MA in Hindu Studies (Sanātana)
Pilkhi, India
MA
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
STUDY FORMAT
Key Summary
About: Nalanda University’s MA in Hindu Studies explores Sanātana dharma through textual and oral traditions, ritual, philosophy, and spirituality. The School of Buddhist Studies, Philosophy & Comparative Religion situates Hindu thought alongside Vedic, Sāṅkhya, Yoga, Tantra, Jain and Buddhist traditions. You’ll study primary texts, inscriptions, iconography, art, archaeology of Asian sites, meditative practices, and manifestations, with emphasis on comparative methods.
Career Outcomes: Training develops skills in Indology, philology, linguistics, philosophy, archival studies, curation, and pedagogy. Graduates can work as archivists/librarians, art curators, cultural administrators, yoga instructors, commentators on Tantra and Yoga, researchers, or educators, pursue doctoral research and heritage conservation.
Over the millennium, the ancient seers, and saints living across the river Sindhu made the intuitive realization of the eternal spiritual truth (Satya). They visualized the core principles that govern the world causing material as well as spiritual progress of every living being known as dharma.
The core and eternal principles known as the Sanātana dharma, the mighty edifice of the Indian civilization are manifested and transmitted both orally and textually within a variety of knowledge traditions and practices. The study of such rich oral as well as textual traditions and practices is the kernel of Hindu study. Different streams of Hindu studies are like the branches of a single living tree of Indian culture, thought, ritual, and spirituality.
The course is uniquely designed to grasp the rich spiritual as well as intellectual system of the Hindus – a distinctively interdisciplinary system where the textual and the oral, the verbal and the visual, the scientific and the metaphysical, the transcendental and the functional are interlocked as parts of a whole. (Kapila Vatsyayana in Kalātattvakośa).
School of Buddhist Studies, Philosophy, and Comparative Religion
The School of Buddhist Studies, Philosophy & Comparative Religion offers an M.A. in Buddhist Studies, Philosophy & Comparative Religion (SBSPCR), and M.A. in Hindu Studies (Sanātana). The programme in Buddhist Studies emphasizes a deep and distinctive study of Buddhist ideas and values and historically contextualizes those ideas in relation to other proximal philosophical and religious traditions such as Vedic, Sankhya, Yoga, and Tantra. The programme in Hindu Studies is designed to enable the students to grasp the rich spiritual as well as intellectual system of the Hinduism – a distinctively interdisciplinary system where the textual and the oral, the verbal and the visual, the scientific and the metaphysical, the transcendental and the functional are interlocked as parts of a whole. Through an interdisciplinary/ comparative curriculum, the School examines the wider social-historical-cultural contexts of the development of Hindu and Buddhist traditions and the concurrent philosophical systems of Asia in general and of South and Southeast Asia in particular.
Semester – I (Foundational Courses): 16 credits
4 Core Courses: (3 Credits Each)
Core Courses:
- Introduction to the Vedas: Ṛgveda, Yajurveda, Sāmaveda, and Atharvaveda
- Introduction to Major & Minor Upaniṣads
- Introduction to Itihāsa: The Rāmāyaṇa & the Mahābhārata
- Introduction to Purāṇa texts: Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Agni Purāṇa & Bhāgavata-purāṇa
1 Elective Course (3 Credits Each) (Students may choose one of the following
- Sanskrit Language-1 (compulsory)
- Ethics in Hindu Philosophy: Puruṣārthas, Varṇas and Āśramas
- Tenets of Indian Philosophy: Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism
- SHS/SLLH/SMS/SEES (Courses from other schools in the cafeteria model)
- Critical Thinking (Extra Credit Course)
Seminar-I (1 Credit)
Semester – II (Bridge Courses): 16 credits
3 Core Courses: (3 Credits Each)
- Fundamentals of Hindu Philosophy: Six Darśanas Sāṁkhya, Yoga, Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Mīmāṁsā & Vedānta
- The Bhagavadgītā: the concept of Dharma, the path of Knowledge, devotion, and the idea of sthitaprajña
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa: Textual and Thematic Study
2 Elective Courses: (3 Credits Each) (Students may choose two of the following)
- Mastering Sanskrit Language (Level 2)
- The Yogasūtra of Patañjali: Theory and Practice
- Studying the Nāṭyaśāstra of Bharata: The Indian Tradition of Performing Arts
1 Seminar (1 Credit)
Semester – III (Advanced Courses): 16 credits
2 Core Courses: (3 Credits Each)
Core Courses
- Tenets of Major Upaniṣads: Chāndogya Upaniṣad & Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad
- Sources of Indian Knowledge Tradition: Sūtra, Vārtika & Bhāṣya (Commentaries)
3 Elective Courses (3 Credits each) (Students may choose three of the following
- Mastering Sanskrit Language (Level 2)
- Study of Vedānta: Śaṅkarācārya, Rāmānujacārya, Madhvācārya
- Study of Pañcatantra: Capsules of Life Lessons
- Indian Aesthetics- Rasa Theory
- Indian Philosophy of Language: Introduction to Patañjali’s Mahābhāṣya and Bhartṛhari’s Vākyapadīya
- Hindu Cosmology and Astronomy
- SHS/SLLH/SMS/SEES (Courses from other schools in the cafeteria model)
- Critical Thinking (Extra Credit Course)
1 Seminar (1 Credit)
Semester – IV (Specialised Courses): 16 credits
1 Core Course (3 Credits)
Core Course
- Introduction to Dharmaśāstra: Selected portions from Gautama, Manu and Yājñavalkya
1 Elective Courses (3 Credits) (Students may choose one of the following
- Select Major Thinkers of Ancient India: Brahmagupta, Āryabhaṭṭa, Varāhamihira Bhāskara, Bāṇabhaṭṭa and Abhinavagupta
- Nāgārjuna and the concept of Śūnyatā
- The Arthaśāstra of Kauṭilya
- Sanskrit Language- 4
- SHS/SLLH/SMS/SEES (Courses from other schools in the cafeteria model)
1 Seminar (1 Credit)
1 Dissertation (9 Credits)
A student with a MA in Hindu Studies (Sanātana Dharma) shall – Develop a good understanding of foundational principles underlying Hindu spiritual traditions and culture.
Students can apply for external funding/scholarships offered by the Government of India
- ICCR Scholarship: http://a2ascholarships.iccr.gov.in (select Nalanda University as a first choice)
- Study in India: https://www.studyinindia.gov.in/ (select Nalanda University as a first choice)
The University has scholarships for the ASEAN countries, BIMSTEC nations, Bhutan limited scholarships for students from Developing Countries, and Monks/Nuns students. To be considered for a scholarship, the student has to submit an online application and attend an online interview.
Training in Religious Studies, Yoga, and Philosophy imparts transferable interdisciplinary skills, enabling graduates to pursue careers in varied fields such as Indology, Philology, Linguistics, and Philosophy, and professional avenues as Archivists/Librarians, Commentators on Tantra and Yoga, Peace Activists, Yoga instructors, Cultural Administrator, Art curators and so on.
Focus areas of Study:
- The study of Indological ideas and values and their historical development of other philosophical and religious traditions.
- Dynamics of the layout of Buddhism and Hindu spiritual traditions, the texts and meditative practices;
- Study of primary texts, inscriptions, and Hindu and Buddhist iconography, art, and other artifacts;
- Comparison of and interactions between various religious and philosophical traditions of Asia with emphasis on Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu traditions and their different branches along with their regional and cultural contexts;
- Archaeology of key sites across Asia related to Hindu and Buddhist traditions;
- Modern manifestations of Buddhism and Hindu traditions and their contemporary relevance.
Research Initiative
The School emphasizes individual and collaborative research, an interdisciplinary approach to religious literature of Buddhist and Hindu traditions, and the study of religious ideas and values about other proximal philosophical and cultural traditions.
