35. Arti Dhand | The Great Epic, Mahābhārata

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