Examines Kṛṣṇa’s hint of laughter (prahasann iva) in the Bhagavadgītā, its interpretations in the Vedānta commentarial tradition, and its significance in Kṛṣṇaite iconography and literature.

Explores the Sāṃkhya system and the delicate relationship it articulates between witness consciousness (Puruṣa) and manifest realities (Prakṛti), providing a path to freedom through knowledge.

Explores the cultural dynamics of this ancient form of Sanskrit theater.

A literary and historical investigation into an ancient Indian religious thinker, tracing his rise in importance in the Hindu tradition.

Details the textual and performative history of the South Asian festival of Indra and its role in the development of classical Hinduism.

Explores the rich diversity of narratives, rituals, and participants connected with one of the most important celebrations for Hindus in South Asia and in the diaspora.

Explores how a folk ballad in southern India transforms the landscape and embeds the deities that are its subject within the social worlds of their devotees.

A major contribution to the study of South Asian literature, offering a landmark view of Mahābhārata studies.

The first in-depth study of the All World Gayatri Pariwar, a modern Indian religious movement.

Investigates the professional practices of astrologers in urban India and their popularity among the educated middle and upper classes.

A systematic analysis of the myth cycle of Paraśurāma (“Rāma with the Axe”), an avatára of Viṣṇu with a much darker reputation.

Broadens the parameters of religious studies by accounting for material acts that help shape religious worlds.

A wide-ranging consideration of early modern Muslim and Christian empires, covering the Iberian, Ottoman and Mughal worlds, including questions of political economy, images and representations, and historiography.

A distillation of the historian’s finest writings on modern Indian historical themes.

A rare look at the history of Himalayan peasant society and the relationship between culture and environment in the Himalayas.

Explores the contemporary nature and the diverse narratives, rituals, and performances of the Navarātri Festival.

This exploration of key terms related to social and political order, found in early Indian texts, challenges the idea of a unified ancient India and a unified national identity at that time.

Essays on Telugu and South Indian literature and culture by distinguished Telugu scholar Narayana Rao.

Offers a fresh perspective on the Mahābhārata based on an exploration of its ending, the Svargārohaṇa parvan.

Explores the activities and political personas of women activists in Shiv Sena, a militant Indian political party.

Looks at narrative in the history of ayurvedic medical literature and the perspectives on illness and patienthood that emerge.

Explores the transformation of Hindi poetry as it reflects a changing society during the period from 1885 to 1925.

Looks at Western understandings of South Asian religions and indigenous responses from pre-colonial to contemporary times.

Details the transformation of Tamil literary culture that came with colonialism and the encounter with Western modernity.

A study and translation of a tantric contemplative manual and the commentary on it.