Our most joyous and useful Śivadharma activity is without doubt the main weekly reading session. Beginning on 10 October, we have gathered together every Wednesday to read Sanskrit passages freshly edited from manuscripts. So far we have covered Śivadharmottara chapter 1 (edited by Florinda De Simini), Umāmaheśvarasaṃvāda chapters 3 and 4 (Nirajan Kafle), the Umāmaheśvarasaṃvāda section of Mahābhārata 13.126-134 (Kenji Takahashi) and Vṛṣasārasaṃgraha chapter 16 (Csaba Kiss).
Feedback from colleagues is essential. Working alone would have never resulted in understanding some of the more obscure yogic teachings of the VSS, in solving the baffling problems encountered in the MBh, in long discussions about the emendation from brahmakṣetra to brahmakṣatre in the UMS, or about a conjecture from rājā caturayugaḥ (“the king is the four eons”) to rājācaturyagaḥ (“the king is stupid”) in the ŚDU. Needless to say, our heated debates often continue over long Neapolitan dinners.
