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

Challenges prevailing conceptions of what religious ritual does and how it achieves its ends.

Challenges the monolithic view of Hinduism in the nineteenth century, and instead offers a vision of India that contains a rich multiplicity of Hinduisms, women’s stories, and cultural histories.

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

A wide-ranging analysis of the Mokṣopāya, the Indian literary classic that teaches through storytelling how to enjoy an active, successful, worldly life in a spiritually enlightened way.

Discusses Hindu Advaita Vedānta as a philosophy of social justice for the modern world.

Uses both textual and ethnographic sources to demonstrate that in Śaṅkara’s vedānta, brahman is an active force as well as a transcendent ultimate.

A translation of the Īśvara Gītā, a parallel text to the Bhagavad Gītā that promotes religious inclusion.

Exploring homegrown movements and figures, proclaims “American Hinduism” as a distinct religious tradition.

Discusses Gandhi’s creative use of ascetic practice, particularly his practice of celibacy, for nonviolent activism.

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

An exploration of the history, religion, and folklore of the Nāths, a Hindu lineage known for Hatha yoga practice.

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

Reconsiders whether Hinduism can be considered a missionary religion.

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 multi-faceted portrait of Lakshmi, Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity. Includes translations of verses used to invoke this goddess.

An exploration and translation of the work of Hindu poet-saint Kāraikkāl Ammaiyār.

Celebrates and instructs in the healing power of breath.

Traces the roots of logos in different cultural milieux.

Looks at perceptions of the miraculous in a variety of contemporary South Asian religious traditions-Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity.

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

An interlinear edition of the spiritual classic that provides devanagari, transliterated Sanskrit, and English versions of the Gītā.

The oldest surviving anthology of lyric poems from India, the Sattasai presents the many aspects of love and provides a realistic counterpart to the Kāmasūtra.

Explores ideas on women and sexuality presented in the great Hindu epic, the Mahabharata.