Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Dr. Gavin Flood is a Professor of Hindu Studies and Comparative Religion in the Theology and Religion Faculty at the University of Oxford and academic director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. Gavin read Religious Studies and Social Anthropology at Lancaster University and taught at the universities of Wales (Lampeter) and Stirling before coming to Oxford. He was elected to membership of the British Academy in 2014. His research interests are in medieval Hindu texts (especially from the traditions of Shiva), comparative religion, and phenomenology. Developing from the comparative interests of these books, he is currently working on a project on holiness as well as developing closer textual work on a Sanskrit text called the Netra Tantra. He is general series editor of the Oxford History of Hinduism.
]A Śaiva scripture popular in Kashmir and Nepal from around the ninth to the thirteenth century was the Netratantra, commented on by the Pratyabhijñā philosopher, Kṣemarāja (c. 1000-1050). A frequently occurring term in this text is bhāvabheda, division or distinction according to being and, perhaps, according to personal proclivity. This term is used to indicate how different deity systems are ways of visualizing the main focus of the text, Amṛteśa or Netranātha. This term could be interpreted in terms of an ontological pluralism (perhaps contra Kṣemarāja), that we live in multiple worlds. This lecture will examine this term in the Netratantra and consider contemporary application.
Vimarsha Academia
Hindu Studies Lecture Series
For more information visit our website:
vimarshafoundation.org/talkseries-registration
Dr. Gavin Flood is a Professor of Hindu Studies and Comparative Religion in the Theology and Religion Faculty at the University of Oxford and academic director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. Gavin read Religious Studies and Social Anthropology at Lancaster University and taught at the universities of Wales (Lampeter) and Stirling before coming to Oxford. He was elected to membership of the British Academy in 2014. His research interests are in medieval Hindu texts (especially from the traditions of Shiva), comparative religion, and phenomenology. Developing from the comparative interests of these books, he is currently working on a project on holiness as well as developing closer textual work on a Sanskrit text called the Netra Tantra. He is general series editor of the Oxford History of Hinduism.
]A Śaiva scripture popular in Kashmir and Nepal from around the ninth to the thirteenth century was the Netratantra, commented on by the Pratyabhijñā philosopher, Kṣemarāja (c. 1000-1050). A frequently occurring term in this text is bhāvabheda, division or distinction according to being and, perhaps, according to personal proclivity. This term is used to indicate how different deity systems are ways of visualizing the main focus of the text, Amṛteśa or Netranātha. This term could be interpreted in terms of an ontological pluralism (perhaps contra Kṣemarāja), that we live in multiple worlds. This lecture will examine this term in the Netratantra and consider contemporary application.
Vimarsha Academia
Hindu Studies Lecture Series
For more information visit our website:
vimarshafoundation.org/talkseries-registration
