The Library Committee at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru is introducing a series of events surrounding the theme “Ethics & Texts”. The first of these will focus on “Ethics & Epics,” and Dr. Arshia Sattar will discuss the topic ‘Dharma and the Law’. Dr. Sattar will consider ideas of dharma as they are presented in the Hindu epics, most especially in Valmiki’s Ramayana, and explore how such classical understandings might be relevant to our times.

The talk will take place from 5:15 pm and is open to the public subject to prior registration.

About the Speaker

Dr. Arshia Sattar is a translator and writer and holds a PhD in South Asian Languages and Civilisations from the University of Chicago. Dr. Sattar has worked with the Valmiki Ramayana for over 30 years and is particularly interested in the epics and storytelling traditions of the Indian sub-continent.

She teaches and writes about classical Indian literature in India and abroad. She has several publications, most notably an abridged translation of the Valmiki Ramayana which has remained in print since 1996. She has been a Fulbright Scholar in Residence at Hampshire College in the U.S. and a Rockefeller Fellow at the Rockefeller Centre in Bellagio. Her Mahabharata for Children was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Prize for Children’s Literature in 2022. In 2023, she was conferred the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for her outstanding contribution to literature.