Dear list members,

Our next seminar will be held on Friday 7th at 5.30 pm.  The presenter will be Professor Patrick Olivelle who will be presenting on the topic of 'Aśvaghoṣa and Manu: The Socio-Political Context of the Debate on Dharma.'

This month the seminar will be hosted at University of Sydney in the Woolley Lecture Room N497, Woolley Building.  Please refer to Map (Ref 12E) for details.

We do hope you can attend
AABS Executive

'Aśvaghoṣa and Manu: The Socio-Political Context of the Debate on Dharma.'
This paper deals with the debate on Dharma, which is the central focus of Aśvaghoṣa’s Buddhacarita, within the social and political context of the Kushana period in north India. I attempt to locate Aśvaghoṣa’s work within the ongoing debate between Buddhist and Brahmanical scholars with regard to the proper Dharma, righteous kingship, and the right functioning of society after the Aśokan reforms and the contemporary reality of strong empires partial to Buddhism. In this context, I bring in evidence from the Dharmaśāstra of Manu, a text more or less contemporaneous with the Buddhacarita presenting the Brahmanical side of the debate.

Patrick Olivelle is Professor of Sanskrit and Indian Religions, Department of Asian Studies, University of Texas at Austin http://asnic.utexas.edu/asnic/olivelle/index.htm).