The Law Code of Viṣṇu (Vaiṣṇava-Dharmaśāstra) is one of the latest of the ancient Indian legal texts composed around the seventh century CE in Kashmir. Both because the Vaiṣṇava-Dharmaśāstra is the only Dharmaśāstra that can be geographically located and because it introduces some interesting and new elements into the discussion of Dharmaśāstric topics, this is a document of interest both to scholars of Indian legal literature and to cultural historians of India, especially of Kashmir. The new elements include the first Dharmaśāstric evidence for a wife burning herself at her husband’s cremation and the intrusion of devotional religion (bhakti) into Dharmaśāstras.

This volume contains a critical edition of the Sanskrit text based on fifteen manuscripts, an annotated English translation, and an introduction evaluating its textual history, its connections to previous Dharmaśāstras, its date and provenance, its structure and content, and the use made of it by later medieval writers.

Designated a critical language by the US Department of Defense, Pashto is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan and is commonly spoken in parts of Pakistan. This intermediate-level textbook, which follows Pashto: An Elementary Textbook, Volumes 1 and 2, is designed to bring students from high-introductory to intermediate proficiency. It offers students with basic knowledge of Pashto a thematically organized approach that develops strong speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills in the language used in everyday life and in official communications, the mass media, and the educational system of Afghanistan.

Utilizing current innovations in foreign language teaching, Pashto: An Intermediate Textbook is an invaluable resource for professionals and students wishing to improve their proficiency in this critical language.

Features of Pashto: An Intermediate Textbook:• More than a hundred audio files, available to stream on the Press website. Vocabulary lists allow readers to hover over a written word or phrase and hear it in both eastern and western dialects.• Carefully selected themes, including practical situations in survival and rich descriptions of the Pashtun code of honor and wedding customs, in order to help students learn the language within its cultural context.• Grammar points that help students quickly master the essential function of the structural elements used in the texts.• Pashto-English and English-Pashto glossaries that provide information regarding the gender and number of nouns, adjectives, and various forms of verbs.• Attractive four-color, user-friendly design with integrated audio and written exercises and cultural notes to provide students with necessary background.

A detailed discussion by the editor complements this critical edition and translation of the phonetical treatise (Pratisakhya) of the Saunaka Samhita, one of two versions of the second oldest Indian text, the Saunaka Atharvaveda.

The 19th century edition of the text by W.D. Whitney has long been out of date; this reevaluation provides insights into early grammatical thought and helps to re-establish the textual tradition of the Atharvaveda. The book deals with the phonetically correct pronunciation of that text which has received only preliminary treatment thus far. It is also one of the few in its genre.