Born in Rome, Italy, in 1965, Francesco Sferra studied philosophy and Indology at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” under the guidance of Prof. Raniero Gnoli, Prof. Raffaele Torella and Prof. Corrado Pensa. He was awarded a Doctorate in Sanskrit by the same University in 1999.
After holding provisional positions in teaching Sanskrit at the Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli from 1998 to 2001, he was appointed Associate Professor of Sanskrit and Indology in the Department of Asian Studies, at the same University, in November 2002. He is presently Director of the Dipartimento di Studi Asiatici, Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale“.
His main research areas are: tantric traditions in pre-13th century South Asia, especially Vajrayāna Buddhism; Śaivism; and classical Indian philosophy of language.
Ongoing Research in Tantric Studies
- Critical Edition and Translation of the Sekanirdeśapañjikā (with Harunaga Isaacson)
- Critical Edition and Translation of the Cittaviśuddhiprakaraṇa (with Harunaga Isaacson)
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Publications
Monographs
(1999) The Ṣaṭsāhasrikākhyā Hevajratantrapiṇḍārthaṭīkā by Vajragarbha. Critical Edition and Translation, Roma, xxvii + 290 pp. (Doctoral thesis; a revised edition of this volume is forthcoming in the Firenze University Press)
(2000) The Ṣaḍaṅgayoga by Anupamarakṣita with Raviśrījñāna’s Guṇabharaṇī-nāma-ṣaḍaṅgayogaṭippaṇī. Text and Annotated Translation, Serie Orientale Roma 85, IsIAO, Roma, 342 pp.
(2002) I discorsi del Buddha, edited by C. Cicuzza and F. Sferra, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milano, 275 pp.
(2006) The Paramārthasaṃgraha by Nāropā (Sekoddeśaṭīkā), Critical Edition of the Sanskrit Text by Francesco Sferra and Critical Edition of the Tibetan Translation by Stefania Merzagora, Serie Orientale Roma 99, IsIAO, Roma, 460 pp. [pp. 13-21, 29-35, 59-207]
Annotated translations
(2001) La rivelazione del Buddha. I testi antichi, a cura di Raniero Gnoli. Traduzioni e commento di C. Cicuzza et alii, I Meridiani. Classici dello Spirito, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milano. [Translations of the following texts: Saccavibhaṅgasutta (pp. 13-22), Mahātaṇhāsaṅkhayasutta (pp. 23-44), Milindapañha 2-3 (pp. 103-200), Aggivacchagottasutta (pp. 207-215), Cūamāluṅkyasutta (pp. 221-229), Alagaddūpamasutta (pp. 231-252), Vīmaṃsakasutta (pp. 263-270), Bhaddekarattasutta (pp. 329-334), Cūasuññatasutta (pp. 375-382), Dvedhāvitakkasutta (pp. 383-395), Vitakkasanthānasutta (pp. 397-404), Kakacūpamasutta (pp. 445-459), Cūakammavibhaṅgasutta (pp. 461-472), Puṇṇovādasutta (pp. 473-479), Dhammapada (pp. 501-595), Udāna (pp. 597-730). Together with C. Cicuzza he is author of the introductory chapter “I testi antichi” (pp. LXXIX-CXXXVII), of the Glossary (pp. 1323-1359) and of the Bibliography (pp. 1361-1384)]
(2004) La rivelazione del Buddha. Volume secondo. Il Grande veicolo, a cura di Raniero Gnoli. Traduzioni e commento di C. Cicuzza et alii, I Meridiani. Classici dello Spirito, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milano. [Translations of the following texts: Prajñāpāramitāhṛdayasūtra (pp. 11-19), Lalitavistara 25 (pp. 157-177), Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtra 2-3 (pp. 179-209), Bhāvanākrama I (pp. 851-925), Viṃśatikā (pp. 1045-1068), Tattvasaṅgrahapañjikā 336-349 (pp. 1155-1174), Gurupañcāśikā (pp. 1289-1299), Hevajratantra 1.1, 1.9 (pp. 1319-1334); together with C. Cicuzza he is author of the chapter “Introduzione ai testi tradotti” (pp. LXXIX-CCXXIV), of the Glossary (pp. 1535-1579) and of the Bibliography (pp. 1581-1595)]
Articles
(1991) “Aspetti della speculazione linguistica nello Śaivasiddhānta. Le Nādakārikā di Rāmakaṇṭha”, Rivista degli Studi Orientali 65.3-4: 311-337.
(1994) “Le speculazioni su Vāc in alcuni testi del Pāñcarātra”, Rivista degli Studi Orientali 68.1-2: 45-108.
(1996) “Monachesimo nelle religioni orientali”, Enciclopedia delle Scienze Sociali, vol. V, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Roma, pp. 784-792.
(1997) C. Cicuzza, F. Sferra, “Brief Notes on the Beginning of the Kālacakra Literature”, Dhīḥ. Journal of Rare Buddhist Texts Research Project 23: 113-126.
(1998) “Le fonti scritturali del Pāñcarātra nel Saṃvitprakāśa di Vāmanadatta”. In: Oscar Botto (ed.) Atti del Settimo Convegno Nazionale di Studi Sanscriti (Palermo 20-21 maggio 1993), Associazione Italiana di Studi Sanscriti, Torino, pp. 285-299.
(1999) “The Concept of Purification in some Texts of late Indian Buddhism”, Journal of Indian Philosophy. Special issue. Guruvandana: Essays in Indology in Honour of K. Bhattacharya, vol. 27.1-2: 83-103.
(1999) “The Tantroccaya by Abhinavagupta. An English Translation”, Annali dell’Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli 59.1-4: 109-133.
(2000) “Sanskrit Manuscripts and Photos of Sanskrit Manuscripts in Giuseppe Tucci’s Collection. A preliminary Report”, Studia Indologiczne 7: 397-447 [= Marek Mejor and Piotr Balcerowicz (eds.) On understanding other cultures. Proceedings of the International Conference on Sanskrit and Related Studies to Commemorate the Centenary of Birth of Stanislaw Schayer (1899-1941) at the Warsaw University (October 7-10.1999), Warsaw].
(2001) “Alcune note sulla Hevajratantrapiṇḍārthaṭīkā di Vajragarbha”. In: Oscar Botto (ed.) Atti dell’Ottavo Convegno Nazionale di Studi Sanscriti (Torino 20-21 ottobre 1995), Associazione Italiana di Studi Sanscriti, Torino, pp. 125-135.
(2001) “Il Sūtra del loto: temi principali e fortuna del testo”: Introduzione a Il Sūtra del loto, traduzione a cura di Luciana Meazza, BUR, Milano, pp. 3-39.
(2001) “La Tantravaṭadhānikā di Abhinavagupta”. In: Raffaele Torella (ed.) Le parole e i marmi. Studi in onore di Raniero Gnoli nel suo 70° compleanno, Serie Orientale Roma 92.1-2, IsIAO, Roma, pp. 743-769.
(2003) “Il silenzio del Buddha”. In: Giovanni Maria D’Erme (ed.) Fedi e culture oltre il Dio di Abramo, Guida Editore, Napoli, pp. 115-133.
(2003) “Some Considerations on the Relationship Between Hindu and Buddhist Tantras”. In: Giovanni Verardi and Silvio Vita (eds), Buddhist Asia 1. Papers from the First Conference of Buddhist Studies Held in Naples in May 2001, Italian School of East Asian Studies, Kyoto, pp. 57-84.
(2004) “Teaching and Spiritual Counselling in Indian Buddhist Traditions. Some Considerations on the Role of the kalyāṇamitra”. In: Antonio Rigopoulos (ed.) Guru. The Spiritual Master in Eastern and Western Traditions: Authority and Charisma, Indoasiatica 2, Venezia, pp. 345-371.
(2005) “Constructing the Wheel of Time. Strategies for establishing a tradition”. In: Federico Squarcini (ed.) Boundaries, Dynamics and Construction of Traditions in South Asia, Firenze University Press and Munshiram Manoharlal, Firenze and New Delhi, pp. 253-285.
(2005) “Le dodici strofe sulla realtà suprema”. In: Michele Bernardini and Natalia L. Tornesello (eds.) Scritti in onore di Giovanni M. D’Erme, Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”, Dipartimento di Studi Asiatici, Series Minor 68, Napoli, vol. II, pp. 1099-1113.
(2005) “Rivelazione e parola nelle fonti indiane”. In: Patrizia Manganaro and Riccardo Ferri (eds), Gesto e parola – ricerche sulla Rivelazione, Città Nuova Editrice, Roma, pp. 167-186.
(2006) “Recenti ritrovamenti di manoscritti buddhisti indiani”. In: Giuliano Boccali and Maurizio Scarpari (eds), Scritture e Codici nelle culture dell’Asia: Giappone, Cina, Tibet, India. Prospettive di studio, Venezia, pp. 257-275.
(2007) “Fragments of Puṇḍarīka’s Paramārthasevā”. In: Indica et Tibetica. Festschrift fūr Michael Hahn zum 65. Geburtstag von Freunden und Schūlern ūberreicht, herausgegeben von Konrad Klaus und Jens-Uwe Hartmann, Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 66, Wien, pp. 459-476.
(2007) “Materials for the Study of the Levels of Sound in the Sanskrit Sources of the Śaivasiddhānta. Ratnatrayaparīkṣā 22, 70c-86b, 171c-173b and its Ullekhinī. With Excerpts from an Unpublished Commentary”. In: Dominic Goodall & André Padoux (eds), Mélanges tantriques à la mémoire d’Hélène Brunner/Tantric Studies in Memory of Hélène Brunner, Collection Indologie — 106, Institut Français de Pondichéry/Ecole Française d’Extrême-Orient, Pondichéry, pp. 443-474.
(2007) “The Elucidation of True Reality. The Kālacakra Commentary by Vajragrabha on the Tattvapaṭala of the Hevajratantra”. In: Edward A. Arnold (ed.) As Long As Space Endures: Essays on the Kalachakra Tantra in Honor of H.H. the Dalai Lama, Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications. [ Publisher's Site ]
(2008) The Last Stanzas of the Paramārthasevā. Tantric Studies Volume 1, pp.209-214.
(2009) “The Laud of the Chosen Deity, the First Chapter of the Hevajratantrapiṇḍārthaṭīkā by Vajragarbha”. In: Shingo Einoo, ed., Genesis and Development of Tantrism, Tokyo: University of Tokyo, Institute of Oriental Culture, March 2009, pp.435–468.
Reviews
(1993) Review of The Aphorisms of Śiva. The Śivasūtra with Bhāskara’s Commentary, the Vārttika, translated with Exposition and Notes by M.S.G. Dyczkowski, Albany, NY, Suny, Rivista degli Studi Orientali 67.1-2: 212-218.
(1995) Review of Hermann Oldenberg, Kleine Schriften Teil 3, herausgegeben von Hanns-Peter Schmidt, Franz Steiner Verlag Stuttgart 1993, East and West 45.1-4: 425.
(1995) “Textual Criticism Notes on the Vimalaprabhā by Puṇḍarīka”, East and West 45.1-4: 359-364.
(2001) Review of M.D. Willis, Inscriptions of Gopakṣetra: Materials for the History of Central India, London 1996, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 44.4: 608-610.
(2002) “55. Macha pūrān”, “116. Matsyapurāṇa”, “157. Abhidhammapiṭaka”. In: Antonio Cadei (ed.) Il trionfo sul tempo. Manoscritti illustrati dell’Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Modena, pp. 156, 270, 339-341.
(2005) “La figura del Buddha e il suo insegnamento”. In: Stefano Rosso, Emilia Turco, Gianfranco Ceronetti (eds), Dialogo come progetto – 2. Le tradizioni religiose dell’Asia, Quaderni “Ecumenismo e Dialogo” 9, “Commissione interregionale per l’ecumenismo e il dialogo” Piemonte-Valle d’Aosta, Torino, pp. 61-64 (the debate [“Dibattito (F. Sferra - M. Maggi)”] is on pp. 72-76).
(2007) “‘Leggere’ il Buddhismo”. Preface to 1) Buddhismo. Testi Antichi dal Canone pāli, Milano 2007; and 2) Buddhismo. Testi in sanscrito, Milano 2007 [new edition (with some changes) of La Rivelazione del Buddha, 2001, 2004], pp. 3-7.
(2007) “Newly Discovered Stanzas of the Paramārthasevā by Puṇḍarīka”, Newsletter of the NGMCP, Number 5, pp. 6-9.
In Press
Articles
(2007) “Il concetto di atammayatā nei Nikāya pāli”. In: Paolo Urizzi (ed.) Il Fine ultimo dell’Uomo. Atti del 1° Simposio su: Prospettive sacre d’Oriente e d’Occidente. Palermo 2005, Palermo.
Notes
“Kośagatavastiguhyatā”. Appendix in Maurizio Taddei, “Some Reflections on the Formation of the Buddha Image”. In: Ellen M. Raven & Gregory L. Possehl (eds.) Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference of the European Association of South Asian Archaeologists held at the Universiteit van Leiden, 5-9 July, 1999, Egbert Forsten, Groningen Indological Studies XV, Groningen, pp. 16-20.
(in collaborazione con Vincenzo Vergiani) “Due manoscritti sanscriti preservati nella Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Roma): Vat-Ind. 71 e Vat-Ind. 72”, Miscellanee Bibliothecae Apostolicae Vaticanae XV.
In Preparation
Monographs
F. Sferra (ed.) Manuscripta Buddhica Series Vol. I. (Article: ‘Sanskrit Texts from Giuseppe Tucci’s Collection.’) IsIAO-UNO, SOR, Rome-Naples.
F. Sferra, Linguaggio e realtà. Teorie di filosofia del linguaggio nell’India classica, Carocci Editore, Roma.
M. Kaul and F. Sferra, Abhinavagupta’s Short Works. Critical Edition and Translations. (provisional title)
Articles
“On Knowability. The Concept of vedyatā According to Abhinavagupta. An Analysis of Tantrāloka 10.19-97ab”.
“The Nāda Theory of Language. An Analysis of its Ontological Presuppositions”, in Nirmalya Narayan Chakraborty (ed.) … [revised and enlarged edition of Sferra 1991].