Lunch & Learn: Ana Bajželj

    Monday, April 13, 2026 at 1:00 PM until 3:00 PMPacific Daylight Time UTC -07:00

    Loyola Marymount University
    University Hall
    McIntosh Center Room 3999
    Los Angeles, CA 90045
    United States



    Carelessness (Pramāda): Jain Accounts of Failure in Conduct

     
    The notion of pramāda, commonly translated as carelessness, laxity, negligence, non-vigilance, or stupor, appears already in Jain canonical sources as a type of disposition that influences actions. It is divided into several kinds and is variously linked with other dispositions, such as passions (kaṣāya). Most often found in relation to Jain theories of action and conduct, pramāda features in multiple configurations, each carrying its own contextual nuance. These range from pramāda being understood as a key factor in identifying a violent act (hiṃsā) and as a source of misconduct to its being defined as a cause of karmic influx (āsrava) and suffering (duḥkha). Focusing on the Tattvārthasūtra tradition, this lecture traces the conceptions of pramāda in Jain doctrinal history and explores how its varied contextual usages bring different aspects of the term into view. It also situates the term within the broader South Asian religious milieu and investigates which of its articulations may be regarded as distinctly Jain.
     

    Bio:
    Ana Bajželj is Associate Professor and Shrimad Rajchandra Endowed Chair in Jain Studies in the Department for the Study of Religion and Cooperating Faculty Member in the Department of Philosophy at the University of California, Riverside. She is the organizer of the UC Riverside Shrimad Rajchandra Lecture Series in Jain Studies and the co-organizer with Lynna Dhanani (UC Davis) of the “Emerging Scholars in Jain Studies” virtual event series. She serves as co-chair of the Jain Studies Unit and a steering committee member of the Hindu Philosophy Unit at the American Academy of Religion. She is also a founding member of the international Jain Philosophy Research Group. Bajželj’s research focuses on Jain philosophy, particularly metaphysics, ethics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of action. She is the author of The Nature of Change in Jaina Philosophy (Ljubljana University Press, 2016, in Slovenian) and the co-author of Insistent Life: Principles for Bioethics in the Jain Tradition (UC Press, 2021). She is also the co-author of the forthcoming new edition of the Historical Dictionary of Jainism (Bloomsbury).
     
    Will you be attending in-person or online via zoom?
    Will you be attending in-person or online via zoom?