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.
Archives: Lectures
Readings in Vedānta: Bhedābheda Vedānta: Session seven (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 seven (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 seven (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.
Sanskrit Prelims I: Session eight (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 eight (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 eight (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.
Theorizing the interaction between textual tradition and contemporary practices in Hindu studies (MT19)
A key problem, not only of Hindu studies but of the Comparative Study of Religion in general, is the relationship between the representations or ‘worldviews’ expressed in religious texts, and the experiences, practices and interpretations of actual practitioners. Using examples from research on the Sanskrit Devīmāhātmya in a site-specific context, this lecture will address theoretical and methodological questions central to Hindu Studies such as how (and why) to combine philological and ethnographic methods, how to understand the overlap or lack of overlap between the textual representations and the representations of religious practitioners, and how to theorize the relationship between textual semantics and embodied knowledge.
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 eight (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 eight (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.