Dr. Frank Köhler completed his Ph.D. in Indology at the University of Leipzig in November 2008. His dissertation, titled “Kavi im Ṛgveda,” was supervised by Catharina Kiehnle, with Maria Schetelich and Jan Houben as reviewers. Prior to this, he earned his Magister in Philosophy, Indology, and German Studies from the University of Münster, where he wrote his thesis on “Hugo Dinglers Auseinandersetzung mit der Relativitätstheorie.”
Since October 2004, Dr. Köhler has served as a lecturer for Sanskrit in the Department of Indology at the University of Tübingen. He has also held various research positions at the University of Leipzig and the University of Münster. His lectureships include courses on Indian festivals at the University of Göttingen and seminars on Indian philosophy at LMU München. His research projects include the DFG-funded project on 19th-century Indology at the University of Würzburg and a study on concepts of kingship in India at the University of Cagliari. He is currently involved in a research project at the University of Cracow, examining aggression and domination in Indian culture. He has received grants from the Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften, among other institutions.
„Kaví- im Ṛgveda. Dichtung, Schöpfung und Ritual im frühvedischen Denken.“ Diss. Univ. Leipzig 2008. Aachen: Shaker-Verlag 2011.
„Otto Böhtlingk an Rudolf Roth. Briefe zum Petersburger Wörterbuch 1852-1885. Index“. Hg. von Agnes Stache-Weiske, Gabriele Zeller und Frank Köhler. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2015. (= Glasenapp-Stiftung ; 45,2)
Heike Oberlin; Frank Köhler (Hg.). 2020. Die 1000 Namen Vishnus. Viṣṇusahasranāma. Sanskrit-Handschriften aus der Sammlung Heide und Wolfgang Voelter. Begleitband zur gleichnamigen Ausstellung im Museum Alte Kulturen des Museums der Universität Tübingen auf Schloss Hohentübingen. Tübingen: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Museum der Universität Tübingen MUT.
Renate Söhnen-Thieme; Frank Köhler (Hg.). 2022. Präzision und Phantasie. Paul Thiemes Methodik und ihr Einfluss auf die Indologie. Düren: Shaker Verlag
Artikel
„Die Dichter und die Sonne im Ṛgveda.“ In: XXX. Deutscher Orientalistentag Freiburg, 24 – 28.9.2007. Ausgewählte Vorträge. Herausgegeben im Auftrag der DMG von Rainer Brunner, Jens Peter Laut und Maurus Reinkowski. Online-Publikation, Dezember 2009.
Ṛgveda 1.160: The enigma of revealing and concealing identities”. In: Rivista degli Studi Orientali, LXXXIII (2010) (in print 2012). P. 317-326.
“RV 3.26: Poetry and the multifarious nature of Agni”. In: Indologica Taurinensia 39. 2013. P. 155-185.
„Some Thoughts on padavī́ and padáṃ véḥ”. In: Hans H. Hock (E.d): Vedic Studies. Language, Texts, Culture, and Philosophy, Proceedings of the 15th World Sanskrit Conference. Delhi: DK Printworld 2014. P. 125-151.
“Nur in imperialen Diensten? Zu einer neuen Studie über Sāyaṇa und den ihm zugeschriebenen Ṛgveda-Kommentar“. In: Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 111 (3). 2016. P. 197-203.
Orthodoxy in the Ṛgveda? In: Pontillo, Tiziana [et al.] 2015: The Volatile World of Sovereignty. The Vrātya Problem and Kingship in South Asia. Ed. by Tiziana Pontillo, Christina Bignami, Moreno Dore, Elena Mucciarelli. New Delhi: D. K. Printworld, p. 356-375.
Karṇa and the Dharmik Evaluation of Character in the Mahābhārata. In: Indologica Taurinensia 40. 2016. Proceedings of the Conference “Patterns of Bravery. The Figure of the Hero in Indian Literature, Art and Thought. Cagliari, Cittadella dei Musei – 14th-16th May, 2015. Ed. by Tizaina Pontillo.” P. 131-150.
Traces of vrātya-culture in the Ṛgveda? On Ṛgvedic dyútāna, devayā́na, its availability for humans, and its alleged relation to the vrātyas. In: Vrātya culture in Vedic sources: select papers from the Panel on "Vrātya Culture in Vedic Sources" at the 16th World Sanskrit Conference (28 June - 2 July 2015) Bangkok, Thailand. Ed. by Tiziana Pontillo [et al.]. New Delhi: DK Publishers p. 159-176. 2016 [= 16th WSC ; 5]
Mapping the Poet in the Ṛgveda. In: Creating the Veda, living the Veda : selected papers from the 13th World Sanskrit Conference. Edited by Joel P. Brereton, Theodore N. Proferes. Helsinki : Academia Scientiarum Fennica [2018], p. 111-125.
“‘Who Has Found Speech Having Entered into the Seers?’ On ṚV 10.71.3 and the Origin of Speech.” In Proceedings of the 17th World Sanskrit Conference, Vancouver, Canada, July 9-13, 2018, Section 1: Veda, edited by Shrikant Bahulkar and Joanna Jurewicz. 2019 DOI: 10.14288/1.0379847.
Kavíkratu. In: Lingua posnaniensis 61 (2), p. 73-82. 2019 (publ. 2020).
Die Texte der Voelter-Handschriften. In: Oberlin, Köhler 2020, pp. 15-23.
"Some difficulties in finding traces of a Vrātya culture". In: Elisabetta Poddighe and Tiziana Pontillo (Eds.): Resisting and justifying changes: how to make the new acceptable in the Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern world, Pisa: Pisa University Press, 2021 (Nuova biblioteca di studi classici e orientali 5), pp. 109-126. 978-88-333-9508-1
“Weltinnenraum”: A short glance at a short Ṛgvedic hymn (ṚS 10,177). In: Medhótá śraváḥ: felicitation volume in honour of Mislav Jezic on the occasion of his seventieth birthday. Ed. by Ivan Andrijanić et al. New Delhi : Dev Publishers & Distributors ; Zagreb : in cooperation with Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2023, pp. 47-60.
Sonstiges
Thieme-Symposium: 21.-22.2.2017
WS 2010/11: (with Dr. Heike Moser and students): Translation and performance of the Indian play Bhgavadajjukam (three performances: 14.2., 3.11, 4.11.2011)