Zigzagging across centuries and geography, these stories from the Indian classics invite the reader to engage with the region in its multilingual plenitude. Unlike their Greek or Latin counterparts, South Asian classics are closely connected to a living tradition, one which spans varied media and mutates with shifts in regional and sectarian context. These stories are constantly being reframed by cultural agents into outcomes far exceeding the boundaries of the texts and continually caught up in a lively interplay with other forms of cultural expression. 

From the 6th century, we are introduced to the songs of the earliest women to enter the Buddhist community of renunciates as nuns as they celebrate the transition from a worldly life. From the 13th century, the story of Harishchandra, a legendary king who refuses to abandon his duty to truth despite suffering horrific consequences. A quaint concept for today’s times. The 15th century brings us the hymns of Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh religion with its dazzling plurality. And from the 18th century, the poetry of the mystic Bullhe Shah, the most majestic of all the Sufi’s, with the power of love to harmonize all beings into a cosmic unity. Finally, from the 19th century, the poetry of Mir Taqi Mir, with its testimony to love, doubt, torment and the fear of mortality. 

Ten Indian Classics, published by Harvard University Press, is an invitation to readers worldwide to immerse themselves in a literary tradition that continues to shape modern South Asian culture and aesthetics in all its stunning diversity.

About the Speaker

Dr. Sharmila Sen received her A.B. from Harvard and her Ph.D. from Yale in English literature. As an assistant professor at Harvard, she taught courses on literatures from Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean for seven years. Currently, she is the editorial director at Harvard University Press. Sharmila has lived and worked in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. She has lectured around the world on postcolonial literature and culture and published essays on racism and immigration. Dr. Sen resides in Cambridge, Mass., with her architect husband and their three children