Very sad news indeed! The world is now a smaller place. Alf was an extraordinary figure in the study of the Mahābharata and Indian epics more generally, and he was a good friend for almost fifty years. We met in Pune in 1974 and began a *saṃvāda* that continued for more than forty years. We disagreed often enough, but we agreed even more often. I have missed him since his last visit to Brown, after which communication became more difficult, but I am indeed grateful for all the time we had to talk before then. May he rest in peace.
Jim Fitzgerald On Tue, Mar 14, 2023 at 5:48 PM Greg Bailey via INDOLOGY < [email protected]> wrote: > Dear Brian, > > Thanks for notifying us about this. > > What a loss. Not just a dear friend, but a great scholar who brought the > Mahābhārata to life and light in so many ways. His work has been an > inspiration for us all. > > Condolences to Elena and his family. > > best, > > Greg Bailey > ------------------------------ > *From:* INDOLOGY <[email protected]> on behalf of > Collins, Brian via INDOLOGY <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Wednesday, March 15, 2023 1:40 AM > *To:* Indology <[email protected]> > *Subject:* [INDOLOGY] Alf Hiltebeitel 1942-2023 > > Dear Colleagues, > > I am sorry to report that Alf Hiltebeitel passed away in the Republic of > Colombia a few days ago. It doesn’t need saying, but he was a giant in the > field and made important contributions as a historian of religions, an > ethnographer, a philologist, and a scholar of intellectual history. He even > continued producing scholarship well after his advanced Parkinson’s made it > impossible to speak and very difficult to write. > > > He was most well known for his work on the *Mahābhārata *epic. And over > the course of his life, he practically produced an epic of his own. > > > His first book, *The Ritual of Battle *(Cornell 1976), and his two most > recent books, *Nonviolence in the Mahābhārata* (Routledge 2016) and *World > of Wonders* (Oxford 2021) add up to about 800 pages combined. The two > volumes of *The Cult of Draupadī,* Vol. 1, *Mythologies: From Gingee to > Kurukṣetra* (Chicago 1988) and Vol. 2, *On Hindu Ritual and the Goddess* > (Chicago > 1991), are another 1000 pages or so. > > > The two “rethinking” books, *Rethinking India’s Oral and Classical Epics: > Draupadī among Rajputs, Muslims, and Dalits* (Chicago 1999) and *Rethinking > the Mahābhārata: A Reader’s Guide to the Education of the Dharma Kin*g > (Chicago 2001), are about another 900 pages. > > > *Reading the Fifth Veda: Studies on the Mahābhārata* and *When the > Goddess Was a Woman: Mahābhārata Ethnographies *(Brill 2011), are about > 1200 pages altogether. *Dharma: Its Early History in Law, Religion, and > Narrative* (Oxford 2011) is about 700 pages. The two Freud books, *Freud’s > India* and *Freud’s Mahābhārata* (Oxford 2018), are 600 combined pages. > > > We get an estimated total of 5,200 pages (roughly the same size as Bibek > Debroy’s ten-volume English translation of the *Mahābhārata*) if we stop > this partial bibliography there. But Alf did not stop there, and was > working on a book about Vyāsa as late as last year. > > > There won’t be another like Alf. He will be sorely missed by his students > and his colleagues, but will never be forgotten as long as English readers > still want to grapple with the immensity of India’s Great Epic. > > With condolences to his friends and family especially, > > Brian > > Assoc. Prof. Brian Collins > (He/Him/His) > Department Chair and Drs. Ram and Sushila Gawande Chair in Indian Religion > and Philosophy > Department of Classics and Religious Studies > 234 Ellis Hall > Ohio University > Athens, Ohio > 740-597-2103 (office) > > > > _______________________________________________ > INDOLOGY mailing list > [email protected] > https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >
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