Faculty

As a pre-med undergrad student, Varun Khanna accidentally stumbled into Sanskrit when he tried to learn Ayurveda during a study abroad program in India. After learning to speak and becoming fluent in the language, he changed direction and became a full-time student of Sanskrit and Indian philosophy. He then traveled through various jungles and cities in India to learn from different Sanskrit gurus, specializing in Pāṇinian Sanskrit grammar. Varun later earned both his master’s degree in Sanskrit and his PhD in Hinduism (studying consciousness in the Upaniṣads) at the University of Cambridge. He has been teaching spoken Sanskrit, Pāṇinian Sanskrit grammar, and topics in Indian philosophy since 2008, and is now a Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics teaching Sanskrit at Swarthmore College.

Varun’s research interests lie in the intersection of Sanskrit grammar, Vedānta philosophy, and social justice. His latest work centers on the perspectives that ancient Sanskrit literature offers for thinking about equality, freedom, and justice. He is also working on a new Sanskrit primer that incorporates Pāṇinian grammar in order to help students learn the exact boundaries of the rules of Sanskrit.

Courses taught: 

• YS 125 | Intro to Advaita Vedānta
• YS 207 | Upaniṣads I: Kaṭha, Chāndogya, Keṇa
• YS 211 | Upaniṣads II: Īśa, Praśna, Muṇḍaka
• SKT 204 | Spoken Sanskrit I
• SKT 205 | Spoken Sanskrit II
• SKT 305 | Introduction to Pāṇinian Grammar
• SKT 306 | Pāṇinian Grammar Level II

Selected Publications: 

• "Swami Chinmayananda, Hinduism, and Diaspora Configurations: Identifying the Effects of a Modern Advaita-Vedāntin on the Hindu Diaspora in North America." Nidān 3:1 (July 2018): 31-49.
• "A Modern Advaita-Vedāntin: Locating Swami Chinmayananda and His Understanding of Consciousness in the Context of Scripture and the Contemporary World" (2016). Doctoral dissertation, University of Cambridge.