OCHS Weblog

 Stories of Rupa and Sanatana Gosvami inviting thinkers of diverse darshans to their home in Bengal for tea and debate, or of Vallabhacarya learning to wield an acutely analytic wit against competing pundits, to win the favour of the court and turn the intellectual tide…

 I am interested in writing something on the lives of Indian Philosophers in the ‘renaissance’ period of Vedantic thought - from Ramanuja to Madhva, Madhusudana Sarasvati, Caitanya, Vallabha etc. We know the names but have no real picture of what it was like to be one of the great Indian philosophers. We know a certain amount through biographies about the way in which thinkers travelled, debated and developed their views. We do get a sense of the sort of lifestyles, connections, and conversations in which the intellectual life was embedded. But so much more could be said.

 Methodologically this gives good sociological context, and it reflects the /means of production and transmission/ approach to text interpretation. But also, I think it would do alot to clarify our view of Indian philosophy as a cultural production more generally, opening out greater possibilities for comparison. And it would enrich our view of the possibilities and (often unacknowledged) plurality of indian life in this period.

Does anyone know of any biographical works or historical works on the period that would be relevant?

A great seminar for anyone who loves Indian cinema today. Fun to hear stories about the life of the mysterious Amitabh Bachchan from someone who knows him personally. And to get an insight into what it’s like to be the centre of so much attention and reverence. He sounds like such a balanced person, a still point in the centre of the storm.

Plus I have to see more of the young Amitabh, the rebel who literally shouts at Shiva in the temple. Is that sort of socially and religiously rebellious figure still there in indian cinema?

Dear all,
Week 8 already. How the time flies. 
This week is quite busy. We have the following events: 

Monday 6^th March
1.00 - the Sanskrit Lunch
2.00 – Professor Jean-Frédéric Schaub (EHESS, Paris)
‘POST-COLONIAL THEORY: NOTE ABOUT SOME DISCONTENT IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES’
The Deakin Room, Founder’s Building, St Antony’s College
3.30 – Jessica Hines
‘Shouting at Shiva: Religion in the Films of Amitabh Bachchan’
OCHS Library
(It’s important that we have a good turn out for these seminars that Jessica has organized and that speakers take the trouble to come along to present.) 

Tuesday 7^th March.
12.00- Readings in the Jayakhya Samhita
5.00 – Prof C. Minkowski, Inaugural Lecture, (Boden Professor of Sanskrit),
‘King David in Oudh: A Bible Story in Sanskrit and the Just King at an Afghan Court’ ,
Examination Schools. 

Wednesday 8^th March.
11.00 Hinduism II lecture, Divinity Faculty
1.00 Lunch OCHS 

Thursday 9^th March
2-3 Theories of the Text Seminar, OCHS Library 

Friday 10^th March
2.00 Religious Studies Reading Group.

ALSO FOR NEXT WEEK Tuesday 14^th March  
All are invited to the trip to the Swaminaryana Mandir in London. If you would like to go please send an email to: RSsociety@googlemail.com
Have a good week,
Gavin