New Books Network
Indian Religions
Indian Religions July 29, 2021

The Viṣṇu Purāṇa

Ancient Annals of the God with Lotus Eyes

McComas Taylor

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Listen in as we speak with McComas Taylor (Associate Professor and Reader in Sanskrit, The Australian National University) about his brand-new translation of the Viṣṇu Purāṇa. This is the second …

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Australian and New Zealand Studies July 29, 2021

Creating God

The Birth and Growth of Major Religions

Robin Derricourt

Hosted by Bede Haines
What do we really know about how and where religions began, and how they spread?  Robin Derricourt considers the birth and growth of several major religions, using history and archaeology …
Indian Religions July 22, 2021

A Conversation with Greg Bailey

Sanskrit Scholar and Novelist

Greg Bailey

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
This interview features a candid conversation with Greg Bailey, seasoned scholar of Sanskrit narrative Literature, on his multi-decade work on the Purāṇas and Mahābhārata, and on his new novel In Search of Bliss …
Indian Religions July 15, 2021

Translating Wisdom

Hindu-Muslim Intellectual Interactions in Early Modern South Asia

Shankar Nair

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
During the height of Muslim power in Mughal South Asia, Hindu and Muslim scholars worked collaboratively to translate a large body of Hindu Sanskrit texts into the Persian language. Translating …
Indian Religions July 15, 2021

Is this Yoga?

Concepts, Histories, and the Complexities of Modern Practice

Anya P. Foxen and Christa Kuberry

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
This book provides a rigorously researched, critically comparative introduction to yoga. Anya P. Foxen and Christa Kuberry's Is this Yoga?: Concepts, Histories, and the Complexities of Modern Practice (Routledge, 2021) recognizes the …
Indian Religions July 8, 2021

Print and the Urdu Public

Muslims, Newspapers, and Urban Life in Colonial India

Megan Eaton Robb

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
In early twentieth century British India, prior to the arrival of digital medias and after the rise of nationalist political movements, a small-town paper from the margins of society became …
Indian Religions July 1, 2021

Yogavataranam: The Translation of Yoga

A New Approach to Sanskrit, Integrating Traditional and Academic Methods and Based on Classic Yoga Texts, for University Courses, Yoga Programs, and Self Study

Zoë Slatoff

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
The traditional Indian method of learning Sanskrit is through oral transmission, by first memorizing texts and then learning their meaning. The Western academic approach methodically teaches the alphabet, declensions, grammar …
Life Wisdom June 30, 2021

Ben Williams on Contemplative Education

Assistant Professor, Naropa University

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Is it possible to integrate scholarly study with contemplative practice? What are the benefits and potential pitfalls of doing so? Join us as we speak to Dr. Ben Williams about Naropa …
Indian Religions June 24, 2021

The Skandapurāṇa Project

The Varáha Cycle and the Andhaka Cycle Continued. Vol. V. Adhyáyas 96 - 112

Peter Christiaan Bisschop and Yuko Yokochi

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
This interview features Drs. Peter Bisschop (Leiden University) and Yuko Yokochi (Kyoto University) and their work on the monumental Skandapurāṇa project. Started in the 1990's, the project is aimed at creating a critical edition of …
Asian Review of Books June 24, 2021

Indians

A Brief History of a Civilization

Namit Arora

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
We can sometimes forget that “India”—or the idea of a single unified entity—is not a very old concept. Indian history is complicated and convoluted: different societies, polities and cultures rise …
Indian Religions June 21, 2021

Feminine Journeys of the Mahabharata

Hindu Women in History, Text, and Practice

Lavanya Vemsani

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
The Mahabharata preserves powerful journeys of women recognized as the feminine divine and the feminine heroic in the larger culture of India. Each journey upholds the unique aspects of women's …
Indian Religions June 17, 2021

Malleable Mara

Transformations of a Buddhist Symbol of Evil

Michael Nichols

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Michael Nichols's Malleable Mara: Transformations of a Buddhist Symbol of Evil (SUNY Press, 2020) is the first book to examine the development of the figure of Māra, who appears across …
Life Wisdom June 16, 2021

Brian Collins on Indian Mythology

Professor, Department of Classics and Religious Studies, Ohio University

Brian Collins

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
What insights on the human experience can we find in ancient Indian mythology? Join us as we speak to Dr. Brian Collins (Associate Professor, Chair Department of Classics and Religious …
Indian Religions June 10, 2021

The Reluctant Family Man

Shiva in Everyday Life

Chitgopekar Nilima

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
He's the destroyer of evil, the pervasive one in whom all things lie. He is brilliant, terrifying, wild and beneficent. He is both an ascetic and a householder, both a …
Life Wisdom June 9, 2021

Frank Clooney on “The Scholar-Practitioner”

Jesuit Priest, Professor, Harvard Divinity School

Frank Clooney

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
To what extent should scholarship foreground the beliefs and experiences of the scholar producing it? Where does the scholar-practitioners fit at the academy today? Join us as we explore such …
Indian Religions June 3, 2021

Shared Devotion, Shared Food

Equality and the Bhakti-Caste Question in Western India

Jon Keune

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Jon Keune's book Shared Devotion, Shared Food: Equality and the Bhakti-Caste Question in Western India (Oxford UP, 2021) is about the deceptively simple question: when Hindu devotional or bhakti traditions …
Indian Religions May 26, 2021

Everyday Shi'ism in South Asia

Karen G. Ruffle

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Karen Ruffle's Everyday Shi'ism in South Asia (John Wiley & Sons, 2021) is an introduction to the everyday life and cultural memory of Shi’i women and men, focusing on the religious worlds …
Life Wisdom May 26, 2021

Arti Dhand on The Mahābhārata

Associate Professor, University of Toronto

Arti Dhand

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
What does the Mahābhārata – a gargantuan epic tale from ancient India – have the teach about life wisdom? Learn three core themes of the ancient Sanskrit epic – along …
Indian Religions May 21, 2021

Religion and Myth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Michael D. Nichols

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Breaking box office records, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has achieved an unparalleled level of success with fans across the world, raising the films to a higher level of narrative: myth …
Indian Religions May 19, 2021

Muslim Communities and Cultures of the Himalayas

Conceptualizing the Global Ummah

Jacqueline Fewkes and Megan Adamson Sijapati

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Jacqueline Fewkes and Megan Adamson Sijapati edited volume Muslim Communities and Cultures of the Himalayas: Conceptualizing the Global Ummah (Routledge, 2020) explores individual perspectives and specific iterations of Muslim community, Muslim …