Scholarship
Sanskrit narrative literature: the Goddess, the Epics, and the structure of Indian thought.
I am a scholar of Sanskrit narrative literature — Indian mythology, in short. My research centres on the myths of the Indian Great Goddess and on the Sanskrit Epics, and on what I call the dharmic double helix: the interplay between world-affirmation and world-renunciation that runs through the whole of Indic thought. I read Sanskrit texts synchronically, for their structure — frame narratives, ring composition, mirrored episodes — and argue that these structures carry the texts' meaning as surely as their content does. A second strand of my work, with A. Walter Dorn and the International Committee of the Red Cross, examines the ethics of war and peace in Hindu sacred texts and their convergence with international humanitarian law.
Ph.D. in Religion, University of Calgary (2015), with Sanskrit training at the American Institute of Indian Studies, Pune. I am Senior Manager of the Spiritual Care and Learning Centre at McMaster University, a tutor for the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, convener of the Purāṇa Section of the World Sanskrit Conference, and a member of the Consultative Committee of the International Association of Sanskrit Studies. My current project is a new translation of the Devī Māhātmya.
Books
The Goddess and the Sun in Indian Myth: Power, Preservation and Mirrored Māhātmyas in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa. London: Routledge, 2020. Routledge
The Goddess and the King in Indian Myth: Ring Composition, Royal Power and the Dharmic Double Helix. London: Routledge, 2019. Routledge
Edited Volumes
Balkaran, Raj, and McComas Taylor, eds. Visions and Revisions in Sanskrit Narrative: Studies in the Indian Epics and Purāṇas. Foreword by Wendy Doniger. Canberra: ANU Press, 2023. Open access
Balkaran, Raj, and McComas Taylor, eds. Purāṇic Studies: Proceedings of the Purāṇa Section of the 17th World Sanskrit Conference (Vancouver, 2018). Vancouver: University of British Columbia, 2019.
Balkaran, Raj, and McComas Taylor, eds. Purāṇa Studies: Select Papers from the 16th World Sanskrit Conference (Bangkok, 2015). Delhi: DK Publishers, 2018.
Journal Articles
2024. Balkaran, Raj, and Noor van Brussel. "Mother of Compassion, Mother of Wrath: Reflections of the Hindu Goddess in Mirrored Māhātmyas." International Journal of Hindu Studies 28: 341–359.
2024. Balkaran, Raj, and A. Walter Dorn. "Exploring Hindu Ethics of Warfare: The Purāṇas." International Review of the Red Cross 106(926): 542–564. Open access
2022. Balkaran, Raj, and A. Walter Dorn. "Charting Hinduism's Rules of Armed Conflict: Indian Sacred Texts and International Humanitarian Law." International Review of the Red Cross, First View: 1–36.
2022. "Patronymic Patterns in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa: The Significance of Manu-Making for the Greatness of the Goddess." International Journal of Hindu Studies 27(3).
2022. "The Bhagavad Gītā and Beyond: Synchronic Strategy for Sanskrit Narrative Literature." Religions of South Asia 15(2): 120–141. Equinox
2022. "Devī Māhātmya." In Oxford Bibliographies in Hinduism, edited by Tracy Coleman. New York: Oxford University Press. OUP
2021. "Synchronic Strategy: Rules of Engagement for Sanskrit Narrative Literature." Journal of Dharma Studies 4(2): 199–221. Springer
2020. "Avian Artistry: Decoding the Intertextuality between Mahābhārata and Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa." International Journal of Hindu Studies 24(4): 199–237.
2019. "Visions and Revisions of the Hindu Goddess: Sound, Structure and Artful Ambivalence in the Devī Māhātmya." Religions 10(5): 322. Open access
2018. "The Sarus' Sorrow: Voicing Nonviolence in the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa." Journal of Vaishnava Studies 26(2): 143–161.
2017. "The Essence of Avatāra: Probing Preservation in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa." Journal of Vaishnava Studies 26(1): 25–36.
2012. Balkaran, Raj, and A. Walter Dorn. "Violence in the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa: Just War Criteria Prefigured in an Ancient Indian Epic." Journal of the American Academy of Religion 80(3): 659–690.
2010. "Justifications for War and Peace in Hinduism." In The Justifications for War and Peace in World Religions, edited by A. Walter Dorn, 40–54. Toronto: Defence Research and Development Canada.
Book Chapters
2023. "Mother of Shadow, Mother of Light: Battling Demons in Indian Myth." In Jung's Shadow Concept: The Hidden Light and Darkness in Ourselves, edited by Christopher Perry and Rupert Tower. Routledge. Routledge
2021. "Arjuna and Acyuta: The Import of Epithets in the Bhagavad Gītā." In The Bhagavad Gītā: A Critical Introduction, edited by Ithamar Theodor. Routledge.
2019. "The Story of Saṃjñā, Mother of Manu." In The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Indian Philosophy and Gender, edited by Veena R. Howard, 267–296. Bloomsbury. Bloomsbury
2018. "The Safeguard of Sovereignty." In Purāṇa Studies, 67–95. Delhi: DK Publishers.
2018. "The Splendour of the Sun." In Nine Nights of the Goddess: The Navarātri Festival in South Asia, edited by Hillary Rodrigues, Moumita Sen and Caleb Simmons, 23–38. SUNY Press. SUNY
Research Projects
2021–2024. Research Collaborator, International Committee of the Red Cross: "Exploring Convergences Between Hinduism and International Humanitarian Law."
2014–2016. Research Collaborator, University of Oslo: "Navarātri, Navarātra and Durgāpūjā in South Asia and Beyond."
2012. Research Fellow, American Institute of Indian Studies and Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune: Goddess festival ritual, kathā culture, and Sanskrit manuscripts.
2010. Research Fellow, International School of Jain Studies: asceticism and the ethics of violence.
2007–2010. Research Assistant, Royal Military College of Canada: "Justifications for War and Peace in World Religions."
Grants and Awards
SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship, $105,000 (2012–2015). Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship, $10,000 (2011). SSHRC Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement, $6,000 (2012). International School for Jain Studies Research Scholarship, $5,000 (2009). Further conference and research grants from the University of Oslo, the University of Calgary and the American Academy of Religion.
Service to the Profession
Consultative Committee, International Association of Sanskrit Studies (2025–). Purāṇa Section Convener, World Sanskrit Conference (2018–). Course Development Board, Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies (2020–21). Ambassador, American Academy of Religion (2016–20). Peer reviewer for the International Journal of Hindu Studies, Journal of Dharma Studies, Religions, Religious Studies, Journal of Hindu Studies, Cogent Arts & Humanities, Cogent Social Sciences, Oxford University Press, Routledge, Bloomsbury, Springer, and Taylor & Francis. Convener of symposia and panels for the World Sanskrit Conference, the American Academy of Religion, the Annual Conference on South Asia, the Parliament of the World's Religions, and the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.
Conference presentations (more than thirty since 2008), grants, and the complete service record are in my CV. For collaboration, peer review, or speaking invitations, get in touch.
