This course provides an introduction to Sanskrit for the preliminary paper in Elementary Sanskrit. The class is designed to introduce students of Theology to the basics of Sanskrit grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. By the end of the course students will have competency in translating simple Sanskrit and reading sections of the Bhagavad-gita and passages from other texts.
Archives: Lectures
Hinduism II: Hindu Traditions, Lecture Three (HT11)
These lectures will begin from where Hinduism 1 left off. We will trace the development of devotion (bhakti) and examine bhakti and yoga in the Bhagavad-gita before moving into the medieval period. Here the lectures will describe some developments of bhakti in vernacular literatures, focusing both on texts that advocate devotion to iconic forms and the later texts that advocate devotion to an absolute without qualities. Here we will also examine the importance of ritual texts and the relation between ritual, devotion, and yoga. We will then trace the themes of liberation and path with examples from selected tantric traditions within Vaisnavism and Saivism. Lastly we will examine the development of Hinduism in the nineteenth century with the Hindu reformers and the development of a politicised Hinduism in the twentieth century.
Yoga and Māyā in the Bhāgavata-purāṇa
Among Puranic literature, the Bhagavata Purana has been most influential, both in intellectual circles and in popular Hinduism. The Bhagavata offers a unique form of yoga that is indebted to earlier texts, such as the Mahabharata and Patañjali’s Yoga-sutra, but is nevertheless distinct from them in an important way—the Bhagavata blends its characteristic emotional bhakti with the otherwise staid practice of yoga. This paper argues that the shift from the normative bhakti of the Mahabharata to the emotional bhakti of the Bhagavata is made possible primarily through the concept of yoga-maya. The paper examines the relationship between yoga, the yogi, yoga-maya, and yogesvara in the two texts, and shows that without maya, the intensity of the emotional yoga between the devotee and Krsna found in the Bhagavata cannot take place. While non-dualist Vedanta philosophy often sees maya as a negative force, this paper argues the Bhagavata affirms just the opposite – the devotee’s place under the veil of maya is a desirable situation as it allows for the experience of intimate love. Gopal Gupta is currently pursuing a D.Phil. in Hindu Studies at the University of Oxford.
Readings in Sanskrit Commentaries: Session Two (HT11)
Hindu theology is grounded in the reading of sacred texts and has been largely developed in commentaries on those texts. This reading class will focus on a single sacred text and a few commentaries on it by authors of various theological schools. It aims to introduce students with an elementary knowledge of Sanskrit to the style and reasoning of Sanskrit commentaries. Dr Rembert Lutjeharms is the librarian of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, and completed his D.Phil. in Theology in 2010.
Elementary Sanskrit: Week Three (HT11)
This course provides an introduction to Sanskrit for the preliminary paper in Elementary Sanskrit. The class is designed to introduce students of Theology to the basics of Sanskrit grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. By the end of the course students will have competency in translating simple Sanskrit and reading sections of the Bhagavad-gita and passages from other texts.
Elementary Sanskrit: Week Four (HT11)
This course provides an introduction to Sanskrit for the preliminary paper in Elementary Sanskrit. The class is designed to introduce students of Theology to the basics of Sanskrit grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. By the end of the course students will have competency in translating simple Sanskrit and reading sections of the Bhagavad-gita and passages from other texts.
Hinduism II: Hindu Traditions, Lecture Four
These lectures will begin from where Hinduism 1 left off. We will trace the development of devotion (bhakti) and examine bhakti and yoga in the Bhagavad-gita before moving into the medieval period. Here the lectures will describe some developments of bhakti in vernacular literatures, focusing both on texts that advocate devotion to iconic forms and the later texts that advocate devotion to an absolute without qualities. Here we will also examine the importance of ritual texts and the relation between ritual, devotion, and yoga. We will then trace the themes of liberation and path with examples from selected tantric traditions within Vaisnavism and Saivism. Lastly we will examine the development of Hinduism in the nineteenth century with the Hindu reformers and the development of a politicised Hinduism in the twentieth century.
Readings in Sanskrit Commentaries: Session Three (HT11)
Hindu theology is grounded in the reading of sacred texts and has been largely developed in commentaries on those texts. This reading class will focus on a single sacred text and a few commentaries on it by authors of various theological schools. It aims to introduce students with an elementary knowledge of Sanskrit to the style and reasoning of Sanskrit commentaries. Dr Rembert Lutjeharms is the librarian of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, and completed his D.Phil. in Theology in 2010.