This study presents a close philological and interpretive analysis of the Saundarya Lahari, a canonical Sanskrit hymn attributed to Ādi Śaṅkarācārya and central to the Śākta tradition. Comprising 100 ślokas, the text uniquely fuses devotional poetry with metaphysical doctrine, portraying Goddess Lalitā Tripurasundarī as the embodiment of supreme consciousness and cosmic function. The feminine form... more

This paper critically examines several short verse narratives from the late twelfth and early fifteenth centuries in which the authors offered profound insights into the human quest for spirituality, identity, and meaning, and which continue to talk to us until today because they shed so much light on this fundamental quest in human life in... more

This interdisciplinary reading of Book 22 of Homer’s Odyssey combines classical studies, ethics, narratology, and psychoanalytic theory to show a shift from epic heroism to a post-epic “counter-heroism,” positioning the text as a precursor to literary proto-realism. This shift highlights a chronotope of excessive violence and “negative catharsis” that proves incompatible with the established heroic... more