Dr. Devendra Singh
About / Executive Summary
PROFILE
Dr. Devendra Singh is a Sanskrit scholar specialising in Vedic Studies, with more than eleven years of university teaching and over two decades of research experience. He is Assistant Professor and Head of the Department of Sanskrit Language and Literature at Sanchi University of Buddhist-Indic Studies,
Madhya Pradesh, where he has taught since 2015 and has headed the department since 2016. He holds a Ph.D. in Sanskrit from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, as well as an M.A. (Veda Group) and a B.A. (Hons.) from Banaras Hindu University. His research centres on the Atharvaveda and its links with Āyurveda, as well as Vedic Philosophy, Vedic Education and the Sanskrit language. Over his career he has authored eight books and 41 research papers and chapters, guided six Ph.D. and M.Phil. scholars, delivered more than 53 lectures, and organised over 32 conferences, seminars, workshops and special lectures.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Dr. Singh has been working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Sanskrit Language and Literature, Sanchi University of Buddhist-Indic Studies, Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, since August 2015, and has been Head of the Department since 2016. He currently teaches Sanskrit and Vedic Studies at the postgraduate and research levels. Before this, from July 2013 to December 2014, he worked as Guest Faculty at the Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Academic Administration. Head, Department of Sanskrit Language and Literature, Sanchi University of Buddhist-Indic Studies (since 2016).
Selected Memberships Outside the University. He was a Member of the Board of Studies of the Department of Vedic Studies, Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University, Ramtek, Nagpur (2018). In 2026 he served as External Subject Expert on the RDC of the Department of Indian Language (Sanskrit), Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University, Wardha, and on the RAC of the Department of Sanskrit, Tripura Central University, Tripura. He is also a member of the editorial
boards of the Sanskrit research journals Vāgīśā and Vāgarthaḥ.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Dr. Singh was awarded the Ph.D. (Sanskrit) by Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, in 2006 for his thesis Ancient Indian Therapeutics with Special Reference to Atharvaveda. From July 2006 to July 2010, he was Project Fellow on the UGC Major Research Project Bṛhat Vaiśeṣika Kośa at the Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, JNU, New Delhi. He then worked as Junior Research Fellow at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Ministry of Culture, Government of India,
New Delhi (August 2010 – October 2012), and alongside this as Research Assistant (part-time) at the Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, JNU, New Delhi (August 2010 – March 2012).
Research Areas. His specialisation is Vedic Studies, and his wider research interests include the Atharvaveda and Āyurveda, the Sanskrit Language, Indian Philosophy, Vedic Education and Manuscriptology.
Selected Research Papers. Among his research papers are From Śāstra to Syllabus: A Pramāṇa Based Framework for Evaluating and Integrating Indian Knowledge Systems in Higher Education, published in the British Journal of Contemporary Research (Bexford Publishing, UK; Vol. 1, Issue 4;
2026; ISSN 2979-8582); Vedantic World View, in Bhaswati (Sanskrit Department, Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi; UGC-CARE listed; 2021; ISSN 0976-9196); Vedic Notion of Devotion, in Tathapi (UGC-CARE listed; Vol. 19, Issue 11, May 2020; ISSN 2320-0693); Significance of Dialogue According to Vedic Philosophy, in Nibandha Mālā (UGC-CARE listed; Vol. 12, Issue 4, April 2020; ISSN 2277-2359); and Buddhism and Environmental Degradation, in the Research Journal of Ancient Buddhism (Vol. 4, 2017; ISSN 2395-471X).
Selected Books. Among his books are Research Methodology in the Humanities (Reva Prakashan, Delhi, 2026; ISBN 978-81-937575-7-4) and Śruti se Śodha Tak: Vaidika Adhyayana kī Pravidhi (Astitva Prakashan, Chhattisgarh, 2026; ISBN 978-93-768637-6-1). He is also co-editor of Conceptualizing Categories: Texts and Context in Indian Philosophy, forthcoming from Springer, Switzerland, in 2027 (ISBN 978-3-032-16221-2).
Translations. He has translated two works into Hindi: The Positive Sciences of the Ancient Hindus by Sir Brajendranath Seal (Longmans, Green and Co., London, 1915), and Literary History of Sanskrit Buddhism by G. K. Nariman (Bombay, 1919; 2nd impression, 1923), a work based on the scholarship of
Winternitz, Sylvain Lévi and Huber.
Research Supervision. He has guided four Ph.D. scholars, whose work covers the Maitrāyaṇīya Āraṇyaka, Vedic Yajña and the environment, linguistic elements in the Vedic Saṁhitās, and the concept of Rāṣṭra in Vedic literature. He has also guided two M.Phil. scholars, whose work covers psychology in the Ṛgveda and Vedic and Buddhist education.
INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENTS
Dr. Singh's international engagements began in 2009, when he received an invitation from Capital Normal University, Beijing, China, to teach graduate students. In 2015 he presented a paper at the 16th World Sanskrit Conference, Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. In 2023 he presented a paper (online) at the 18th World Sanskrit Conference, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia; was a member of the Government of India (MEA) delegation to the 12th World Hindi Conference, Nadi, Fiji; and was nominated as a Scientific Member of the 2nd International Conference on Women, held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 11-12 August 2023.
Special Invitations and Participation. In 2015 he participated in the World Indology Conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, and in the same year attended the presentation ceremony of the President’s Certificate of Honour in Sanskrit at Rashtrapati Bhavan.