The Department of Religious Studies will welcome Dr. Steven M. Vose on March 6 at 6:30 p.m. as part of the Bhagwan Padma Prabhu Endowment. The talk, titled “Just as When Hindus Ruled: The Sultans of Delhi in Jain History and Memory,” will highlight two persistent and problematic ways of writing the history of India: one, that Jains disengaged from political life with the advent of “Muslim rule” in India, and two, that Muslim rulers were hostile to Indian religious communities and destructive of Indian culture.
During the lecture, Vose, who is an assistant professor in the Department of History and holder of the Bhagwan Suparshvanatha Professorship in Jain Studies at the University of Colorado-Denver, will draw from his forthcoming book, “Reimagining Jainism in Islamic India.”
Dr. Steven M. Vose, assistant professor in the Department of History and holder of
the Bhagwan Suparshvanatha Professorship in Jain Studies at the University of Colorado-Denver.
(Photo courtesy of Dr. Vose)
Dr. Justin Henry, Bhagwan Padma Prabhu Endowed assistant professor in the USF Department
of Religious Studies. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Henry)
“Dr. Vose is a leading expert on premodern Jain literature in north India, with a
much-awaited book on Jain impressions of life under the Delhi Sultanate due out next
month,” Dr. Justin Henry, Bhagwan Padma Prabhu Endowed Assistant Professor, said. “His lecture on religious
pluralism in premodern India offers reflections on the highest ideals of Jain Dharma:
the imperative of non-violent social cooperation (ahimsa) and the necessity of considering all points of view when evaluating any proposition
or issue (anekantvada).”
“We invited Dr. Vose to give the inaugural lecture of the Bhagwan Padma Prabhu Endowment
at USF in recognition of the convergence between Jain philosophy and the foundational
principles of the academic study of religion, which together agree on the necessity
of objective dialogue concerning even the most difficult and contentious of issues,
in the shared belief that such discussions are the best way to promote understanding
and social harmony,” he continued.
Henry acknowledges there are various misconceptions about Jainism and the practices
the Jain community engages in, and notes that it is important to have more in-depth
conversations about religion, in general, to expand our understanding.
“When people learn about Jainism there is a tendency to focus on the most sensational aspects of renunciation, such as the fact that monks belonging to the Digambar (‘Sky-clad’) sect refuse even to wear clothes, counting these as ‘possessions.’ While Jains are themselves proud that even lay men and women routinely engage in rituals of fasting, abstention from sense pleasures, and the relinquishing of wealth through acts of charity, it is important to remember that most Jains (in India and abroad) live for the most part ordinary lives, with families, jobs, and normal roles in their local communities,” Henry explained.
“When we’re kids our parents tell us that there are two topics to steer clear of during polite dinner conversation: religion and politics. This is obviously because these can be deeply personal issues about which people are often very passionate, and if you want to ensure that everyone comes away from the table with a positive experience it’s best to avoid too much agitation.”
“Today, when it’s becoming increasingly easier to retreat into media silos that only cater to a single point of view, spaces for true dialogue and critical discussion of serious issues continue to shrink,” he said. “Furthermore, when it comes to both religion and politics, people seem to naturally gravitate toward the most sensational and the most entertaining perspectives out there—just look at the percentage of Americans who got their knowledge of the history of Christianity from The Da Vinci Code! My sense is that—amid a media landscape that thrives on sound bites, ‘pawnage’, and controversy—the very idea that there are spaces where people work very hard to answer very specific questions about religion in a dispassionate and intellectually rigorous way seems strange or even impossible to some.”
Henry reiterates though, that exposure to conversations about religion, especially with those who are experts in their field, can provide a refreshed perspective.
“The truth is that most people don’t know what the academic study of religion is and even may find the premise of our discipline confusing. ‘You study such and such a religion even though you’re not a practitioner? Why would anyone want to do that?!’ In my experience though, once people get some exposure to what we do in religious studies, either in the college classroom or at an event like this, they see the passion that scholars have for these issues and the excitement they often convey.”
“Discussions in religious studies—even ones about times, places and people that seem very far away from us today—can open up entirely new ways of thinking about the world and can give us new perspectives on how to go about asking and answering questions and approaching conversations with others who may be different from us.”
Henry hopes attendees will walk away from the event with some basic knowledge of the Jain religion, some background on Muslim rule in India during the Delhi Sultanate, and a sense of wonder regarding the intricacies of social life historically in one of the most culturally diverse and culturally dynamic places in the world.
“The history of India and the cultural landscape of South Asia are fascinating and vast. No one can learn everything there is to know in a single lifetime, let alone a single course or single lecture,” he said. “Dr. Vose’s topic will give us a sense of one genre of Jain literature from one period in time produced by a specific group of authors for a specific audience, offering a window into the synergies, conflicts, and compromises in which a segment of elite Indian society found themselves situated.”
To learn more or to register to attend, please visit the Jain Community Lecture event webpage. This event is free and open to the public.