West can’t confine India into a single narrative, says UK-based Sanskrit scholar

Ahmedabad, Sep 19 (IANS) Professor James Hegarty, an academic in Sanskrit and Indian Religions, who currently heads the School of History, Archaeology, and Religion at Cardiff University said that the West cannot confine India into a single narrative.

Prof. Hegarty shared his journey with IANS and spoke on Indian religious studies, his academic interests, and how engaging with Sanskrit and Hinduism shaped his career and perspective on life.

When asked about the characters that intrigued him the most, Prof. Hegarty spoke with admiration about Krishna: "The description of Krishna as both man and god is fascinating. He is a layered character, and the stories about him in the Mahabharata are compelling. I started studying Sanskrit for academic purposes, but over the years it also influenced me personally."

His growing connection to Indian spirituality deepened during a recent visit to a BAPS Swaminarayan temple. "I was so much at peace there. I look at Sanskrit and Hinduism differently today than when I first started."

Prof. Hegarty studied M.A. in Religions and Theology at the University of Manchester. He later obtained his PhD in Sanskrit Literature, with his graduate studies supported by the British Academy and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

One of the figures that particularly captivated him was Gandhari, whom he described as a symbol of sacrifice and moral strength.

"Gandhari is a pivotal character in the Mahabharata. She voluntarily blindfolded herself in solidarity with her blind husband, Dhritarashtra, and despite her immense personal losses, she remained morally upright. Her clarity and adherence to dharma in the face of tragedy make her such a complex and revered figure."

On Western biases toward India, Professor Hegarty said, “The West often views India primarily as a spiritual nation, which is true to an extent, but India is far more complex than that. We cannot confine the country to a single category or perspective.”

Reflecting on the formative influences in his life, Prof. Hegarty said: "I had very liberal grandparents who encouraged me to engage with global arts and literature and to reach beyond European material, which made all the difference. I watched Peter Brook’s Mahabharata and then the one on Doordarshan with subtitles when I was only 14. I would read political comic books criticising the West, and I was deeply interested in exploring non-Western cultures."

Even as a teenager, Prof. Hegarty was drawn to Indian literature and its philosophical nuances, contrasting with the predominantly Western narratives he encountered in his education.

“I also went to a very Christian school. At that point, I remember thinking I was saving the world by leaving behind the grand stories of the West - stories that started with Greece and ended with England with not much in between! This early exposure to Indian mythology and religion sparked a lifelong academic interest, particularly in the stories of the Mahabharata,” he said.

Delving deeper into his academic interests, Prof. Hegarty shared: "I am fascinated by the history of religions in South Asia. I have written about the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, and Christian traditions in the region. In particular, I am interested in how South Asians use religious texts, especially religious stories, to negotiate their understanding of themselves and the world around them. This includes what we ordinarily associate with religion - ideas of god or gods or the nature of the good life - and other forms of knowledge, such as how the past is understood or how political life is conceptualised."

Prof. Hegarty's journey into the depths of the Mahabharata started during his second year of university when he studied the text with Professor Jacqueline Suthren Hirst.

"I remember reading the Draupadi disrobing sequence and discussing the stories within stories. We also explored how these narratives were represented across various media - books, television, etc. My parents, who have a global perspective and have always questioned the status quo, found it fascinating. It was a multidimensional exploration of storytelling, and that's when my professor convinced me there was no point in reading the Mahabharata in English. That’s how I was led to read it in Sanskrit."

In addition to his teaching and research, Prof. Hegarty is the author of several notable works, including Religion, Narrative and Public Imagination in South Asia (Routledge, 2012), and co-editor of the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Hindu Literature.

He has published extensively on Sanskrit, Pali, and vernacular sources, covering many South Asian religious traditions, from Hinduism and Buddhism to Jainism and Sikhism.

His research also touches on the history of Christianity in early South Asia and 19th-century missionary history.

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