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.