Research and Teaching Interests:
Deven M. Patel is a scholar of Sanskrit language and literature, with a focus on Indian traditions of hermeneutics, aesthetics, and Sanskrit belles-lettres. He is currently preparing a literary history of the Naisadhiyacarita, the most recent of the “five great poems” of Sanskrit literature, exploring issues of canonicity, reception, translation, and the formation of literary communities in South Asia. He teaches Sanskrit at the beginning and advanced levels and courses on the Indian Epics, Indian philosophy, and the history of pre-modern South Asia. His research integrates and utilizes materials from several South Asian languages including Sanskrit, Hindi and Gujarati.
Courses for this term and next term:
Spring 2010:
SAST 004 – India’s Literatures: Love, War, Wisdom, and Humor
SAST 460 – Introduction to Sanskrit
Fall 09:
SAST 150 - Indian Philosophy
SAST 460 – Introduction to Sanskrit
Spring 09:
SAST 004 – India’s Literatures: Love, War, Wisdom, and Humor
SAST 460 – Introduction to Sanskrit
Fall 08:
SAST 460 – Introduction to Sanskrit
SAST 480 – Readings in Sanskrit Literature: Sanskrit Epic
Spring 08:
SAST 460 – Introduction to Sanskrit
SAST 480 – Readings in Sanskrit Literature: Sanskrit Drama
Fall 07:
SAST 460 – Introduction to Sanskrit
SAST 480 – Readings in Sanskrit Literature: Sanskrit Court Poetry
Education:
University of California at Berkeley
Ph.D. in South and Southeast Asian Studies
M.A. in South and Southeast Asian Studies
Columbia University, New York, NY
B.A. magna cum laude
English and Comparative Literature / Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures
Select Publications:
• Current Book Project: A Classic in the Making: The Naisadhiyacarita and the Literary Cultures of Late Medieval India
• Articles in Progress: “Source, Exegesis, and Translation: Sanskrit Commentary and Telugu Trans-creation of Naisadhiya 19.60”
• [Forthcoming in Proceedings from the 13th World Sanskrit Conference, Edinburgh]: “From Commentary toAllegory: The Receptive Histories of the Naisadhiyacarita as Mystical Text.”
• Journal of Hindu Studies (April 2007): Book Review of An Introduction to Madhva Vedanta.
• Encyclopedia of Hinduism (Routledge Press, 2007): Contribution of several entries.
• Samatha Magazine: "The Brahmavihara Tradition of Meditation in Patanjali's Yogasutra and Buddhaghosa’s Visuddhimagga." Published in Samatha magazine, a tri-annual Buddhist publication ( Wales, 2004)
• Journal of Asian Studies (August 2003): Book Review of Mind, Language, and World, Volume 1 of Philosophy, Culture, and Religion: The Collected Essays of Bimal Krishna Matilal.
Selected Fellowships:
• Seminar Fellow (Sanskrit Poetry at the Zenith), Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Institute for Advanced Studies, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel, July 2008.
• Seminar Fellow (Regional Sanskrit Literatures), Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Institute for Advanced Studies, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel, July 2005.
• Fulbright Scholar (Fulbright-Hays DDRA grant for dissertation research), 2003-2004.
Professional Activities:
Lecture Series, Panels, Symposia:
• “A Classic in the Making: The Naisadhiyacarita and the Literary Cultures of Late Medieval India.” Delivered at the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. Delivered July 2008.
• “Source, Exegesis, and Translation: Sanskrit Commentary and Telugu Trans-creation of Naisadhiya 19.60.” Delivered at the American Oriental Society, March 2008.
• “Golden Swans and Bejeweled Palaces: Contemporary Tantric Readings of Sanskrit Court Poetry.” Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, November 2007.
• “Intellectual Contexts of Commentary Writing in South Asia.” Delivered at the Columbia University South Asia Seminar Series, November 2007 and also at the 36th Annual MAR/AAS Conference, University of Maryland, November 2007.
• “Re-Reading the Legacy of One of South Asia’s Greatest Poems: On the Language, Interpretation, Translation, and Appreciation of Sriharsa’s Naisadhiyacarita.” 35th Annual Conference on South Asia at Madison, October 2006.
• “Monism, Mantra, and Poet-Mystics: Religious Readings of Courtly Epic Poetry in South Asia.” Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, November 2006.
• “From Commentary to Allegory: The Receptive Histories of the Naisadhiyacarita as Mystical Text.” Delivered at the 13th World Sanskrit Conference, Edinburgh, July 2006.
• "The Sahrdayananda of Krsnananda: Regional Sanskrit Poetry from Fifteenth-Century Orissa." Delivered at the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. Delivered July 2005.
Graduate Groups:
• South Asia Studies
• Religious Studies
