europe as well as the chair of Sanskrit at the Collège de France, Philippe-Édouard Foucaux (1811-1894) is little remembered today; Bernard le Calloc'h, in a series of biographical articles on Foucaux, has described him as “un Angevin oublié.” Nevertheless, Foucaux’s published works, especial…[Read more]

]]> 0 e848b6f258290debd47cbd145d8a6d73 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1794582/ Sun, 18 Sep 2022 02:23:48 -0400 Im Ayurveda bedarf die Entstehung von Epidemien einer gesonderten Erklärung, da sie nicht mit dem dort gültigen allgemeinen Verständnis der Krankheitsentstehung in Einklang zu bringen ist. Das Grundkonzept sieht vor, dass Menschen je nach Konstitution, Ernährung, Körperkraft, Gewöhnung,
Charakter und Alter für bestimmte Krankheiten anfäll…[Read more]

]]> 0 67854207846efcfd616fd4d8f7b2a841 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1788289/ Fri, 22 Jul 2022 02:24:15 -0400 Slides accompanying a talk presented at a joint research meeting of the Sushruta Project and the Classical Āyurveda Text Study Group in Vienna, July 2022.

]]> 0 2c5d5c8cdd99f2f7c10f3bed646085c0 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1787698/ Tue, 19 Jul 2022 02:25:23 -0400 Darjeeling tea is known worldwide for its delicate taste and for being one of the most expensive teas. Despite this, when we look at the tea laborers we find how little their condition has changed over time. They still have to protest for days to increase a few rupees in their wages. Although there is still rising demand for Darjeeling tea in the…[Read more]

]]> 0 4fb844bc296d2d09430d6436a9a6aefa https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1787692/ Tue, 19 Jul 2022 02:24:40 -0400 We all know about Darjeeling tea but little do we know about its history. The story of the establishment of Darjeeling has many twists and turns. There are only few works which are done on this topic and hence we have very limited sources to refer to. Set against the backdrop of the looming Himalayas and drenching monsoons, this interview will aim…[Read more]

]]> 0 b72ad501dd758c621a3ba80149c7a68f https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1760887/ Wed, 08 Dec 2021 02:24:21 -0500 This article probes the history of education and current pedagogical practices among Malayali physician-teachers, vaidya-gurus, of Ayurveda in central Kerala. Considering the sources vaidya-gurus cite as the bases of their teaching styles, especially a three-part method known as mukhāmukhaṃ (‘face-to-face’ instruction), I discuss the place, produc…[Read more]

]]> 0 ce8e2c9bb6999e377d9322826449f36c https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1757424/ Tue, 02 Nov 2021 02:24:00 -0400 In this article, I hitch the ever-present awareness of disease in my personal life and our shared world today to a pointed and academic reflection on the ways we consume and re-present information about disease from premodern South Asia that's contained in texts.

]]> 0 ed23fcad069f7c61592137c727865e99 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1734377/ Fri, 09 Apr 2021 02:24:07 -0400 Public talk for International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden University (February 24, 2021) https://youtu.be/77oz4tb8r0Y How did Hindu devotees come to worship an Indian goddess in the ‘Chinese Way?’ What was allegedly Chinese about these rituals and how is this related to the goddess’s Buddhist origins? When did Hindus start to think of Ch…[Read more]

]]> 0 4b7df0be8d02113be16fcf4054d3e92c https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1731583/ Tue, 16 Mar 2021 02:26:13 -0400 Religion, language, and race have been among the most crucial factors behind the formation of various national and communal identities in modern South Asian history. Just like the political division of British India, the complex interplay of these factors also culminated in a bifurcation of linguistic boundaries along the religious lines according…[Read more]

]]> 0 5a848ddc0f33bcde0af24128066821d4 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1731422/ Mon, 15 Mar 2021 02:23:51 -0400 Three types of academic sources are crucial for understanding the Hindu tradition in our times: a) scriptures and the classical texts that are available mostly in Sanskrit b) works in the English language produced by orientalists, religious studies scholars, and some modern Hindu religious leaders themselves, and c) writings of…[Read more]

]]> 0 d051bf5f59eba3ae0c21387c38dabf15 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1717708/ Sat, 21 Nov 2020 02:23:42 -0500 A study of the Sanskrit allegory, Life Delighting (Jivanandanam), and the uses of allegorical literature for historiography.

]]> 0 a7067aec83902e64b87bcec43527de0e https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1706857/ Mon, 31 Aug 2020 02:23:52 -0400 e popular idea, especially among the young, is that religion and spirituality are things of the old age. We generally think that spirituality is a post-retirement plan; something which has to be enjoyed with the gratuity, provident fund, and pension that you get after retirement. This is not true. Spirituality is something we need when we are…[Read more]

]]> 0 f1dc47be6b83ca947d4786880a202f33 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1692947/ Tue, 23 Jun 2020 16:27:13 -0400 Can the Indian manuscript and manuscript library be art? In what follows, I reflect on this question by examining a set of photographs I created for an art project called Manuscriptistan. I explain what it has meant for me to aestheticise Indian manuscript libraries and manuscripts, and I offer some insights about why it is important for scholars…[Read more]

]]> 0 4094cd86ba191d562ac9f499657f5334 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1673204/ Sat, 21 Dec 2019 16:26:36 -0500 Kashmir weaves a rich tapestry of geographical, cultural, and spiritual heritage. Kashmir Shaivism is the crowning jewel of this spiritual tradition, of which Lal Ded is a brilliant gem, being one of the earliest women gurus of the valley. Shonaleeka Kaul translates 101 teachings of Ded and arranges them in the four chapters of ‘Life of I…[Read more]

]]> 0 7f36c2b8de717a69dda638d2ecb26fe8 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1670565/ Wed, 20 Nov 2019 16:25:34 -0500 Contemporary engaged Buddhist scholars typically claim either that Buddhism always endorsed social activism, or that its non-endorsement of such activism represented an unwitting lack of progress. This article examines several classical South Asian Buddhist texts that explicitly reject social and political activism. These texts argue for this…[Read more]

]]> 0 78b34decbaef8da2502380abb0ae7816 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1667249/ Wed, 23 Oct 2019 16:25:22 -0400 Sri Ramakrishna (1836–1886) has been variously considered a mystic, a prophet, a devotee, and an early modern propounder of the harmony of religions. However, this spiritual luminary has seldom been considered a philosopher. Academic engagements with his life and precepts have been negligible. In Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri R…[Read more]

]]> 0 a15cf189ad0e41a6b34d4500a3bf5fc7 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1643045/ Sat, 22 Jun 2019 16:46:36 -0400 Religions are widely accessible in the digital community and Hinduism and Hindu Nationalism Online engages with some of the internet’s representations of Hinduism, with a focus primarily on political and politico-nationalist representations. Juli L. Gittinger focuses on three organizations throughout the book: Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), R…[Read more]

]]> 0 d89d5d86d864a3cf4b08381062d1514c https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1640023/ Fri, 10 May 2019 16:40:44 -0400 Introduction to special issue of IJHS: The Gift in India in Theory and Practice

]]> 0 9a85cb36e70d5acb30949555aa4bb4d4 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1634300/ Thu, 07 Mar 2019 16:25:28 -0500 Yoga-Taravali of Acharya Shankara
Translated by Swami Narasimhananda

]]> 0 337716161573851ab25f6a966281dcd9 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1634203/ Wed, 06 Mar 2019 16:28:05 -0500 This book is an example of how well cultural history can be written along with a critical analysis of textual sources. This book explores the various facets of the Hindu Brahmin identity and its relevance in the present. This book is a great resource for scholars of Sanskrit, Hinduism, mythology, social stratification, folklore, performance,…[Read more]

]]> 0 adffa8e544097bfedd9699aa23bb10fd https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1633852/ Sat, 02 Mar 2019 16:25:36 -0500 A review of the translation of Uttara Gita by Minati Kar published by the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata, India. Though brief, the Uttara-gita clearly explains the nature of the Atman and the method to realize it,primarily through yoga. This book serves as a supplementary text to the Bhagavadgita. It is a text that inspires…[Read more]

]]> 0 8c33ccd0c511d8c5c7cc7a3009aeb9e7 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1633848/ Sat, 02 Mar 2019 16:25:30 -0500 Book Review Tragic Views of the Human Condition: Cross-Cultural Comparisons between Views of Human Nature in Greek and Shakespearean Tragedy and the Mahabharata and Bhagavadgita by Lourens Minnema, Prabuddha Bharata March 2015

]]> 0 aa14ef3f4df15c113965b79f008095b3 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1633743/ Fri, 01 Mar 2019 16:27:14 -0500 Book Review Towards the Goal by Mrs Vandana Sarathy and Dr Rajeev Ramakrishna

]]> 0 bed560bb30f2eea403c4caa73eb10fbc https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1633732/ Fri, 01 Mar 2019 16:26:50 -0500 Book Review The Truth Will Set You Free by Svami Purna

]]> 0 13c20894008b3968c307ba491c489f35 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1633720/ Fri, 01 Mar 2019 16:26:15 -0500 Book Review The Labyrinth of Solitude by K D Prithipaul

]]> 0 57d4bfb3eefcb5bbe83a4d3f8bdd198e https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1633717/ Fri, 01 Mar 2019 16:26:10 -0500 Book Review The Journal of Oriental Research, Madras, 2010–2012 Eds Dr V Kamesari, Dr K S Balasubramanian, and Dr T V Vasudeva

]]> 0 155b46da4489b890b17a2923a8be4a5e https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1633714/ Fri, 01 Mar 2019 16:26:05 -0500 Book Review The Buddhist Dead: Practices, Discourses, Representations, Jacqueline I. Stone co-edited with Bryan J. Cuevas

]]> 0 ba436a576205832e36ba8bdfff1eda43 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1633706/ Fri, 01 Mar 2019 16:25:50 -0500 Book Review The Brahma Kumaris as a Reflexive Tradition by John Wallis

]]> 0 93fb017838587b04e36c4f6c3f9e90b3 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1633703/ Fri, 01 Mar 2019 16:25:44 -0500 Book Review Swaraj: Thoughts of Gandhi, Tilak, Aurobindo, Raja Rammohun Roy, Tagore & Vivekananda by Amulya Ranjan Mohapatra

]]> 0 4fe863112d5f3f3d41c2dbbe95d09633 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1633697/ Fri, 01 Mar 2019 16:25:31 -0500 Book Review Social Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda by Amulya Ranjan Mohapatra

]]> 0 19b31560f9355ec50f353f4d578409a5 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1633541/ Thu, 28 Feb 2019 16:26:34 -0500 Book Review, Sites of Asian Interaction: Ideas, Networks and Mobility, eds. Tim Harper and Sunil Amrith, Prabuddha Bharata March 2015

]]> 0 4e0da0ee03b675d45c0f1f8055908954 https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1633539/ Thu, 28 Feb 2019 16:26:28 -0500 Sir John Woodroffe, Tantra and Bengal An Indian Soul in a European Body? by Kathleen Taylor Book Review Prabuddha Bharata March 2015

]]> 0 6de6c5a48d7faa2004903a1798eeb0ff https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1633534/ Thu, 28 Feb 2019 16:26:22 -0500 Self Knowledge by Nome Book Review Prabuddha Bharata November 2010

]]> 0 6f601fe44d88abc03d4f9d915033f97a https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1633529/ Thu, 28 Feb 2019 16:26:16 -0500 Secularism and Religion in Multi-faith Societies: The Case of India by Ragini Sen, Wolfgang Wagner, and Caroline Howarth Book Review Prabuddha Bharata December 2015

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