Adheesh Sathaye
University of British Columbia, Asian Studies, Faculty Member
- South Asian Studies, Folklore, Sanskrit language and literature, Asian Studies, Sanskrit Poetics, Sanskrit Aesthetics, and 33 morePerformance Studies, Hinduism, Hindu Mythology, Indian Epics, Caste and Untouchability, Modern India and Maharashtra, Purana, Religion, James Laine, Shivaji, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Indian studies, Vedic Sanskrit, South Asian Archaeology, South Asia, Indology, Sanskrit, Indian ancient history, Vedic Studies, Puranas, Vedanta, Shaiva Tantra, Medieval Indian History, Indian Philosophy, Hindu Studies, Indian History, Tantric Studies, Ayurveda (Sanskrit language and literature), Hindu law, Mimamsa, Sanskrit Literature, Advaita Vedanta, and Indian Artedit
Sathaye, Adheesh. 2022. "How the Guru Lost His Power: Public Anxieties of Tantric Knowledge in the Sanskrit Vetāla Tales," in _Religious Authority in South Asia: Generating the Guru_, edited by Istvan Keul and Srilata Raman (London and... more
Sathaye, Adheesh. 2022. "How the Guru Lost His Power: Public Anxieties of Tantric Knowledge in the Sanskrit Vetāla Tales," in _Religious Authority in South Asia: Generating the Guru_, edited by Istvan Keul and Srilata Raman (London and New York: Routledge, 2022), 8-33.
Sathaye, Adheesh. 2019. "Total Absorption: Locating Kālidāsa in the Intellectual History of Rasa," in _Kālidāsa's Nāyikās_, ed. by Harsha Dehejia (Delhi: DK Printworld), 37-53.
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Sathaye, Adheesh. 2017. "The Scribal Life of Folktales in Medieval India," South Asian History and Culture 8.4: 430-447.
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Pre-publication version of essay published in Nakamura, Fuyubi, ed. _Traces of Words: Art and Calligraphy from Asia_. Vancouver: Figure 1 Publishing, 2017, pp. 53-66.
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Sathaye, Adheesh. 2010. “The Production of Unpleasurable Rasas in the Sanskrit Dramas of Ārya Kṣemīśvara.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 130.3: 361–384.
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Sathaye, Adheesh. 2010. “The Other Kind of Brahman: Rama Jamadagnya and the Psychosocial Construction of Brahman Power in the Mahabharata,” in Sheldon Pollock, ed., Epic and Argument in Sanskrit Literary History: Essays in Honor of Robert... more
Sathaye, Adheesh. 2010. “The Other Kind of Brahman: Rama Jamadagnya and the Psychosocial Construction of Brahman Power in the Mahabharata,” in Sheldon Pollock, ed., Epic and Argument in Sanskrit Literary History: Essays in Honor of Robert P. Goldman. New Delhi: Manohar, 2010; 185-207.
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Sathaye, Adheesh. 2009. “Why Did Hariscandra Matter in Early Medieval India? Truth, Fact, and Folk Narrative in the Sanskrit Puranas.” The Journal of Hindu Studies 2.2: 131–159.
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Sathaye, Adheesh. 2007. "How to Become a Brahman: The Construction of Varṇa as Social Place in the Mahābhārata's Legends of Viśvāmitra," Acta Orientalia Vilnensia 8.1 (2007): 41-67.
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Sathaye, Adheesh. 2012. “Magic Cows and Cannibal Kings: The Textual Performance of the Viśvāmitra Legends in the Mahābhārata,” in John Brockington, ed. Battle, Bards, and Brahmins: Papers of the 13th World Sanskrit Conference, Volume II.... more
Sathaye, Adheesh. 2012. “Magic Cows and Cannibal Kings: The Textual Performance of the Viśvāmitra Legends in the Mahābhārata,” in John Brockington, ed. Battle, Bards, and Brahmins: Papers of the 13th World Sanskrit Conference, Volume II. (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass), 195-216.
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Sathaye, Adheesh. 2006. “Censorship and Censureship: Insiders, Outsiders,and the Attack on the Bhandarkar Institute,” Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies 19 (2006): 2-11.
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What does it mean to be a Brahmin? And what could it mean to become one? While Brahmin intellectuals have offered plenty of answers to the first question, the latter presents a puzzle, since the normative ideology of caste deems it... more
What does it mean to be a Brahmin? And what could it mean to become one? While Brahmin intellectuals have offered plenty of answers to the first question, the latter presents a puzzle, since the normative ideology of caste deems it impossible for an ordinary individual to do so without first undergoing death and rebirth. In Hindu mythology, however, one notable figure named Viśvāmitra is said to have transformed himself from a king into a Brahmin sage by amassing great ascetic power, or tapas. This book examines the rich mosaic of legends about Viśvāmitra that are found across the Hindu mythological tradition—through texts composed in Sanskrit and vernacular languages, oral performances, and visual media—and offers a comprehensive historical analysis of how the “storyworlds” conjured up through these various tellings have, time and again, served to adapt, upgrade, and reinforce the social identity of real-world Brahmin communities, from the ancient Vedic past up to the hypermodern present. Using a performance-centered approach to situate the production of the Viśvāmitra legends within specific historical contexts, this study reveals how and why mythological culture has played an active, dialogical role in the naturalization of Brahmin social power over the last three thousand years.
For freely downloadable PDFs of my translations of the Viśvāmitra legends, please visit: http://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199341115/
For freely downloadable PDFs of my translations of the Viśvāmitra legends, please visit: http://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199341115/
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Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 79 (2016): 197-198
On the Modernity of Ramayana Stories in Modern South India
Nagoya Studies in Indian Culture and Buddhism 26 (2007): 187-188.
Bridges: Berkeley Research Journal on South and Southeast Asia 1 (2002): 109-112.
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Journal of Folklore Research (online reviews), 1999