Presenter
Kafle Nirajan - Sanskrit Studies, Ashoka University, Haryana, GermanyPanel
70 – State Law, Religious Identity, and Cultural Transformation: Hinduisation and Sanskritisation in the HimalayasAbstract
The Umāmaheśvarasaṃvāda (8th century CE), composed in the Kathmandu Valley, represents a unique Dharmaśāstra model that integrates popular Buddhist concepts and previously unheard practices within the Brahmanical legal framework. Unlike earlier Dharmaśāstra traditions, which sought to enforce rigid Brahmanical norms, this text attempts to incorporate the diverse folk traditions of the Kathmandu Valley into a mainstream Hindu Dharmaśāstra. By blending Hindu legal teachings with Buddhist ethical and ritual elements, the Umāmaheśvarasaṃvāda presents a legal and religious synthesis that reflects the Valley’s pluralistic society. This synthesis not only legitimises local customs within a Dharmaśāstra framework but also marks an early attempt at legal assimilation that prefigures later processes of Hinduisation and Sanskritisation in Nepal. Through its unique doctrinal innovations, the text provides insight into the ways Brahmanical law accommodated vernacular traditions, offering a critical perspective on the evolving landscape of religious and legal thought in the Himalayan region.
