Bhartrhari lived in the tenth century c.e. Being both a grammarian and philosopher, his influence on subsequent grammatical and philosophical thought in India has been enormous in spite of this modern scholarship has not yet given him the attention he deserves no doubt because his extent writings are difficult and were not until recently, available in satisfactory editions. Interest among scholars for Bhartrhari is now, however, growing. This is the reason why an international conference on Bhartrhari was organized in January 1992 in Pune, under the joint auspices of the University of Poons and the University of Lausanne (Switzerland). The present volume contains some of the papers read at this conference as well as an up-to-date bibliography on Bhartrhari.

The volume is the first outcome of an international project aiming to create a complete critical edition of the ‘Kasikavrtti’ (7th c. CE) of Jayaditya and Vamana, the oldest surviving complete commentary on the ‘Astadhyayi of Panini’ (ca. 4th c. BCE). The first phase, culminating in this critical edition of the Kasika’s initial section (devoted to the ‘Pratyaharasutras’, the ‘rules for abbreviations’) was jointly coordinated by the editors together with Professor Saroja Bhate, a Paninian scholar of global renown. This edition is accompanied by a description of the manuscripts collated, an annotated English translation by the editors, and a series of editorial contributions dealing with the history of the Kasikavrtti’s editions and its current textual sources. Summaries of the methodology and results of the project’s first phase are also included. In the second part of the study, various authors discuss an array of theoretical, historical and methodological topics ranging from the historical importance of the Kasika and its relation with the seminal ‘Mahabhasya’ of Patanjali, to a comparison with the corresponding section in the ‘Candravrtti’, the evidence of Bhartrhari’s influence on the Kasika, and the copyists’ invocations and the incipit attested in the ‘Kasikavrtti’ manuscripts.

A well-known Sanskrit drama presented here in a bilingual translation.

Mahābhārata (including Harivaṃśa) and Rāmāyaṇa, the two great Sanskrit Epics central to the whole of Indian Culture, form the subject of this new work. The book begins by examining the relationship of the epics to the Vedas and the role of the bards who produced them. The core of the work, a study of the linguistic and stylistic features of the epics, precedes the examination of the material culture, the social, economic and political aspects, and the religious aspects. The final chapter presents the wider picture and in conclusion even looks into the future of epic studies. In this long overdue survey work the author synthesizes the results of previous scholarship in the field. Herewith a coherent view is built up of the nature and the significance of these two central epics, both in themselves, and in relation to Indian culture as a whole.

This book introduces the term "otherism" and looks at the discourse of otherism and the issue of otherness in South Asian religion, literature and film. It examines cultural questions related to the human condition of being the "other," of the process of "othering" and of the representation of "otherness" and its religious, cultural and ideological implications. The book applies the perspectives of ideological criticism, theories of hybridity, orientalism, nationalism, and gender and queer studies to gain new insights into the literature, film and culture of South Asia. It looks at the different ways of interpreting "otherness" today. The book goes on to analyze the ideological implications of the creation of "otherness" with regard to religious and cultural identity and the legitimation of power, as well as how the representation of "otherness" reflects the power structures of contemporary societies in South Asia. Offering a well-thought-out reflection on important cultural questions as well as a deep insight into the study of religion and "otherness" in South Asian literature and film, this book is a pioneering project that is of interest to scholars of South Asian Studies and South Asian religions, literatures and cultures.

The most popular story in all of India and a classic of world literature is summarised in 728 verses in the great epic Mahabharata. Intended for independent study or classroom use for students of various levels who have had a basic introduction to Sanskrit, this fully annotated edition of the Ramopakhyana supplies all the information required for complete comprehension. It contains the Devanagari text, Roman transliteration, sandhi analysis, Sanskrit prose equivalents to the verses, syntactic and cultural notes, and the English translation, and word-by-word grammatical analysis.

This exploration of early paths for Buddhist transmission within and beyond South Asia retraces the footsteps of monks, merchants, and other agents of cross-cultural exchange. A reassessment of literary, epigraphic, and archaeological sources reveals hisorical contexts for the growth of the Buddhist saṅgha from approximately the 5th century BCE to the end of the first millennium CE. Patterns of dynamic Buddhist mobility were closely linked to transregional trade networks extending to the northwestern borderlands and joined to Central Asian silk routes by capillary routes through transit zones in the upper Indus and Tarim Basin. By examining material conditions for Buddhist establishments at nodes along these routes, this book challenges models of gradual diffusion and develops alternative explanations for successful Buddhist movement.

Among Asian languages, Tibetan is second only to Chinese in the depth of its historical record, with texts dating back as far as the eighth and ninth centuries, written in an alphabetic script that preserves the contemporaneous phonological features of the language. The Classical Tibetan Language is the first comprehensive description of the Tibetan language and is distinctive in that it treats the classical Tibetan language on its own terms rather than by means of descriptive categories appropriate to other languages, as has traditionally been the case. Beyer presents the language as a medium of literary expression with great range, power, subtlety, and humor, not as an abstract object. He also deals comprehensively with a wide variety of linguistic phenomena as they are actually encountered in the classical texts, with numerous examples of idioms, common locutions, translation devices, neologisms, and dialectal variations.