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About Raj Balkaran

Dr. Raj Balkaran is a scholar of Indian mythology and seasoned online educator. He teaches at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and at his own virtual School of Indian Wisdom where he delivers original courses applying Indian wisdom teachings to modern life. Beyond teaching, speaking and research, Dr. Balkaran runs a thriving one-on-one life guidance practice and serves as McMaster University’s Chaplain of Indian Spirituality. See https://rajbalkaran.com for more information.

Raj Balkaran is a scholar of Sanskrit narrative texts. He teaches at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and at his own virtual School of Indian Wisdom. For information see rajbalkaran.com.

Raj's website

NBN Episodes hosted by Raj:

Indian Religions May 29, 2023

How Do We Know What We Know?

A Day School from Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies

Gavin Flood

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies is holding a Day School on "How Do We Know What We Know?" Today I talked to Gavin Flood bout the day school, discusses how he began …
Indian Religions May 25, 2023

The Making of Contemporary Indian Philosophy

Krishnachandra Bhattacharyya

Elise Coquereau-Saouma and Daniel Raveh

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
This book engages in a dialogue with Krishnachandra Bhattacharyya (K.C. Bhattacharyya, KCB, 1875-1949) and opens a vista to contemporary Indian philosophy. KCB is one of the founding fathers of …
Indian Religions May 18, 2023

Merchants of Virtue

Hindus, Muslims, and Untouchables in Eighteenth-Century South Asia

Divya Cherian

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Merchants of Virtue: Hindus, Muslims, and Untouchables in Eighteenth-Century South Asia (U California Press, 2023) explores the question of what it meant to be Hindu in precolonial South Asia. Divya Cherian …
Indian Religions May 15, 2023

The Canadian South Asian Studies Association

A Discussion with Andrea Farran and Julie Vig

Andrea Farran and Julie Vig

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Andrea Farran and Julie Vig discuss the fast approaching first in-person Canadian South Asian Studies Association hybrid conference. This hybrid conference welcomes global participation. Join the List Serve for updates …
Indian Religions May 11, 2023

A Conversation with Ramdas Lamb

Ramdas Lamb

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
A candid conversation with Ramdas Lamb about his experiences as a sadhu, his journey to academia and his professorial pedagogy. Ramdas Lamb received a Bachelor of Arts degree with high …
Indian Religions May 10, 2023

The International Association of Sanskrit Studies

A Discussion with Dipti Tripathi, president of the IASS

Dipti Tripathi

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
The newly-elected first female president of the The International Association of Sanskrit Studies, Dr. Dipti Tripathi discusses Association’s genesis, mandate, and potential in honour of its 50th year. Raj Balkaran is …
Indian Religions May 4, 2023

Saint Joseph in South India

Poetry, Mission and Theology in Costanzo Gioseffo Beschi's Tēmpāvaṇi

Francis Xavier Clooney

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Costanzo Gioseffo Beschi was an Italian Jesuit who worked in South India from 1710 to 1747. A brilliant scholar of Tamil, his works include hymns, instructions for catechists, and a …
Indian Religions April 27, 2023

Two Masterpieces of Kūṭiyāṭṭam

Mantrankam and Anguliyankam

David Shulman and Heike Oberlin

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Kūṭiyāṭṭam, India’s only living traditional Sanskrit theatre, has been continually performed in Kerala for at least a thousand years. David Shulman and Heike Oberlin's Two Masterpieces of Kūṭiyāṭṭam: Mantrankam and Anguliyankam (Oxford …
Indian Religions April 20, 2023

Religion and Empire in Portuguese India: Conversion, Resistance, and the Making of Goa

Ângela Barreto Xavier

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
How did the colonization of Goa in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries take place? How was it related to projects for the conversion of Goan colonial subjects to Catholicism?  In …
Indian Religions April 17, 2023

Learning Hindi with Rajiv Ranjan

Rajiv Ranjan

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Rajiv Ranjan discusses his second language acquisition journey, open educational resources, and teaching philosophy. You can study with him at Yogic Studies.  Rajiv Ranjan is an Assistant Professor in the …
Indian Religions April 13, 2023

The Philosophy of the Brahma-sutra

An Introduction

Aleksandar Uskokov

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
The Brahma-sutra, attributed to Badaraya (ca. 400 CE), is the canonical book of Vedanta, the philosophical tradition which became the doctrinal backbone of modern Hinduism. As an explanation of the …
Indian Religions April 10, 2023

A Chat with Sanskrit Scholar John Brockington

John Brockington

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Senior scholar John Brockington discusses his scholarship, his role in establishing key conferences, and his work on an online research archive on the spread of the story of Rāma. Professor …
Indian Religions April 6, 2023

Witness to Marvels

Sufism and Literary Imagination

Tony K. Stewart

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
There is a vast body of imaginal literature in Bengali that introduces fictional Sufi saints into the complex mythological world of Hindu gods and goddesses. Dating to the sixteenth century …
Indian Religions March 30, 2023

Transnational Yoga at Work

Spiritual Tourism and Its Blind Spots

Laurah E. Klepinger

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Transnational Yoga at Work: Spiritual Tourism and Its Blind Spots (Lexington Books, 2022) is an ethnography about local wageworkers in the Indian branches of a transnational yoga institution and about …
Indian Religions March 23, 2023

Tantra, Magic, and Vernacular Religions in Monsoon Asia

Texts, Practices, and Practitioners from the Margins

Andrea Acri and Paolo Eugenio Rosati

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Tantra, Magic, and Vernacular Religions in Monsoon Asia: Texts, Practices, and Practitioners from the Margins (Routledge, 2022) explores the cross- and trans-cultural dialectic between Tantra and intersecting 'magical' and …
Indian Religions March 16, 2023

The Nature of Endangerment in India

Tigers, 'Tribes', Extermination and Conservation, 1818-2020

Ezra Rashkow

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Perhaps no category of people on earth has been perceived as more endangered, nor subjected to more preservation efforts, than indigenous peoples. And in India, calls for the conservation of …
Indian Religions March 9, 2023

The Vinayaka Mahatmya

Greg Bailey

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
The Vinayaka Mahatmya is a late Puranic text which contains myths of eight of Gaṇeśa’s avatāras. It presents Gaṇeśa as the supreme deity who empowers Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva to …
Indian Religions March 2, 2023

The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Indian Philosophy and Gender

Veena R. Howard

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
'How do gender constructions transform religious experiences?' 'What is the role of bodily materiality in ethics and epistemology?' 'How does rethinking gender and sexuality force us to reconceptualise settled …
Indian Religions February 23, 2023

Routledge Handbook on the Philosophy of Meditation

Rick Repetti

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Rick Repetti's Routledge Handbook on the Philosophy of Meditation (Routledge, 2022) provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of the state of the field of the philosophy of meditation and …
Indian Religions February 22, 2023

The UW-Madison Center for South Asia

A Discussion with Anthony Cerulli and Sarah Beckham

Anthony Cerulli and Sarah Beckham

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Anthony Cerulli and Sarah Beckham share the history, mandate and vision for the UW-Madison Center for South Asia, especially its vibrant annual conference. Find out more about the conference (which takes …
Indian Religions February 18, 2023

Stephanie Corigliano on TARKA

Stephanie Corigliano

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Stephanie Corigliano discusses TARKA, a quarterly journal published by Embodied Philosophy that explores yoga philosophy, contemplative studies, and the world’s wisdom and esoteric traditions. TARKA call for papers here.  …
Indian Religions February 16, 2023

Ravana's Kingdom

The Ramayana and Sri Lankan History from Below

Justin W. Henry

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Ravana, the demon-king antagonist from the Ramayana, the ancient Hindu epic poem, has become an unlikely cultural hero among Sinhala Buddhists over the past decade.  In Ravana's Kingdom: The Ramayana and …
Indian Religions February 11, 2023

The Creative South

Buddhist and Hindu Art in Mediaeval Maritime Asia (2 Volumes)

Andrea Acri and Peter Sharrock

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Andrea Acri and Peter Sharrock's The Creative South: Buddhist and Hindu Art in Mediaeval Maritime Asia (2 volumes; Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute, 2022) examines the creative contribution of Maritime Asia towards shaping …
Indian Religions February 2, 2023

Laughter, Creativity, and Perseverance

Female Agency in Buddhism and Hinduism

Ute Hüsken

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
In most mainstream traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism, women have for centuries largely been excluded from positions of religious and ritual leadership. However, as this volume shows, in an increasing …