Office Hours

See our office hours web page.

Research Interests

• Indian Religions
• Yoga, Hathayoga, Tantrism
• Religions and Culture of Bengal
• Middle Bengali Literature

Curriculum vitae

Education

• 2017–2022: PhD program in Religious Studies, Charles University (thesis: The Character of Immortality in Yoga Texts)
• 2014–2015: Visiting Fellow, Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
• 1996–1999: Postgraduate program in Bengali Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
• 1994–1996: MA program in Religious Studies, Charles University
• 1991–1996: MA program in Bengali Studies (five-year program), Charles University
• 1985–1994: Engineering program in Mathematical modelling of chemical processes, Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague

Work Experience

• 2022–up to date: Lecturer (part-time), Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Charles University
• 2018–2021: Research Fellow, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Charles University
• 2017: Research project manager, Faculty of Arts, Charles University
• 2012–2016: Lecturer, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Charles University
• 2013–2014: Vice-Rector for Research and Economic Development, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague
• 2011–2012: Vice-Dean for Research, Film and TV School, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague
• 2005–2011:  Research project manager, Faculty of Arts, Charles University
• 1999–2005: Lecturer, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Charles University

Other Educational Training

• Haṭha Yoga Project Workshop: Yogabīja and Vivekamārtaṇḍa (Portland, 15.–25. 9. 2019)
• 4th Middle Bengali Retreat cum Workshop (Bab Zouina, 4.–12. 8. 2019)
• Haṭha Yoga Project Workshop: Amṛtasiddhi (Procida 13.–20. 9. 2018)
• 3rd Middle Bengali Retreat cum Workshop (Bir 1.–11. 8. 2018)
• Haṭha Yoga Project Workshop: Sanskrit Texts on Yoga – A Manuscript Workshop (London, SOAS 12.–16. 9. 2016) (documentary from the workshop)
• Middle Bengali Retreat cum Workshop (Miercurea Ciuc 11.–21. 8. 2016)
• Sāmbapañcāśikā with Kṣemarāja’s commentary (Varanasi 21.–24. 1. 2014)
• Netratantra (chap. 7 and 8) with Kṣemarāja’s commentary (Varanasi 29. 1.–4. 2. 2013)
• Vijñānabhairavatantra (Bir 16.–23. 5. 2011)
• Śivastrotrāvalī with Kṣemarāja’s commentary (Varanasi 1.–8. 2. 2011)
• Parātrīśikalaghuvṛtti (Bir 19.–28. 9. 2008)
• Tantrāloka (1st chap.) with Jayarāja’s commentary (Varanasi 12.–21. 11. 2007)
• Spandakārikā with Kṣemarāja’s commentary (Sarnath 5.–16. 3. 2006).

Papers read at major international conferences

• The Concept of Body in the Nātha-Siddha Tradition (13th World Sanskrit Conference; September 2006, University of Edinburgh)
• The Practice of Four Moons in Bengali Nātha Texts (Yoga in Indian Traditions: Naths, Tantriks, Nirgunis and Sufis; September 2007, El Colegio de México)
• The Character of Immortality in the Nātha-Siddha Sanskrit Texts (14th World Sanskrit Conference; September 2009, Kyoto University)
• Cheating Death: The Yogic Way to Immortality (16th World Sanskrit Conference; June-July 2015, Bangkok)
• Signs of Death in Haṭhayogic Texts (Yoga darśana, yoga sādhana: traditions, transmissions, transformations; May 2016, Krakow)
• Prognostication by Breath in Yoga: Analysis of the Vasiṣṭhasaṃhitā (Yogakāṇḍa, chapter 7) (17th World Sanskrit Conference; June 2018, Vancouver)
• Bengali Jogīs and Their Struggle for a Caste Shift (25th European Conference on South Asian Studies; July 2018, Paris)
• Vernacular Tantrism: An Analysis of the Bengali Tantric Text The Garland of Bones (17th Annual Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions; June 2019, Tartu)
• Vallālacarita and the identity of the Bengali Nāths (26th European Conference on South Asian Studies; July 2021, Vienna)
• The Next Step in Yoga Research:The Vernacular Texts (New research on Sanskrit works about Yoga, March 2022, Paris)
• Mantras in Middle Bengali Nātha literature (Workshop on Mantras: Sound, Materiality, and the Body, May 2022, Vienna)
• What Kind of Yogi Was Gorakhnāth? An Analysis of Middle Bengali Sources (Yoga darśana, yoga sādhana, May 2022,Krakow)

Selected Publications (Academia.edu page)

Studies in English

• Hatha Yoga. In Tracy Coleman (ed.), Oxford Bibliographies in Hinduism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2023. [online]
• The Search for the Jugi Caste in Pre-Colonial Bengal. In The Power of the Nāth Yogīs: Yogic Charisma, Political Influence and Social Authority. Daniela Bevilaqua and Eloisa Stuparich (eds.). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2022, pp. 131–162. [PDF]
• Haṭhayoga. In J. D. Long et al. (eds), Hinduism and Tribal Religions. Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Dordrecht: Springer, 2022, pp. 577–588. [Reference work entry; PDF]
• Death (Hinduism). In J. D. Long et al. (eds), Hinduism and Tribal Religions. Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Dordrecht: Springer, 2022; pp. 402–411. [Reference work entry; PDF]
• Burial (Hinduism). In J. D Long et al. (eds), Hinduism and Tribal Religions. Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Dordrecht: Springer, 2022, pp. 308–312. [Reference work entry; PDF]
• Antyeṣṭi. In J. D. Long et al. (eds), Hinduism and Tribal Religions. Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Dordrecht: Springer, 2022, pp. 79–84. [Reference work entry; PDF]
• Śrāddha. In J. D. Long et al. (eds), Hinduism and Tribal Religions. Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Dordrecht: Springer, 2022, pp. 1520–1523 [Reference work entry; PDF]
• Yama. In J. D. Long et al. (eds), Hinduism and Tribal Religions. Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Dordrecht: Springer, 2022, pp. 1799–1803. [Reference work entry; PDF]
• Vernacular Tantra? An Analysis of the Bengali Text The Garland of Bones. Religions of South Asia 14.1–2 (2020): 63–86 [PDF].
• Czech Encounters with Hinduism. In Knut A. Jacobsen and Ferdinado Sardella (eds.), Handbook of Hinduism in Europe. Leiden: Brill, 2020, s. 925–945. [online; PDF]
• Perfected Body, Divine Body and Other Bodies in the Nātha-Siddha Sanskrit Texts. Journal of Hindu Studies 8.2 (2015): 210–232. [PDF (manuscript); PDF (printed version)]
• What Should Mīnanāth Do to Save His Life? In David N. Lorenzen and Adrian Muñoz (eds.), Yogi Heroes and Poets: Histories and Legends of the Nāths. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2011, pp. 129–141, 175–188. [PDF (manuscript); PDF (printed version)]

Studies in Czech

• Indian Tantrism. Dingir 20.2 (2017): 51–53. [PDF]
• A Good Death of a High-Caste Hindu. In Death and Dying in Contemporary Religious Traditions. Praha: Cesta domů, 2010, 2nd ed. 2017, pp. 9–56. [PDF]
• Tantric Stories about Immortality: The Literature of the Bengali Nāths. In My Golden Bengal: Studies on Bengali Religion and Culture. Praha: ExOriente, 2008, pp. 13–34. [PDF]
• Bibliographical Essay. In Dušan Zbavitel, Bengali Literature. Praha: ExOriente, 2008, pp. 272–300. [PDF]
• The Concept of Soul in Jainism.  In Radek Chlup (ed.), The Concept of the Soul in the World’s Religious Traditions. Praha: DharmaGaia, 2007, pp. 267–293. [PDF]
• Ideas of Afterlife in Vedic Religion and the Origin of the Concept of Transmigration. In Radek Chlup (ed.), The Concept of the Soul in the World’s Religious Traditions. Praha: DharmaGaia, 2007, pp. 223–266. [PDF]
• The Fallacies of Walter Ong in the Light of Indian Orality.  World of Literature 17.36 (2007): 214–248. [PDF]

Editorial Work

For the last ten years, I have been a book editor of about twenty books (all in Czech) in the field of Indology and Religious Studies.

• Translations from Sanskrit: Upaniṣads, Mānavadharmaśāstra, Vedic hymns (selection), Kālidāsa (complete work), Rāmāyaṇa (rendering combined with translated passsages), Haṭhapradīpikā.
• Translations from Bengali: Sunīl Gaṅgopādhyāẏ (selected stories), Āśāpūrṇā Debī (selected stories), Bibhūtibhūṣaṇ Bandyopādhyāẏ: The Song of the Road, Maṇiśaṅkar Mukhopādhyāẏ: The Middleman.
• Secondary literature: Dušan Zbavitel: Bengali Literature (originaly published in the Gonda’s series “History of Indian Literature”), Paul Williams and Anthony Tribe: Buddhist Thought, André Padoux: Comprendre le tantrisme, Daniel Pals: Eight Theories of Religion, Robert A. Segal, Myth: A Very Short Introduction, Barry Stephenson: Ritual: A Very Short Introduction.

Teaching