Kshitij Jain

Kshitij Jain is a second-year doctoral student at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oxford. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Sanskrit from the University of Delhi and a master’s degree in Indian Religion from Oxford. Kshitij’s doctoral research focuses on the social history of Digambara Jain monastic communities in post-tenth century North India. Through a study of monastic codes of conduct and their commentaries, he argues that this textual archive “rearticulates” ancient Digambara renunciatory laws. His work primarily revolves around the issues of lay-monk relationship, the evolution of monastic rituals, temple economy, and the creation of religious publics.

Kshitij’s first publication was a comparative study of the satirical representations of Jain monks in medieval Sanskrit dramas. The paper studies how narrative polemic on ascetic theologies led to the construction of “Self” and “Other,” a result of the debates among different Hindu renunciatory traditions. Currently, he is working on a project on dharmaśāstric hermeneutics in Jain adaptations of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, as well as on the embodiment of monastic memory in liberation-sites in Malwa (Madhya Pradesh) and its textualisation in Jain ritual hymns. He undertook fieldwork in the region supported by the Max Muller Memorial Fund and the Radhakrishnan Memorial Fund (Oxford). Kshitij has presented his research at the American Academy of Religion (2025) and the American Society for Premodern Asia (2026). Kshitij is also the inaugural recipient of the Bhagwan Adinath Doctoral Scholarship in Jain Studies that supports his doctoral studies.

In his research, Kshitij pursues an interdisciplinary approach at the intersection of Sanskrit studies, religion, and history. More broadly, he is interested in situating Jain normative texts in dialogue with dharmaśāstra, to develop new understandings of the relationship between law and religion in premodern India. His interests also extend to Sanskrit and Prakrit narratives and comparative asceticism. At Oxford, Kshitij has taught undergraduate and master’s courses in Elementary Sanskrit and dharmaśāstra. He also publishes podcasts with scholars on South Asia at the New Books Network.