Brian Collins is an Associate Professor and the Drs. Ram and Sushila Gawande Chair in Indian Religion and Philosophy at Ohio University. He is the author of The Head Beneath the Altar: Hindu Mythology and the Critique of Sacrifice and various essays on Hinduism and the study of religion. His second book, The Other Rāma: Matricide and Varṇicide in the Mythology of Paraśurāma is forthcoming from SUNY Press.