Note
The following paper is given without diacritics, with the exception of a few Sanskrit passages which follow the Kyoto-Harvard convention of 1990. A list of Sanskrit words is given at the end of the paper, following this pa
rticular style of transcription. - (Kyoto-Harvard transcription: a A i I u U R RR L LL e ai o au M H k kh g gh G c ch j jh J T Th D Dh N t th d dh n p ph b bh m y r l v z S s h Anunasika w, Vedic accents are placed after the vowel
s )
Address
Michael Witzel, Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies,
Harvard University, 53 Church Street, Cambridge MA 02138, USA
phone: 617 - 495 3295 (voicemail), 496 8570, fax: 617 - 496 8571
email: witzel@husc3.harvard.edu
Comments and discussion of previous articles
(Comments on this paper will follow in the next issue).
Rig Veda, a metrically restored textHOS: Founded in 1891 by CHARLES ROCKWELL LANMAN and HENRY CLARKE WARREN.
with an introduction and notes
by BAREND A. VAN NOOTEN and GARY B. HOLLAND[Including computer diskettes of the metrical and the traditional Samhita texts with a quick program for word searches, as well as a simple conversion program allowing user to choose their own style of romanization].
[NB: the texts are unformatted. The diskette is formatted in DOS style which is easily readable by Macintosh computers these days. On request, we may supply a Mac version in the near future.]
1994. Pages, xviii, 667. Royal 8. Price, $50.00.
[ISBN 0-674-76971-6]
Published by the DEPARTMENT OF SANSKRIT AND INDIAN STUDIES and distributed by the HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Direct application for books of this Series may be made, with remittance, to the Harvard University Press, 79 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA (phone 617- 495 2606, fax 617- 495 5898).
The new subseries HOS-Opera Minora will be available from the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Harvard University, 53 Church Street, Cambridge MA 02138, USA (phone 617-495 3295, fax 617-496 8571, email Witzel@husc3. harvard.edu).
2. NEW VERSION OF BUEHLER'S GRUNDRISS
Indian Philology and South Asian Studies
The German publisher de Gruyter (Berlin/New York) is ready to release the first volume of a new, greatly enlarged and much more comprehensive version of Buehler's famous Grundriss published around the turn of the century (Grundriss der Indo-Arischen Philologie und Alterthumskunde/ Encyclopedia of Indo-Aryan Research).
The new series, to be announced in more detail later on, is edited by Albrecht Wezler (Hamburg University) and Michael Witzel (Harvard University).
The first volume is an update on the interface of archaeology, linguistics, philology and history of early South Asia (ed. G. Erdosy, Toronto conference of 1992). Other volumes in line include: Epic grammar by Th. Oberlies, A Handbook of Pali Literature by O. von Hinueber (with an appendix by H.O. Pint on Grammatical Literature), and a Vedic history.
News on dissertation theses
A list of current theses in Vedic Studies at Harvard
Ph.D. theses in various stages of completion underway in the field of Vedic studies at Harvard include the following (working titles) :
To be added, in this context, is a former student of M. Witzel at Leiden, Netherlands:
And a completed thesis:
Brief descriptions of two theses are added here; more are to follow. You are invited to send similar accounts on Vedic theses (in a wider sense) to the journal.
It is hereby proposed that we begin to publish lists of microfilms and tape recordings which we have made during our various trips to the subcontinent or to libraries elsewhere.
In the next issue, a list of microfilms (some 40,000 fols.) made in the Seventies in various parts of India and Nepal will be published by M. Witzel. These include some rare Vedic texts which are in need of study - something that cannot always be carried out by just one person or at one location alone. It is hoped that this kind of inventory will stimulate exchange and cooperation which has, of course, always been extended on a personal basis between some scholars in the field.
We should extend this list to films and video tapes of Vedic rituals and, perhaps mosty importantly, to electronic texts. Over the years the undersigned has collected some 12 MB of Vedic texts, -- to which we may now add the 13 MB of Epic texts, graciously put at our disposal by Prof. Muneo Tokunaga of Kyoto University. Liberality of this magnitude has to be gratefully acknowledged. It is hoped that we can extend this to our various collections of Vedic texts as well.
MW
I would like to announce the construction of the Indo-European Homepage located at:
http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/home/ftp/pub/titus/public_html
It will function as a central web site for access to resources of relevance to Comparatists, Indo-Europeanists and other interested scholars.
Dr. Fco. Javier Martinez Garcia
Vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft tel. +49- 69- 7982 2847
Universitaet Frankfurt sekr. +49- 69- 7982 3139
Postfach 11 19 32 fax. +49- 69- 7982 2873
D-60054 Frankfurt
martinez@em.unifrankfurt.d400.de
Attention should also be drawn to the TITUS project
http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/home/ftp/pub/titus/public_html/ index.html
at the University of Frankfurt which already has a number of Vedic texts in its archives. An amalgated list will be published in the next issue of EJVS.
Our own EJVS-home page (http://www.shore.net/~india/ejvs/) is still under construction. A WWW version of this issue of EJVS -- with diacritics -- will be added there in the near future.
Events
Conference on Samaveda, planned for late fall 1995, at Harvard
Organized by:
International Foundation for Studies in the Vedas, Rahway, New Jersey
The Department of Asian and African Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland,
Center for Vedic Studies, Department of Sanskrit, Harvard University,
Akhanda Bharatavarsa Vedavidya Parisad in collaboration with:
Sri Sarvaraya Pathasala, Kapileswarapuram, East Godavari Dst., Andhra,
Valmiki Vidyapeeth, Bhrikuti Mandap, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Prospective date: November/December 1995 (Margasirsa), at Harvard University. Exact time and venue to be announced.
The International Foundation for Studies in the Vedas (formerly International Foundation for Vedic Education) organized an earlier conference on Atharvaveda in the United Nations complex in July 1993. In this meeting, traditional Pandits, Indian and western scholars participated and freely exchanged views on the AV and the subjects traditionally allied with it, such as medicine. This time, deliberations will be restricted to the Samaveda, its music, and links with later musical traditions.
From the original announcement:
The Foundation's aim is to promote Vedic education by continuing the traditional methods of teaching as well as by adopting contemporary methods of education and study with a view to preserving the Vedas. The Foundation also aims to promote research in the Vedas from the traditional perspective to gain a better understanding of the Vedas. The objective of the Second International Conference on Vedas is to bring together the traditional Vedic scholars from India and Nepal, and the contemporary scholars specializing in Sama Veda and Gandharva Veda from around the world, to discuss present problems and future tasks, such as preservation of those Sakhas which are on the verge of extinction, and to endeavor to find ways of resurrecting those Sakhas which appear to have been lost.Topics for the 1995 Conference include:
For more information contact:
Mr. Sastry L. Kambhampati, President, International Foundation for Studies in the Vedas,
Michael Witzel, Chair, Committee on South Asian Studies, Harvard
University, 53 Church Street, Cambridge, MA-02138
phone: 617-495-3295, fax: 617-496 8571,
email: Witzel@husc3.harvard.edu.
Conference on Dowry and Bride Burning, planned for early October 1995,
at Harvard.
Organized by the International Society Against Dowry and Bride Burning in India, Inc. and the Committee on South Asian Studies, Harvard University.
The conference is planned for September 30 - Oct. 2, 1995 at Harvard. Exact time and location to be announced.
The meeting will deal with the issues of Sati, excessive dowry and its recent development, bride burning,.according to Vedic and post-Vedic sources as well as with the gruesome modern outcome of these practices. Participants who have declared their intention to attend include scholars, Indian lawyers, and some surviving victims of bride burning.
From the original announcement:
Extortion of dowry money in contracting marriages has reached a desperate proportion in modern India. Thousands of newly married women are burnt alive every year by their in-laws because their fathers may have failed to pay the outstanding dowry installment. Already in 1984, 500 young women were burned that year in the Delhi area alone,. and from 1988-1990, 11,259 burnings were reported.Please contact:The acknowledgement and awareness of dowry and bride-burning should begin at its source: in India. Unfortunately, the social, political and administrative leaders in India seem uninterested. Characteristically, their first reaction is to deny the tragedy, minimize its gravity and stereotype it as media propaganda. People seem to feel no guilt when they burn a bride. The root of this strange behavior is not clearly understood. However, the solution of the problem may be found in the ancient Dharma texts themselves and in spiritual wisdom of India's own philosophy. Research articles are being invited from scholars on Indian culture and history. They will be published in the souvenir of the Conference.
H. B. Thakur
Michael Witzel, Chair, Committee on South Asian Studies, Harvard
University, 53 Church Street, Cambridge, MA-02138
phone: 617-495-3295, fax: 617-496 8571,
email: Witzel@husc3.harvard.edu.
Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies - ejvs-list@husc.harvard.edu
Revised: August 29, 1995
This page was developed and is maintained by Dr.Ludovico Magnocavallo - ludo@shore.net