Fred Smith

Professor of Sanskrit & Classical Indian Religions Fred Smith, joins Dr. Ramkumar & Dr. Welch to talk about "itihāsa" or, "history". Itihāsa also is used to specifically refer to the two monumentally influential epic poems of ancient India: the Mahābhāratam and the Rāmāyaṇa. The very fact that the word, "history" is used in a context where, in the West we might use "mythology", “epic”, "story" or, "poem" can lead us into curious conversation. Hopefully this will be the case.