
Weekly Assignments
Weeks 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Finals
Week
For Mon, June
4, 2:30-4:20pm, SAV 136
- Final Term Paper Due, by 2pm,
- Come to class prepared to deliver a max 10 minute long presentation
of your paper.
- Details: This final
paper, worth 30% of the course grade, is to deal with a
pre-approved specific philosophical issue across multiple texts
studied in this class this term, but with a special focus on the
Bhagavad Gītā & Mahābhārata sections covered in class. Ground
your writing in these source materials, drawing on
secondary literature (such as the papers assigned for reading)
as need be. Any comparative analysis should be between the
various texts studied in this class only.
The paper is due by the beginning of Finals week,
Week 11, Mon June 4, 2:00pm via Dropbox. 
Paper length: 12-13 pages (not including Bibliography).
You will also give a short presentation of your paper
to your classmates (just under 10 mins including Q&A), in
class during the time for the Final Exam, 2:30-4:20pm, in SAV
136. This presentation is worth 10% of the grade for the Final
Paper (and is
not optional).
You will be expected to stay for all the presentations.
Late assignments will continue to be accepted till 9pm but will
incur a 10% grade deduction.
Back to
Top, Asian
498A Home
Week
10
For Mon, May 21
For Wed, May 30
- Read, in Wynne, Alexander. 2009 Mahābhārata Book Twelve (volume 3): Peace: The Book
Of Liberation. NYU Press:
- The Dialogue between Manu and Brihaspati, pp. 249-92.
- The Dialogue between a Master and Pupil, pp. 325-82.
- OPTIONAL: The
Teachings of Pancha-shikha, pp. 383-409.
- Provide your responses to the readings WebQ,
by Wed, 10:30am.
Back to
Top, Asian
498A Home
Week
9
For Mon, May 21
- Left over: Review the
Hiltebeitel & Belvalkar
papers read for last Wed, for a discussion in class.
- Read, in Wynne, Alexander. 2009 Mahābhārata Book Twelve (volume 3): Peace: The Book
Of Liberation. NYU Press:
- Introduction, pp. xvii-xlviii.
- A Discourse on the Supreme Self, pp. 171-186.
- A Discourse on the Discipline of Meditation, pp. 187-194.
- Provide your responses to the readings WebQ,
by Mon, 10:30am.
- Be thinking about the topic for your Final Term Paper, 12-13
pages + Bibliography, dealing with a specific philosophical
issue across multiple texts studied in this class this term, but
with a special focus on the Bhagavad Gītā & Mahābhārata
sections covered in class, due at the beginning of Finals week,
Week 11, Mon June 4, 2pm. Topic
to be emailed to Prem for approval no later than Thursday, May
24, 5pm.
Back to
Top, Asian
498A Home
For Wed, May 23
- Read Brockington,
John. 2003. "Yoga
in the Mahābhārata." In Yoga: the Indian tradition, edited by Ian
Whicher and David Carpenter, 13-24. London; New York:
RoutledgeCurzon.
- Read, in Wynne, Alexander. 2009 Mahābhārata Book Twelve (volume 3): Peace: The Book
Of Liberation. NYU Press:
- A Discourse on the Practice of Quiet Recitation, pp.
195-248.
- In Praise of Restraint, pp. 411-16.
- The Dialogue between Indra and Prahrada, pp. 425-36.
- The Dialogue between Jaigishavya and Asita, pp. 523-30.
- Provide your responses to the readings WebQ,
by Wed, 11:30am.
- Be thinking about the topic for your Final Term Paper, 12-13
pages + Bibliography, dealing with a specific philosophical
issue across multiple texts studied in this class this term, but
with a special focus on the Bhagavad Gītā & Mahābhārata
sections covered in class, due at the beginning of Finals week,
Week 11, Mon June 4, 2pm. Topic
to be emailed to Prem for approval no later than Thursday, May
24, 5pm.
Back to
Top, Asian
498A Home
Week
8
For Mon, May 14
- Read the
Bhagavad Gītā, Seventh through Twelfth Teachings. Stoler-Miller,
pp. 73-112.
- Read
Vireswarananda, Swami. 1962. "The Bhagavad-gītā: Its
synthetic character." In The cultural heritage of India, ed. Haridas
Bhattacharyya, 180-194. Calcutta: Ramakrishna Mission, Institute
of Culture.
- Read Perrett, Roy W. 1998. "Facts, Values and the Bhagavadgītā." In Hindu ethics: a philosophical
study, 6-26. University of Hawai`i Press.
- Optional: If you are curious
about how Perrett handles the objection raised at the end of the
above reading, you may wish to read his following chapter:
Perrett, Roy W. 1998. "Saints
and the Supramoral." In Hindu
ethics: a philosophical study, 27-45. University of
Hawai`i Press.
- Read Matilal,
Bimal Krishna. 2002. "Caste,
Karmā and the Gītā." In Ethics
and epics : the collected essays of Bimal Krishna Matilal,
edited by Jonardon Ganeri, 136-144. New Delhi; New York: Oxford
University Press.
- Provide your
responses to the readings WebQ,
by Mon, 10:30am.
For Wed, May 16
- Read the
Bhagavad Gītā, Thirteenth through Eighteenth Teachings.
Stoler-Miller, pp. 113-147.
- Read Hiltebeitel, Alf. 2010. "Dharma in the Bhagavad Gītā."
In Dharma, 109-123.
Honolulu: University of Hawai`i Press.
- Read Belvalkar, Shripad Krishna. 1962. "The Bhagavad-gītā: A general
review of its history and character." In The cultural heritage of India,
ed. Haridas Bhattacharyya, 135-157. Calcutta: Ramakrishna
Mission, Institute of Culture.
- Provide your responses to the readings WebQ,
by Wed, 10:30am.
Back to
Top, Asian
498A Home
Week
7
For Mon, May 7
- Response Paper Topic Due: An
exploration of any significant aspect of the Yoga Sūtra, 5-6
pages. Topic to be emailed to
Prem for approval before start of class Wed, paper due on
Monday, May 7 by 1pm, Dropbox
- No readings.
In Class: Intro to Mahābhārata and Bhagavad Gītā
For Wed, May 9
- Read the
Bhagavad Gītā, Introduction, Translator's Note, First through
Sixth Teachings. Stoler-Miller, pp. 1-72.
- Read Dalmiya,
Vrinda. 2010. "On
the Battlefield of Dharma: The Moral Philosophy of the
Bhagavad Gītā." In Asian
texts, Asian contexts: encounters with Asian philosophies and
religions, edited by David Edward Jones and Ellen R.
Klein, 51-63. Albany: State University of New York Press.
- Read
Brockington, J. L. 1998. "The
Bhagavadgītā." In
The Sanskrit epics,
267-77. Leiden; Boston: Brill.
- Read
highlighted entries in Fitzgerald, James L. 2004. "Appendix
4: Certain Difficult Sanskrit Words and Their Usual
Translations; Glossary of Sanskrit Words." In The Mahabharata. Vol. 7, Book 11,
The book of women. Book 12, The book of peace, part one,
641-4, 781-90. Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press.
- Provide your responses to the readings WebQ,
by Wed, 10:30am.
Back to
Top, Asian
498A Home
Week 6
For Mon, Apr 30
- Read the Yoga
Sūtra, Ch 2.28-55 (Sādhana-pāda), Ch 3.1-15 (Vibhūti-pāda),
Feuerstein, pp. 153-156, 78-104.
- Read Whicher,
Ian. 2003. "The
integration of spirit (puruṣa)
and matter (prakṛti) in theYoga Sūtra."
In Yoga : the Indian tradition, edited by Ian Whicher and David
Carpenter, 51-69. London; New York: RoutledgeCurzon.
- Read
Pflueger, Lloyd W. 2003. "Dueling
with dualism revisioning the paradox of puruṣa and prakṛti."
In Yoga : the Indian tradition, edited by Ian Whicher and David
Carpenter, 70-82. London; New York: RoutledgeCurzon.
- Provide your
responses to the readings via WebQ,
by Mon, 10:30am.
For Wed, May 2
- Read the Yoga
Sūtra, Ch 3.16-55 (Vibhūti-pāda), Ch 4 (Kaivalya-pāda)
Feuerstein, pp. 156-160, 104-145.
- Read Joseph,
Simon J. 2012. "Jesus
in India? Transgressing Social and Religious Boundaries."
Journal of the American Academy of Religion no. 80 (1):161-199.
Primarily of interest to our purposes are pp. 173-177 pertaining
to Yoga Sūtra siddhis
correlated to Jesus' miracles
- Provide your responses to the readings WebQ,
by Wed, 10:30am.
- Response Paper Topic Due:
An exploration of any significant aspect of the Yoga Sūtra, 5-6
pages. Topic to be emailed to
Prem for approval before start of class Wed, paper due on
Monday, May 7 by 1pm, Dropbox
Week
5
For Mon, Apr
23
- Read the
Prefaces and Introduction to Yoga Sūtra, Feuerstein, pp.
vii-xiii, 1-17.
- Turn in your
mid-term response papers, by Mon, 1:30pm to the Dropbox. Late
submissions will continue to be accepted (with 10% reduction
in grade) through 9pm, after which the Dropbox will close.
For Wed, Apr 25
- Read the Yoga Sūtra, Ch 1 (Samādhī-pāda), Ch 2.1-27
(Sādhana-pāda), Feuerstein, pp. 150-153, 25-78.
- Read Kesarcodi-Watson, Ian. 1982. "Samādhi
in Patañjali's Yoga Sūtras." Philosophy East and
West no. 32 (1):77-90.
- Read Carpenter, David. 2003. "Practice
makes perfect: The role of practice (abhyāsa) in Pātañjala yoga." In
Yoga : the Indian tradition, edited by Ian Whicher and David
Carpenter, 25-50. London; New York: RoutledgeCurzon.
- Provide your responses to the readings WebQ,
by Wed, 10:30am.
Week
4
For Mon, Apr
16
- Read the
Kaṭha Upaniṣad, Chapters 4-6, Olivelle, pp. 240-247.
- Read Singh,
R. Raj. 1994. "Death-contemplation
and contemplative living: Socrates and the Katha Upanishad."
Asian Philosophy 4:9-16.
- Read the Muṇḍaka
Upaniṣad, Olivelle, pp. 266-277.
- (More of interest to
students of Sanskrit, rest can skim) Mehendale, M. A. 1961. "Satyam
Eva Jayate Nānṛtam." Journal of the American Oriental
Society 81:405-408.
- Provide your responses
to the readings via WebQ (link to be emailed), by Mon, 10:30am.
For Wed, Apr 18
- Read the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad, Olivelle, pp. 288-290.
- Read Williams, Kyle Lee. 2008. "Understanding
Oṃ (Aum), Turīya, and the Three States of Consciousness in the
Maṇḍūkya Upaniṣad." Psychological Perspectives 51:287-315.
- Read the Īśā Upaniṣad, Olivelle, pp. 248-251.
- Read Jones, Richard H. 1981. "Vidyā
and Avidyā in the Īśa Upaniṣad." Philosophy East and West
no. 31 (1):79-87.
- Provide your responses to the readings WebQ (link to be
emailed), by Wed, 10:30am.
- Response Paper Due: Topic TBA
Back to: Top, Asian 498A Home
Week
3
For Mon, Apr 9
For Wed, Apr 11
- Read the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, Chapter 6, Olivelle, pp. 148-156.
- Read the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, Chapters 1-3, Olivelle, pp. 231-240.
- Read Helfer, James S. 1968. "The
Initiatory Structure of the "Kaṭhopaniṣad"." History of
Religions 7:348-367.
- Provide your responses to the readings WebQ (link to be
emailed), by Wed, 10:30am.
Back to: Top,
Asian 498A Home
Week
2
For Mon, Apr 2
- Skim
Halbfass's essay, "Darśana,
Ānvīkṣikī, Philosophy." You may find this a bit too
technical, what I want to you to get out of your reading is a
sense for the historical European perspective on Indian
Philosophy, as well as what might be the Indian perspective on
the same. Optionally, for additional background, you may
also look at his essay, "On the Exclusion of India
from the History of Philosophy."
- Read Edgerton's "Selections from the
Atharva Veda," up to (and including) hymn 11.8, p. 110.
- Provide your
responses to the readings via WebQ,
by 10:30am.
Back to Top, Asian 498A Home
For Wed, Apr 4
- Complete the remainder of Edgerton's "Selections from the
Atharva Veda,"p. 111-132.
- Read the Introduction to Olivelle's Upaniṣads,
pp. xxiii-lx.
- Introduce
yourself to your classmates on GoPost
- Provide your responses to the readings via GoPost,
by 1pm Wed.
Week 1
For Wed, Mar 28
- Read
the J.D. Salinger short story Teddy. What
themes of Indian Philosophy do you notice in the story? You
will answer this question in four to six sentences
via WebQ (link to be emailed to you). The answers
must be submitted by 1pm, when the questionnaire will close.
- Read Edgerton's Selections from the Rig
Veda. Answer the questions on the selections in the
WebQ.
Back to: Top,
Asian 498A Home