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Head of the Department and Associate Professor of Sanskrit, 51茶馆
Ph.D. Institute for Area Studies, LeidenNirajan Kafle is Associate Professor of Sanskrit at 51茶馆. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Naples 鈥淟鈥橭rientale,鈥漺orking on the 鈥楽ivadharma鈥� 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 鈥�鈥�. 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),听 Leiden,聽 Lumbini and Kathmandu. He works on Lay 艢aivism,聽 Pur膩峁嘺s and the Mah膩bh膩rata, and his interests also cover 艢aiva Tantra聽 and Vedic texts.聽
His current research focuses on the text-based evaluation of religious, cultural, and philosophical exchange 鈥� principally between the Vai峁ａ箛ava, 艢aiva and Buddhist traditions of early medi忙val South Asia, with specific emphasis on the religious and social milieu of the Kathmandu valley reflected in the 鲍尘腻尘腻丑别艣惫补谤补蝉补峁僾腻诲补 and the 顿丑补谤尘补辫耻迟谤颈办腻 in their historical context.
Advanced
Taught advanced students following courses
(1) the K膩vy膩dar艣a by Da峁囜笉in, together with the Laghusiddh膩ntakaumud墨 by Varadar膩j膩c膩rya at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute (Kathmandu);
(2) The Bodhicary膩vat膩ra by 艢膩ntideva at the Lumbini Buddhist University (Nepal);
(3) 艢a峁卥ara鈥檚 commentary on Ka峁環a, Taittir墨ya, B峁沨ad膩ra峁噛aka and the Ch膩ndogyopani峁ds;
(4) 艢a峁卥ara鈥檚 commentary on the Bhagavadg墨t膩;
(5) R膩m膩nuj膩c膩rya鈥檚 commentary on the same;
(6) Bh膩ruci鈥檚 Manu艣膩stravivara峁嘺, a commentary on the Manusm峁泃i at Leiden; I taught
(7) an 鈥淚ntroduction to 鈥楬induism鈥� with special emphasis on the contrast between ascetic and non-ascetic traditions鈥� at Loyola (New Orleans, USA); I also taught
(8) a course on 鈥淚nteractions between Buddhism and Hinduism鈥� based on primary literature at the Lumbini Buddhist University (Nepal).
Intermediate
Taught following texts for intermediate students
(1) K膩vya, i.e. the K膩dambar墨kath膩s膩ra of Abhinanda, the Raghuva峁兣沘 of K膩lid膩sa;
(2) 艢aiva Tantra (Ni艣v膩satattvasa峁僪it膩);
(3) Pur膩峁嘺 (Vi峁upur膩峁嘺);
(4) Upani峁ds (Ka峁環a, Taittir墨ya and B峁沨ad膩ra峁噛aka);
(5) the Hitopade艣a as well as the 鈥楴ala and Damayant墨 story鈥� as given in Lanman鈥檚 Sanskrit-Reader at Leiden University (Netherlands); the Buddhacaritam by A艣vagho峁 (Rangjung Yeshe Institute, Kathmandu); the Bodhicary膩vat膩ra by 艢膩ntarak峁ta (Lumbini Buddhist University, Nepal).
Beginner
Taught聽 鈥榖eginner-to-intermediary-courses鈥� at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute (Kathmandu), the other at EFEO (Pondich茅ry), and an 鈥淚ntroduction to Buddhism鈥� based on a collection of secondary literature at the Lumbini Buddhist University (Nepal).
