Arvind Sharma

Arvind Sharma
File:Arvind-Sharma (cropped) image of face.webp
Born	(1940-01-13) 13 January 1940 Benares, Benares State, British India
Alma mater	Allahabad University (B.A. 1958), Syracuse University (M.A. in economics, 1970), Harvard University (M.T.S. in Theological Studies, 1974; PhD in Sanskrit and Indian Studies, 1978)
Known for	Comparative Religion, the philosophy of religion, human rights and religion, theoretical and methodological issues in the study of religion, Advaita Vedanta, Hindu studies, Sanskrit studies, Women in religion
Scientific career
Fields	Religious Studies
Institutions	McGill University
Website	Arvind Sharma

Arvind Sharma (born 13 January 1940) is the Birks Professor of Comparative Religion at McGill University. Sharma's works focus on Hinduism, philosophy of religion. In editing books his works include Our Religions and Women in World Religions, Feminism in World Religions was selected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Book (1999).

Arvind Sharma was awarded Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, in 2025.

Biography

Arvind Sharma was born on 13 January 1940 in Varanasi, India. He received his B.A. from Allahabad University in 1958. He served in civil services in Gujarat until 1968 he went to US to pursue higher studies in economics at the Syracuse University, obtaining a Masters in economics in 1970. While pursuing the role of non-economic factors in economic development he became interested in religion and joined Harvard Divinity School in 1972. After obtaining a Masters in Theological Studies, he earned his PhD from the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies in 1978.

While at Harvard he was recruited in 1976 by the newly founded Department of Studies in Religion at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. In 1980 he moved to the University of Sydney. In 1994 he was appointed the Birks Professor of Comparative Religion at McGill University, where he teaches.

The archives of Arvind Sharma are held at McGill University (MUA).

Bibliography

The author, editor or co-editor of more than 50 books and 500 articles, his notable works include:

• The Ruler's Gaze: A Study of British Rule over India from a Saidian Perspective (Harper Collins Publishers, 2018)
• Hinduism as a Missionary Religion (State University of New York Press, 2011)
• The Philosophy of Religion and Advaita Vedanta (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008)
• Part of the Problem, Part of the Solution: Religion Today and Tomorrow (Praeger Publishers, 2008)
• Hermeneutics and Hindu Thought: Toward a Fusion of Horizons (Springer, 2008)
• Fundamentalism And Women in World Religions (T. & T. Clark Publishers] 2007)
• Goddesses And Women In The Indic Religious Tradition (Brill Academic Publishers, 2005)
• New Focus on Hindu Studies (DK Print World, 2005)
• A New Curve in the Ganges (DK Print World, 2005)
• Christianity and Human Rights: Influences and Issues (State University of New York Press, 2007)
• The Quest for Serenity in World Religions (DK Printworld, 2007)
• A Guide to Hindu Spirituality (World Wisdom, 2006)
• Hindu Egalitarianism: Equality or Justice? (Rupa & Co., 2006)
• Advaita Vedanta (Ludwig Verlag, 2006)
• Are Human Rights Western?: A Contribution to the Dialogue of Civilizations (Oxford University Press, 2006)
• Modern Hindu Thought: An Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2005)
• Dharma (DK Print World, 2005)
• Sleep As a State of Consciousness in Advaita (State University of New York Press, 2004)
• The Buddhism Omnibus: Comprising Gautama Buddha, The Dhammapada, and The Philosophy of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2004)
• Her Voice, Her Faith: Women Speak On World Religions (Westview Press, 2004)
• Hinduism and Human Rights: A Conceptual Approach (Law in India) (Oxford University Press, 2004)
• Advaita Vedanta: An Introduction (Motilal Banarsidass, 2004)
• The Study of Hinduism (University of South Carolina Press, 2003)
• Hinduism and Its Sense of History (Oxford University Press, 2003)
• Methodology in Religious Studies: The Interface With Women's Studies (State University of New York Press, 2003)
• Modern Hindu Thought: The Essential Texts (Oxford University Press, 2002)
• Women in Indian Religions (Oxford University Press, 2002)
• Religion in a Secular City: Essays in Honor of Harvey Cox (Trinity Press International, 2001)
• Hinduism and Secularism: After Ayodhya (Palgrave Macmillan, 2001)
• Sati: Historical and Phenomenological Essays (Motilal Banarsidass, 2001)
• Annual Review of Women in World Religions, the (Annual Review of Women in World Religions) (State University of New York Press, 2001)
• Classical Hindu Thought: An Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2000)
• The Annual Review of Women in World Religions (State University of New York Press, 1999)
• A Dome of Many Colors: Studies in Religious Pluralism, Identity, and Unity (Trinity Press International, 1999)
• Feminism and World Religions (State University of New York Press, 1998)
• The Concept of Universal Religion in Modern Hindu Thought (Palgrave Macmillan, 1998)
• Neo-Hindu Views of Christianity (Brill Academic Publishers, 1988)
• The Philosophy of Religion: A Buddhist Perspective (Oxford University Press, 1997)
• Women in World Religions (South Asia Books, 1995)
• Our Religions: The Seven World Religions Introduced by Preeminent Scholars from Each Tradition(HarperOne, 1994)
• The Little Clay Cart (State University of New York Press, 1994)
• Today's Woman in World Religions (State University of New York Press, 1994)
• The Experiential Dimension of Advaita Vedanta (Motilal Banarsidass, 1993)
• The Annual Review of Women in World Religions: Heroic Women (State University of New York Press, 1992)

External links

• Arvind Sharma
• Faculty page at McGill (Arvind Sharma)
• Audio: Arvind Sharma in conversation on the BBC World Service discussion show The Forum
• McGill University Archives (MUA)