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Other links:
Head of the Department and Associate Professor of Sanskrit, Ashoka University
Ph.D. Institute for Area Studies, Leiden
Nirajan Kafle is Associate Professor of Sanskrit at Ashoka University. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Naples “L’Orientale,”working on the ‘Sivadharma’ European Research Council project. After completing a D.Phil. from the University of Leiden, Nirajan held a post-doctoral research position in the NWO project ‘From Universe of Viṣṇu to Universe of Śiva’. Nirajan has worked with the NGMCP, Kathmandu and the EFEO, Pondicherry EFEO. He has also taught Sanskrit and other allied topics at the Universities of Loyola(New Orleans), Leiden, Lumbini and Kathmandu. He works on Lay Śaivism, Purāṇas and the Mahābhārata, and his interests also cover Śaiva Tantra and Vedic texts.
His current research focuses on the text-based evaluation of religious, cultural, and philosophical exchange – principally between the Vaiṣṇava, Śaiva and Buddhist traditions of early mediæval South Asia, with specific emphasis on the religious and social milieu of the Kathmandu valley reflected in the Umāmāheśvarasaṃvāda and the Dharmaputrikā in their historical context.
Advanced
Taught advanced students following courses
(1) the Kāvyādarśa by Daṇḍin, together with the Laghusiddhāntakaumudī by Varadarājācārya at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute (Kathmandu);
(2) The Bodhicaryāvatāra by Śāntideva at the Lumbini Buddhist University (Nepal);
(3) Śaṅkara’s commentary on Kaṭha, Taittirīya, Bṛhadāraṇyaka and the Chāndogyopaniṣads;
(4) Śaṅkara’s commentary on the Bhagavadgītā;
(5) Rāmānujācārya’s commentary on the same;
(6) Bhāruci’s Manuśāstravivaraṇa, a commentary on the Manusmṛti at Leiden; I taught
(7) an “Introduction to ‘Hinduism’ with special emphasis on the contrast between ascetic and non-ascetic traditions” at Loyola (New Orleans, USA); I also taught
(8) a course on “Interactions between Buddhism and Hinduism” based on primary literature at the Lumbini Buddhist University (Nepal).
Intermediate
Taught following texts for intermediate students
(1) Kāvya, i.e. the Kādambarīkathāsāra of Abhinanda, the Raghuvaṃśa of Kālidāsa;
(2) Śaiva Tantra (Niśvāsatattvasaṃhitā);
(3) Purāṇa (Viṣnupurāṇa);
(4) Upaniṣads (Kaṭha, Taittirīya and Bṛhadāraṇyaka);
(5) the Hitopadeśa as well as the ‘Nala and Damayantī story’ as given in Lanman’s Sanskrit-Reader at Leiden University (Netherlands); the Buddhacaritam by Aśvaghoṣa (Rangjung Yeshe Institute, Kathmandu); the Bodhicaryāvatāra by Śāntarakṣita (Lumbini Buddhist University, Nepal).
Beginner
Taught ‘beginner-to-intermediary-courses’ at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute (Kathmandu), the other at EFEO (Pondichéry), and an “Introduction to Buddhism” based on a collection of secondary literature at the Lumbini Buddhist University (Nepal).
