Exploring The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics
Authors in Conversation: The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics Violence, Cruelty, and the Question of the Animal In this session of Authors in Conversation, Prof. Ruth Vanita joins us to discuss her book The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics: Debates on Gender, Varna, and Species (Oxford University Press, 2022), with the conversation centred specifically on violence, cruelty, and the place of animals within the epic imagination of dharma. While the book more broadly examines how the Mahabharata and Ramayana stage debates over discrimination on grounds of gender, varna, age, disability, and species, this session turns to a thread often left at the margins of epic scholarship: how the Sanskrit epics represent cruelty toward animals, and what this suggests about the boundaries the epics draw, and unsettle, around who or what deserves compassion and justice. The conversation will be moderated by Nilambar Chakrabarti, followed by an open Q&A with the audience. Date & Time: Sunday, October 11, 2026, 8:00 PM IST Mode: Online (Microsoft Teams), free and open to all
