The course provides an introduction to Sanskrit for the preliminary paper of the Theology and Religion Faculty in Elementary Sanskrit. A range of relevant Hindu and Buddhist texts will be chosen for translation and philological comment. The class is designed to introduce students of Theology and Religion to the essentials of Sanskrit grammar, syntax, and vocabulary and its importance for the exegesis of Sanskrit texts. Students will learn to appreciate the interpretative nature of translation as a central discipline for the study of religions. By the end of the course students will have gained a basic competency in translating classical Sanskrit and reading relevant passages from texts such as the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, the Bhagavadgītā and the Buddhist Heart Sūtra. The course book will be Walter Maurer’s The Sanskrit Language. Sanskrit Prelims continues throughout Michaelmas and Hilary Terms and for the first four weeks of Trinity.
Archives: Lectures
Pāli for Sanskritists: Session four (MT19)
The course provides an introduction to Pāli Buddhist texts for students with prior knowledge of Sanskrit (e.g. Sanskrit Prelims). We will read classical Theravāda Buddhist discourses from the Pāli Canon such as the Fire Sermon (Ādittapariyāya-sutta) and Dependent Origination (Paṭiccasamuppāda) providing an easy philological introduction to the Pāli language via Sanskrit. The class is designed to introduce to the essentials of Pali grammar and vocabulary with a focus on key terms and their importance for the exegesis of Buddhist texts. The course will contribute to an appreciation of the interpretative nature of translation as a central discipline for the study of religions. The course book will be Dines Andersen’s A Pāli Reader supplementet with Rune E.A. Johansson’s Pali Buddhist Texts: An Introductory Reader and Grammar.
Text, paratext, and practice of the Devīmāhātmya (MT19)
The Devīmāhātmya, the core text of Hindu Śāktism, exist in numerous editions today and is one of the most popular ritual texts among practicing Hindus. While it has been studied extensively for its “crystallization” of the Goddess tradition and importance for the formation of a Śākta theology, less attention has been paid to the role, function and reception of the Devīmāhātmya as a ritual text in mainstream Hinduism. Based on textual analysis and ethnographic fieldwork, this lecture will discuss the practice of ritually reciting the Devīmāhātmya and its interpretation among contemporary practitioners in Varanasi. Particular attention is given to the paratextual elements that figures in the manuscripts and printed editions that circulates in present-day Varanasi, and how they impact the reception of the text. A broader question addressed in the lecture is how we can understand the role and function of Sanskrit texts in popular Hinduism.
Silje Lyngar Einarsen is an Associate Professor at Oslo Metropolitan University and co-manager for the Śākta Traditions research programme at the OCHS. Her research is concerned with the relationship between Hindu scriptures and religious practice. She has conducted research on the role of Śākta texts and ritual performances during Navarātri in Benares, combining textual and ethnographic research methods. She is co-author on a Danish standard introduction to Hinduism with a focus on Varanasi (Systime, 2015) and is currently working on a Danish translation of the Haṭhapradīpikā. She has also published articles on the Navarātri festival and the Devīmāhātmya.
Sanskrit Prelims I: Session four (MT19)
The course provides an introduction to Sanskrit for the preliminary paper of the Theology and Religion Faculty in Elementary Sanskrit. A range of relevant Hindu and Buddhist texts will be chosen for translation and philological comment. The class is designed to introduce students of Theology and Religion to the essentials of Sanskrit grammar, syntax, and vocabulary and its importance for the exegesis of Sanskrit texts. Students will learn to appreciate the interpretative nature of translation as a central discipline for the study of religions. By the end of the course students will have gained a basic competency in translating classical Sanskrit and reading relevant passages from texts such as the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, the Bhagavadgītā and the Buddhist Heart Sūtra. The course book will be Walter Maurer’s The Sanskrit Language. Sanskrit Prelims continues throughout Michaelmas and Hilary Terms and for the first four weeks of Trinity.
Hinduism: Sources and Formations: Session four (MT19)
These lectures offer a thematic and historical introduction to the sources and development of Hindu traditions from their early formation to the medieval period. We will explore the formation of Hindu traditions through textual sources, such as the Vedas, Upaniṣads and Bhagavad Gītā, along with the practices and social institutions that formed classical Hindu traditions. The lectures will include an introduction to Hindu philosophy.
Readings in the Netratantra: Session four (MT19)
The Netratantra is an important early medieval Śaiva/Śākta tantric text in Kashmir and Nepal, dating from around the early ninth century, and widely disseminated during the eleventh and probably tenth centuries. The text is a ‘universal’ (sarvasāmānya-) tantra, which overrides the distinctions between various tantric traditions and branches (e.g. between the Mantramārga and Kulamārga).
This term we will continue our reading of the Netratantra and discuss chapter seven on the subtle visualising meditation (sūkṣmadhyāna) based on the oldest available manuscript found in the National Archives of Kathmandu (NAK). In our translation of the text we will refer to and compare with other Nepalese manuscripts as well as the published edition in the Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies (KSTS). Apart from reading the text we will discuss its meaning from the perspective of the history of religions with an emphasis on models of the human in tantric Hinduism.
Sanskrit Prelims I: Session five (MT19)
The course provides an introduction to Sanskrit for the preliminary paper of the Theology and Religion Faculty in Elementary Sanskrit. A range of relevant Hindu and Buddhist texts will be chosen for translation and philological comment. The class is designed to introduce students of Theology and Religion to the essentials of Sanskrit grammar, syntax, and vocabulary and its importance for the exegesis of Sanskrit texts. Students will learn to appreciate the interpretative nature of translation as a central discipline for the study of religions. By the end of the course students will have gained a basic competency in translating classical Sanskrit and reading relevant passages from texts such as the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, the Bhagavadgītā and the Buddhist Heart Sūtra. The course book will be Walter Maurer’s The Sanskrit Language. Sanskrit Prelims continues throughout Michaelmas and Hilary Terms and for the first four weeks of Trinity.
Pāli for Sanskritists: Session five (MT19)
The course provides an introduction to Pāli Buddhist texts for students with prior knowledge of Sanskrit (e.g. Sanskrit Prelims). We will read classical Theravāda Buddhist discourses from the Pāli Canon such as the Fire Sermon (Ādittapariyāya-sutta) and Dependent Origination (Paṭiccasamuppāda) providing an easy philological introduction to the Pāli language via Sanskrit. The class is designed to introduce to the essentials of Pali grammar and vocabulary with a focus on key terms and their importance for the exegesis of Buddhist texts. The course will contribute to an appreciation of the interpretative nature of translation as a central discipline for the study of religions. The course book will be Dines Andersen’s A Pāli Reader supplementet with Rune E.A. Johansson’s Pali Buddhist Texts: An Introductory Reader and Grammar.
Readings in Vedānta: Bhedābheda Vedānta: Session five (MT19)
These reading sessions are intended for students who have an intermediate knowledge of Sanskrit and are interested in Vedānta texts. This term we will be reading Bhāskara’s commentary on the Brahma-sūtras. Bhāskara was a bhedābheda (‘difference-and-nondifference’) theologian and early critic of Śaṅkara’s Advaita Vedānta whose ideas strongly influenced the early history of Vedānta.
Sanskrit Prelims I: Session five (MT19)
The course provides an introduction to Sanskrit for the preliminary paper of the Theology and Religion Faculty in Elementary Sanskrit. A range of relevant Hindu and Buddhist texts will be chosen for translation and philological comment. The class is designed to introduce students of Theology and Religion to the essentials of Sanskrit grammar, syntax, and vocabulary and its importance for the exegesis of Sanskrit texts. Students will learn to appreciate the interpretative nature of translation as a central discipline for the study of religions. By the end of the course students will have gained a basic competency in translating classical Sanskrit and reading relevant passages from texts such as the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, the Bhagavadgītā and the Buddhist Heart Sūtra. The course book will be Walter Maurer’s The Sanskrit Language. Sanskrit Prelims continues throughout Michaelmas and Hilary Terms and for the first four weeks of Trinity.