Frederick Smith
Advisor
www.fredsmith.com [sample, reference only]
Frederick Smith retired in 2021 after more than three decades as Professor of Sanskrit & Classical Indian Religions at the University of Iowa. He has spent nearly two decades in India, as a student and researcher in Chennai and Pune (at Pune University and Deccan College), then lived for many years in Braj and the Garhwal Himalaya. He obtained his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. His main areas of research are Vedic sacrificial (śrauta) ritual, deity and spirit possession in India, the devotional philosophy and practice of the Pushtimarg, founded by Vallabhacharya around the year 1500, Yoga, and the Mahabharata, the Indian national epic. He is presently the chief editor of a multinational project that is translating the entire unabridged Mahabharata. He has published several books, more than 75 academic papers and hundreds of reviews and other shorter pieces. He is pictured here with his life partner and amanuensis, Papageno, who also chants Sanskrit (in addition to singing Mozart opera arias). Both Fred and Papageno are avid supporters of Satsangam
Courses
Kathā Cikitsā:
The Healing Power of Storytelling
Throughout this engaging course, participants will explore the principles of Ayurveda applied to storytelling, learning how to discern whether a story is stabilizing (bṛṃhaṇa) or activating (laṅghana), and how it can be tailored to pacify vāta, pitta, or kapha imbalances.
