[INDOLOGY] Johannes Bronkhorst gone

[Borayin Larios]

This morning I woke up to the shock of the passing of Professor Johannes
Bronkhorst. A towering figure in our field whose erudition was matched only
by his sharp wit and humor.

I had the privilege to study under Johannes in Lausanne, where he taught me
Sanskrit and Indology. His classes were never dull—always infused with the
excitement of his ongoing research, his relentless curiosity, and his
insistence that no academic or religious tradition should ever be taken for
granted. As a teacher, he was tough, especially when it came to Sanskrit,
but also profoundly generous. I was not especially close to him, perhaps
because I admired him too much, and because I was never quite the
Sanskritist he might have hoped for in a student. But he taught me more
than language—he taught me to think critically and carefully, to question
even the foundations of tradition, and to take ideas seriously.

After my studies in Lausanne, I went on to pursue my PhD in Heidelberg.
Though my topic—living Vedic traditions—was quite distant from his own
historical and philological training, he was fascinated by it. And though
ethnography and the contemporary were not really his cup of tea, he let me
go my way with curiosity. I still remember how happy he was when I got my
PhD. It felt like a turning point in our relationship. We always talked at
conferences and were genuinely happy to see each other. I had even been
thinking of finding a way to get him to Vienna this fall—something I now
regret deeply. I wish I had reached out sooner.

Johannes leaves behind a prolific and provocative body of work, spanning
Vyākaraṇa, Vedic and Buddhist studies, Vaiśeṣika, Mīmāṃsā, Sāṅkhya,
Vedānta, Jainism, and Ājīvikism. He never saw his life as important outside
of his scholarship, but through that scholarship—and the uncompromising
integrity with which he pursued it—he offered us a vision of intellectual
rigor and personal courage that is deeply inspiring.

Today, we mourn a teacher, a scholar, and a friend. But more than that, we
celebrate a life lived with deep thought, with honesty, and with joy.
Johannes has left us with his work—work that continues to teach, provoke,
and illuminate. And he has left us with the memory of a master who, even in
his final moments, was curious, generous, and fully alive.

Thank you also Vincent for sharing so vividly about your last encounter
with him, it was very moving.

May he be remembered with love and respect.

Borayin Larios

On Thu, May 15, 2025, 04:17 Smith, Frederick M via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear Indology-janāḥ,
>
>
>
> I met Johannes in 1973 in Pune. I was just beginning my MA in Sanskrit at
> the Centre for Advanced Study in Sanskrit (CASS) at (then) Poona
> University. I believe he was finishing up that year, after migrating to
> Pune from Jaipur a couple of years earlier to study vyākaraṇa, as was
> most fitting for Pune. I was  much closer to a beginner than I should have
> been at the time, and quite out of my element in the MA classes on the
> Siddhāntakaumudī taught by SD Joshi (a required course in the curriculum),
> in which Johannes excelled. Dr. Joshi paced rapidly and non-stop from one
> end of the room to the other, like a caged animal, for the entire hour of
> every class, never referring to a book or a text; such was his
> extraordinary pāṇḍitya and energy. The only time he would stop would be to
> ask, usually once or twice in every class, “Bronkhorst, what question do
> you have?” Johannes would almost always have a question, usually quite a
> penetrating one, to the delight of Dr. Joshi, who would then divert his
> lecture to answer it fully. Clearly, Dr. Joshi saw that Johannes was a
> challenging student with a bright future.
>
>
>
> Like Robert Z, Johannes sent me packets of publications every year until
> that was superseded by the ease of sending electronic copies, which
> followed until just a few years ago. The fact that Johannes had initially
> studied mathematics was, I understood at the time, a close predecessor to
> his expertise in Sanskrit, in vyākaraṇa, in śāstra. When I was in Pune last
> November, someone informed me that he was “keeping indifferent health.” He
> was a highly valued friend and colleague. We were fortunate to have him in
> our midst for more than half a century.
>
>
>
> Kind regards
>
> Fred Smith
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From: *INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of
> Robert Zydenbos via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
> *Date: *Wednesday, May 14, 2025 at 7:36 PM
> *To: *indology at list.indology.info <indology at list.indology.info>
> *Subject: *[External] Re: [INDOLOGY] Johannes Bronkhorst gone
>
> This is devastating news. I knew Johannes 'only' since 1996 or so; he was
> a knowledgeable colleague full of humour. I also had the privilege of
> receiving a parcel with offprints of his most recently published articles
> once a year for several years, until the sheer output of his gigantic
> productivity (for those of you who are unaware of that: just have a look at
> his page at Academia.edu) made him decide to send an email with download
> links instead. An amazing man and a huge loss to all of us.
>
> RZ
>
>
> Harry Falk via INDOLOGY wrote on 14.05.25 20:47:
>
> Dear friends and colleagues,
>
> I have just received the news that Johannes Bronkhorst left this world
>
> today at noon in a controlled manner, as was his custom, together with his
>
> beloved wife Joy Manné.
>
> He sent the last batch of his papers just a few days ago. He will be
>
> remembered as an innovative and inspired scientist, a cheerful person and
>
> a true and dear friend.
>
> Sadly.
>
> Harry Falk
>
>
>
> --
> Prof. Dr. Robert J. Zydenbos / ಪ್ರೊ. ಡಾ. ರೊಬೆರ್ತ್ ಜೆಯ್ದೆನ್ಬೊಸ್ (retd.)
> Institute of Indology and Tibetology
> Department of Asian Studies
> Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (University of Munich – LMU)
> Germany
>
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>
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