LECTURER Dr. Mudagamuwe Maithrimurthi
Dr. Mudagamuwe Maithrimurthi holds a D.Phil. in Classical Indology from the University of Hamburg. Originally coming from Sri Lanka, he is at present attached to the University of Heidelberg, where he teaches primarily Sanskrit together with Pali, Singhalese and Buddhist thought. His doctoral dissertation deals with the four brahmaviharas, i.e. Benevolence, Compassion, Joyousness and Equanimity in the History of Buddhism.
Previously he taught at the universities of Hamburg and Leipzig in Germany and at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA.
In 2003 he was awarded with the prestigious Friedrich-Weller-Prize by the Academy of Sciences in Saxony in Leipzig and the University of Leipzig. His main areas of research are Sanskrit, Early Buddhism, Early Yogācāra, Buddhist Philosophy, Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Pāli, Sinhalese.
Teaching
Selected List
- Singhalesisch II (SoSe 2024)
- Pali Fortgeschrittene (SoSe 2024)
- Sanskrit II (SoSe 2022)
- Sanskrit leichte Lektüre: Nala und Damayanti des Mahabharata (SoSe 2022)
- Sanskrit Fortgeschrittene: Ausgewählte-Sanskrittexte zum Thema: „Tod, Konzeption und Geburt.“ (SoSe 2022)
Selected Publications
- Lambert Schmithausen : Collected Papers, Vol. II: 1978–1999. Ed. by M. MAITHRIMURTHI, M. PAHLKE, A. v. ROSPATT, Studia Philologica Buddhica, The Internatuional Institue for Buddhist Studies, Tokyo 2023, 710 pages.
- “Bishamonten no henyou: baramonkyou kara mikkyou he"(毘沙門天んの変容ーバラモン教から密教へー)＜The Transformation of Vaiśravaṇa: from Brahmanism to Esoteric Buddhism＞“. In: Bishamonten shinkou to sono denpa: Ajia kakuchini okeru tenkai (毘沙門天信仰とその伝播ーアジア各地における展開ー) ＜Vaiśravaṇa Faith and Its Transmission: Developments in Various Parts of Asia＞, ed. TAIDO KITAMURA, (together with SHOBHA RANI DASH),(616 pages) publisher: Kishinshobo, Urayasu, Chiba prefecture 2022, 3–54.
- “Attitudes towards Animals in Indian Buddhism“. In: Penser, dire et représenter l’animal dans le monde Indien (Actes du colloque organisé par l’équipe LACMI en mars 2002, à paraître), ed. NALINI BALBIR, (together with LAMBERT SCHMITHAUSEN), Paris 2009, 47–115.
- “Revisiting the Term ‘bhaddekaratta’ in the Pāli Canon and its Variants, Translations and Interpretations, in: Bulletin of the International Institute for Buddhist Studies, Vol. 5, 2023, pp. 53–80.
- “Identifying Three Entomological Species in Sanskrit Literature: PEŚASKṚT, INDRAGOPA and VIŚVAṂBHARA and the Term ŚAṄKUPATHA”, in Zeitschrift für Indologie und Südasienstudien, Band 39, 2021, pp. 75–108.
- “Goddess Sarasvatī as a River in the Ṛgveda“, Sarasvatī, No. 8, edited and published by Sarasvatī Research Group (Sarasvatī kenkyu kai), supported by Bentenshu kyori kenkyushitsu, Osaka, 2018,11–35 (together with SHOBHA RANI DASH and a Japanese translation by SHOBHA RANI DASH, 37–61).
Contact
Lecturer
Department of Cultural and Religious History of South Asia
South Asian Institute, Universität Heidelberg
Voßstraße 2, Building 4130
D-69115 Heidelberg
Room: 130.02.24
Phone: +49 (0) 6221 - 54 15 265
E-mail: maithrimurthi@uni-heidelberg.de
Consultation hours: by appointment via e-mail