In-person November Annual Meeting 2025 Program Book

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As poet Muriel Rukeyser famously said, “The universe is made of stories, not atoms." The B40 Janamsakhis (life stories) recount the life, travels, and philosophy of the first Sikh Guru, Nanak (1469-1539). They are written in the Gurmukhi script and are accompanied by fifty-seven exquisite paintings. Dated to 1733, this distinctive collection of Sikh iconotexts is housed at the British Library. Premodern though they may be, they raise critical matters of religion, gender, and sexuality that challenge our dangerously polarized society today. Three themes are particularly significant: 1) religious pluralism, 2) gender-parity, and 3) sexual fluidity. Scripted in the universal language of art, they hold multiple interpretive possibilities for audiences worldwide. What new horizons could these stories open up? How might they help us negotiate our complex selves in our complex times? Essentially, how do they tell the larger story connecting us humans across religions, races, and genders?

Sigiriya, the “Lion Rock” of Sri Lanka’s north-central dry zone, is an elaborate palace complex constructed in the 5th century, prized today as a UNESCO World Heritage site and regarded as an engineering marvel of the ancient world. The impressions of early visitors to the site—enshrined in poems dating to from the 7th to 13th centuries etched onto Sigiriya’s “mirror wall”—offer snapshots into the tradition of storytelling surrounding King Kashyapa and his palace, representing some of our earliest attested vernacular poetry in South Asia. This paper explores selections from the “Sigiri graffiti,” reflecting on the significance of poems autographed by men and women from all walks of social life, as well as on tensions at play in the dueling sentiments of Buddhist monks and nuns as they describe the opulence and sensuality of the location. Examining poems commenting on the character of the voluptuous damsels depicted in the adjacent Sigiriya murals, I contrast verses which draw from canonical Pali literary tropes treating beautiful women as fetters to religious realization with other verses embracing description of sensual form following the conventions of Sanskrit kāvya.

Sija Laiobi, also known as Bimbavati Devi, was a Manipuri princess who played a pivotal role in providing women freedom for expression in the devotional arts of Manipur from the 18th century. She is one of Manipur's most renowned Vaiṣṇava bhakti saints and innovators. Drawing from hagiographical accounts, court chronicles, and ethnographic data, I show how Sija Laiobi's rise to prominence was enabled by the prominent role of women in Manipur's indigenous religious traditions, and encouragement of her father, King Bhāgyacandra, and her re-enactment of the devotional theology and narratives of the Vaiṣṇava sacred text, the Bhāgavata Purāṇa. In particular, her mirroring of the devotional position and sentiments of the goddess Rādhā cemented her status as a devotee-exemplar in Manipuri folklore. Her legacy endured and influenced Manipur's prominent bhakti performances such as pilgrimage, worship of mūrti (icons in the temple), and the prominence of women in dance dramas like rāslīlā and saṅkīrtana (devotional singing). 

This paper examines the intersection of emotions and ethics in Surasundarīno Rās, a Jain narrative composed by the mendicant-scholar Paṇḍit Vīrvijayajī (1773–1852) during the late modern period. By analyzing the life story of Surasundarī, revered as Mahāsatī (a great virtuous woman), alongside the actions of various male characters in the text, this paper explores how distinct emotional experiences articulates Jain ethical thought and their moral consequences. Central to my paper is the analysis of how Surasundarī’s emotions lead her to uphold Jain virtues, particularly in safeguarding women’s dignity and chastity, positioning her as a moral exemplar. In contrast, the male characters, driven by passions, deviate from ethical ideals. By unpacking the narrative layers and ethical underpinnings of Surasundarīno Rās, this paper highlights the gendered dimensions of emotions in Jain moral discourse, illustrating how emotions function as catalysts for either ethical fortitude or moral downfall. Through this lens, the paper contributes to broader discussions on the role of emotions in ethical decision-making within Dharma traditions.