FRONTIERS OF HISTORY

When a Man Raises the Flag of Dhamma but Conceals his Sins: Notes on Fake Ascetics in the Jatakas 

Speaker: Dr. Naina Dayal, Associate Professor, Dept. of History, St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi

Chair: Dr. Vijay Tankha

Early Indian literature often draws our attention to hypocrites who use gestures, words and costumes associated with holiness to acquire what the true holy man renounces. Naina Dayal will focus on some stories from the Pali Jataka corpus, which identify the characteristics of those who are not genuine ascetics, and in the process, formulate the ideal of renunciation