Held within the framework of the 11th Dubrovnik International Conference on the Sanskrit Epics and Purāṇas (DICSEP 11)
Inter-University Centre, Dubrovnik
Tuesday, 4 August 2026
3:00–3:30 p.m.
Keynote Address
Rajesh Ranjan, Deputy Director General, ICCR
3:30–6 pm
Panel 1: Promoting Indian Civilization through the Translation, Handbooks and Scholarly Study of the Sanskrit Epics and Purāṇas
1. Joanna Jurewicz, Przemysław Szczurek & Sven Sellmer
The Polish Mahābhārata Translation Project
The Polish Mahābhārata Translation Project is one of the largest recent Indological translation initiatives in Europe. Conducted at the University of Warsaw under the National Programme for the Development of the Humanities (Narodowy Program Rozwoju Humanistyki, NPRH; Grant No. 22H 16 0357 84, 2017–2023), the project produced annotated translations of the battle books (Books 6–11) of the Mahābhārata directly from the BORI Critical Edition, accompanied by the Sanskrit text on facing pages. The project also developed digital resources and collaborative translation tools.
2. Yaroslav Vassilkov
In the Workshop of Vyāsa: The End of an Interminable Debate
3. Mislav Ježić
Croatian Translations of the Ṛgveda, the Mahābhārata, the Upaniṣads and Kāvya Poetry
A survey of Croatian translations of major Sanskrit texts and their contribution to the study of Indian civilization.
4. Simon Brodbeck
Translating the Harivaṃśa into English
Reflections on the challenges and significance of translating the Harivaṃśa for an international readership.
5. Ivan Andrijanić and Mislav Ježić
Handbooks and Surveys of Indian history, Literature, Religions, Philosophy for Students and General Public
6. Ivana Delić
Vesdin’s Case for India: Viaggio alle Indie orientali (1790)
Long before India became an established object of European scholarship, its image abroad was largely that of a distant curiosity. Filip Vesdin (Paulinus a Sancto Bartholomaeo, 1748–1806), a Carmelite missionary who served on the Malabar Coast for thirteen years (1776–1789) and authored the first Sanskrit grammar published in Europe (1790), was among the earliest and most consequential figures to recognize India as a civilization deserving serious European attention and study. Drawing on his years of direct experience in Malabar and sustained philological work, Vesdin departed from the dismissive accounts common among his missionary contemporaries, instead presenting Indian language, religion, and culture as subjects worthy of serious scholarly engagement. This advocacy finds its fullest expression in his Viaggio alle Indie orientali (Voyage to the East Indies, 1796), in which empirical observation, philological expertise, and knowledge gained from local informants converge in a rich and comparatively sympathetic account of Indian civilization and Brahmanic religion. By tracing how Vesdin’s Viaggio portrays Indian sacred texts, religious concepts, and institutions, the paper argues that his work actively promoted a more informed and favorable image of India in Europe, positioning him as an unusually progressive advocate for India on the eve of modern Indology.
6–7 pm
Supplementary presentations: Mahābhārata translation studies
Monika Nowakowska
Chance, Fate, Destiny, Risk, and Luck in the Droṇaparvan 7,77–173—Final Observations after the Completion of the Polish Translation of the Part
Anna Trynkowska Synonyms and Double Meanings. Selected Aspects of the Poetic Style of the Book Of Karṇa of the Mahābhārata and Remarks on Appropriate Translation Strategies
7–8 pm
Panel 2 : Indian Traditional Knowledge Systems
Prasad Joshi, Bhagyashree Bavare
Traditional Indian Knowledge Systems encompass language, linguistics, metaphysical inquiries found in the Darśanas, texts such as the Vedas, Purāṇas, and Upaniṣads. They include holistic life sciences such as Āyurveda and traditional Indian sciences like Gaṇita (mathematics) and Jyotiṣa (astrology). They also cover indigenous technologies such as Vastu Śāstra (architecture), metallurgy, and traditional systems of governance and law, as articulated in seminal texts such as Kauṭīlya’s Arthaśāstra. They also include art and architecture, temple design, classical dance, and music, the heritage discovered by archaeology and the considerations of the sociological dynamics of Indian society in the Dharmaśāstras. The present Government of India has institutionalised the promotion of Indology and Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) through a multi-layered, specialised research centre, digital repositories, and scholarly publications. Central to this effort is the IKS Division under the Ministry of Education.