The Yogic Studies Podcast

In this episode we welcome back Jim Mallinson for another update on his pioneering research into the earliest Sanskrit texts of Haṭha Yoga. We discuss the Light on Hatha Yoga Project (2021–2024) which will produce a critical edition of the Haṭhapradīpikā. We then dive into the Dattātreyayogaśāstra, the "Dattātreya's Discourse on Yoga," perhaps the first text to teach Haṭhayoga within an Aṣṭāṅga framework. We discuss its authorship, dating, Vaiṣṇava milieu, yogic teachings, intended audience, and more—giving a rich preview for Jim's upcoming online course, YS 210 | The Dattātreyayogaśāstra. 

 
Speaker Bio

Dr. James Mallinson is Reader in Indology and Yoga Studies at SOAS University of London. His research focuses on the history and current traditional practice of yoga and his primary methods are philology, ethnography and art history. Dr. Mallinson led the Haṭha Yoga Project (2015–2021), a six-person research project on the history of physical yoga funded by the European Research Council. The project’s core outputs will be ten critical editions of Sanskrit texts on physical yoga and four monographs on its history and current practice. Together with Professor Jürgen Hanneder (University of Marburg), Dr. Mallinson is now leading the Light on Hatha Yoga Project (2021–2024) which will produce a critical edition of the Haṭhapradīpikā.

Among Dr. Mallinson’s publications are The Khecarīvidyā of Ādinātha, a Critical Edition and Annotated Translation of an Early Text on Haṭhayoga (Routledge, 2007), a revision of his doctoral thesis, which was supervised by Professor Alexis Sanderson at the University of Oxford, where Dr. Mallinson also read Sanskrit as an undergraduate, Roots of Yoga (Penguin Classics, 2017, co-authored with Mark Singleton) and The Amṛtasiddhi and Amṛtasiddhimūla: The Earliest Texts of the Haṭhayoga Tradition (École française d’Extreme-orient, Pondicherry, 2021). Dr. Mallinson has spent more than ten years living in India with traditional ascetics and practitioners of yoga, and at the 2013 Kumbh Mela was awarded the title of Mahant by the Rāmānandī Saṃpradāya.

Links

• YS 210 | The Dattātreyayogaśāstra
• https://soas.academia.edu/JamesMallinson

In this episode, we speak with return guest Philip Deslippe about his research on the history of Early American Yoga. Philip shares with us his archive of knowledge and stories from the "Swami Circuit"—the network of forgotten South Asian yoga teachers who travelled and taught various forms of yoga throughout the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. We discuss the nature of yoga and yoga teachers during this time, the demographics and geography of yoga, issues of authenticity and professionalization, how racism and and immigration policies impacted yoga, and why yoga was commonly taught at hotels during this period. We conclude with a preview of his upcoming revised online course, YS 102 | Modern Yoga in the West. 

Speaker Bio

Philip Deslippe is a historian of American religion with a background in American Studies and literature. He is currently a doctoral candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara where he is writing a dissertation on the early history of yoga in the United States from the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century. Philip has published articles on the history of modern yoga in academic journals such as the Journal of Yoga Studies, Amerasia, and Sikh Formations, and in popular venues including Yoga Journal, Air and Space Smithsonian, and the Indian news site Scroll.

Links

• YS 102 | Modern Yoga in the West
• https://ucsb.academia.edu/PhilipDeslippe
• "The Swami Circuit: Mapping the Terrain of Early American Yoga" (2018)

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Arti Dhand about her research, teaching, and podcasting on India's great epic, the Mahābhārata. We discuss her background and training in Religious Studies, comparing the Mahābhārata with Game of Thrones, the nature of an "epic," the textual history of the Mahābhārata, its major themes and narrative, gender and the role of women, the nature and teachings of yoga, the Mahābhārata's powerful influence over Indian and South Asian culture. We conclude with a preview of her upcoming online course, YS 209 | The Mahābhārata.  

Speaker Bio

Arti Dhand is an Associate Professor of South Asian Religions at the University of Toronto. Her specializations include the great Sanskrit epics, the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata. Her 2009 book Woman as Fire, Woman as Sage explored ideologies of sexuality in the Mahābhārata. Her current work is The Twin Epics, a comparative analysis of the architecture of thought in the Sanskrit epics. She is also the host of the The Mahabharata Podcast, in which she aims to recount the text in its entirety!

Links 

• https://www.themahabharatapodcast.com
• Woman as Fire, Woman as Sage :   Sexual Ideology in the Mahabharata
  (2009) 
• YS 209 | The Mahābhārata

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Dagmar Wujastyk about her journey to Indology and the study of Sanskrit and Āyurveda, and her early travels in India studying and observing Āyurvedic physicians and centers. We discuss the research and findings from her recent ERC project Ayuryog, some of the alchemical mysteries of mercury and gold, and conclude with a preview her upcoming course, YS 122 | Ayurveda, Yoga, and Alchemy.

Speaker Bio

Dagmar Wujastyk is an Associate Professor in the department of History and Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Alberta. She is an Indologist specialized in the history and literature of classical Indian medicine (Ayurveda), iatrochemistry (Rasaśāstra), and yoga and South Asian history. Her publications include Modern and Global Ayurveda - Pluralism and Paradigms (SUNY Press) and Well-mannered medicine: Medical Ethics and Etiquette in the Sanskrit Medical Classics (OUP NY). She was the principal investigator of the ERC project Ayuryog, Entangled Histories of Yoga, Ayurveda and Alchemy in South Asia (2015-2020).

Links 

• https://ualberta.academia.edu/DagmarWujastyk 
• http://www.ayuryog.org
• YS 122 | Ayurveda, Yoga, and Alchemy

In this episode, we welcome back Dr. Stuart Ray Sarbacker for a wide-ranging discussing about his upcoming course, YS 121 | 8 Limbs of Yoga: History, Theory, and Practice of Aṣṭāṅgayoga. We discuss the nature of Patañjali's "classical" model, some of its possible sources and influences, comparisons with Buddhist meditation and paths, Aṣṭāṅga beyond Patañjali including Purāṇic and other medieval sources, as well as modern innovations, adaptations, and continuities with ancient modes of practice. 

Speaker Bio

Stuart Ray Sarbacker is a scholar and seasoned practitioner of yoga and the author of three books, Tracing the Path of Yoga: The History and Philosophy of Indian Mind-Body Discipline (2021), The Eight Limbs of Yoga: A Handbook of Living Yoga Philosophy (with Kevin Kimple, 2015), and Samādhi: The Numinous and Cessative in Indo-Tibetan Yoga (2005). He has published a wide range of articles and essays on classical and contemporary yoga philosophy and practice. He is particularly interested in the ways in which historical and philosophical traditions of yoga can be placed in comparison and conversation with modern and contemporary practice.

He received his Ph.D. in Religious Studies with a specialization in the Languages and Cultures of Asia from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has performed research and fieldwork in India, Nepal, and Japan. He is an enthusiastic and innovative teacher, incorporating contemplative practices and social and environmental justice service-learning into his courses at Oregon State, where he contributes to certificate and teacher trainings in yoga as well as to the philosophy and religion curriculum.

Links 

• https://oregonstate.academia.edu/StuartSarbacker 
• YS 121 | 8 Limbs of Yoga: History, Theory, and Practice of Aṣṭāṅgayoga

In this episode we welcome back to the Podcast, Sravana Borkataky-Varma. We catch up on her latest book projects, research, and teaching at Harvard Divinity School. We discuss the categories of so-called Classical Tantra vs. Neo Tantra, and some of the nuances of the scholar-practitioner. We discuss gender and transgender, particularly within the hijrā communities, and the recently formed Kinnar Akhara. We then preview the upcoming course, YS 120 | Women and Gender in Hindu Tantra—detailing its four modules: Sacred Transgender Identities, Temple Wives, Guru Mothers, and Superwomen Gurus.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Sravana Borkataky-Varma is a historian, educator, and social entrepreneur. As a historian, she studies Indian religions focusing on esoteric rituals and gender, particularly in Hinduism (Goddess Tantra). As an educator, she is currently a lecturer at Harvard Divinity School. She is on leave from her parent organization, the University of Houston where she is the Instructional Assistant Professor. In the past she has taught at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, the University of Montana, Rice University, and Dalian Neusoft University, China.

There are five forthcoming book projects that Sravana is simultaneously working on: A monograph titled Divinized Divas: Superwomen, Wives, Hijṛās in Hindu Śākta Tantra, a co-written book titled The Serpent's Tale: Kuṇḍalinī and the History of an Experience, two co-edited volumes titled Living Folk Religions and Religious Responses to the Pandemic & Crises: Isolation, Survival, and #Covidchaos, and a co-edited special issue journal Digital Tantra. Her published articles can be found on sravana.me

As a social entrepreneur, she is the co-founder of a nonprofit, Lumen Tree Portal. Sravana invests in building communities with individuals from various faith backgrounds who believe in kindness, compassion, and fulfillment. 

Links

• YS 120 | Women and Gender in Hindu Tantra 

In this episode we sit down with Rajiv Ranjan to discuss all things Hindi. We learn about Rajiv's remarkable journey from growing up in rural north-east India to MSU university professor, scholar, and author. We discuss the relationship between Hindi and Urdu, as well as Sanskrit and Hindi. We hear about the making of his textbook, Basic Hindi I, and the reasons for making it free and open-access. Rajiv shares with us some of his favorites from the vast world of Hindi literature, and we get a preview of his upcoming series of online Hindi courses at Yogic Studies, HINDI 101 | Elementary Hindi I.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Rajiv Ranjan is a professor of Hindi and Urdu language at Michigan State University. He received his PhD in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) from the University of Iowa in 2016. He has been teaching Hindi and Urdu languages in the U.S. since 2010. In addition to his classroom-teaching experience, Rajiv has also taught online at MSU and at Kean University. He taught an immersion program for the South Asia Summer Language Institute (SASLI) at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and he has also taught in a study abroad context for the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) in India.

Rajiv has published an Open Educational Resource (OER) Hindi textbook Basic Hindi I. Rajiv’s primary area of research is generative approaches to SLA. His research interests also include socio-cultural approaches to SLA, second language writing and speaking, language pedagogy, and morpho-syntax.

Links

• HINDI 101 | Elementary Hindi I 
• Basic Hindi I 

In this episode we sit down with return guest Raj Balkaran to catch up and dive deep into the world of the Devīmāhātmya. Raj shares with us about the publication of his latest book, The Stories Behind the Poses (2022) and how it grew out of the teaching of his previous YS course. We discuss the academic field of Purāṇa study, and how the Devīmāhātmya fits within this larger world of Sanskrit narrative and religious texts. We then discuss the "Greatness of the Goddess," Śākta traditions, the nature of Devī, her theology and nature, and the power of story and narrative to codify and express her divinity. We end with a preview of Raj's upcoming course, YS 208 | Devīmāhātmya: Greatness of the Goddess. 

Speaker Bio

Dr. Raj Balkaran is a scholar of Indian mythology and a spiritual adept. A seasoned online educator, he is also the Founder of the online School of Indian Wisdom where he creates and delivers original online courses integrating scholarship, storytelling and spirituality to apply Indian wisdom teachings to modern life. Beyond teaching and research, Dr. Raj runs a thriving life coaching practice, delivers public talks, and hosts the Indian Religions podcast. 

Links

• YS 208 | Devīmāhātmya: Greatness of the Goddess
• The Stories Behind the Poses
• https://rajbalkaran.com

In this episode we sit down with Varun Khanna to discuss his upcoming course, YS 207 | The Upaniṣads. We first learn about his background as a pre-med student stumbling into Sanskrit when he tried to study Ayurveda in India, learning Sanskrit as a spoken language, and going on to earn his PhD at Cambridge University. We discuss the mysterious nature of the Upaniṣads, their relation to the earlier Vedic tradition and to later Indian philosophy, the schools of Vedānta, the meaning of key terms like Ātman and Brahman, and what studying the Upaniṣads offers us today in 2022.  

Speaker Bio

Dr. Varun Khanna earned both his master’s degree in Sanskrit and his PhD in Hinduism (studying consciousness in the Upaniṣads) at the University of Cambridge. He has been teaching spoken Sanskrit, Pāṇinian Sanskrit grammar, and topics in Indian philosophy since 2008, and is now a Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics teaching Sanskrit at Swarthmore College.

Varun’s research interests lie in the intersection of Sanskrit grammar, Vedānta philosophy, and social justice. His latest work centers on the perspectives that ancient Sanskrit literature offers for thinking about equality, freedom, and justice. He is also working on a new Sanskrit primer that incorporates Pāṇinian grammar in order to help students learn the exact boundaries of the rules of Sanskrit.

Links

• YS 207 | The Upaniṣads

In this episode we sit down with Keith Cantú for a wide ranging conversation on the language and categories of esotericism, the occult, and yoga. We learn about Keith's background, travels, and language training as well as unique experience learning from the Bauls of Bengal.  Listeners/viewers are treated to a live rendition of a Baul song. Keith shares with us his fascinating dissertation research on Sri Sabhapati Swami, lesser-known Tamil yogi who had a substantial impact on nineteenth- and twentieth-century South Asian and Western occult movements. We close out by previewing Keith's upcoming online course, YS 119 | Yoga and Esotericism.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Keith Edward Cantú is an Assistant Professor (postdoctoral research associate) at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, where his current research focuses on the political patronage of yogic “meditation halls” (maṭālayams) and “tumuli” (jīva-camātis) in Tamil Nadu. He recently completed his doctoral dissertation at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the focus of which was the Tamil, pan-Indian, and international reception of the early modern yogi Sabhapati Swami’s system of Śivarājayoga. 

In addition to his dissertation, which is soon set to be published with an academic press, Keith was the co-editor with Saymon Zakaria of City of Mirrors: Songs of Lālan Sā̃i (Oxford University Press, South Asia Research series, 2017), a volume of nineteenth-century Bengali Bāul Fakiri songs translated by Carol Salomon. He also has published several articles and chapters relating to topics as varied as yoga and cultural authenticity, theosophical orientalism and yoga, the ethnography of Tantra, and Islamic esotericism, and has translated a Sanskrit chapter of the Rasāyanakhaṇḍa on the alchemical wonders of Śrīśailam (forthcoming via the Ayuryog project). When not researching he is also working with the Bengali community at a non-profit clinic as a health education and outreach specialist.

Links

• YS 119 | Yoga and Esotericism 
• https://ucsb.academia.edu/KeithCantu 
• "Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels": Western Esotericism, Yoga, and the Discourse of Authenticity"