CONTENTS Foreword MAKARAND PARANJAPE 9 Shabad: An Invocation by H. S. GILL18 ESSAYS Artha-Nirdharana: Text and Interpretation in the Indian Tradition by KAPILKAPOOR 27 The Metaphysics of the Sanskrit Alphabet by RAVI KHANNA 40 Ganesh Vidya: On the Significance of Akshara by RAMOD PANDEY 66 Methodological Issues Concerning Hermeneutics in the Upanishads by R. P. SINGH 79 Sabda as Pramana in Vaishesika by SHASHIPRABHA KUMAR 98 Word and Beyond: Questions of Meaning and Interpretation by AVADHESH KUMAR SINGH 107 How (Not) To Read a Classical Indian Text : The First Adhyaya of the Natyashastra by MAKARAND PARANJAPE 131 Derrida and Nagarj una: Ethical Dimensions by FRANSON MANJALI 145 The Nature and Authority of Scripture in Shankara Vedanta by JAYANTI R SAHOO 154 Exposition of Anuttara by RAJNISH MISHRA 165 Sabda as a Category of Interpretation in the Tantras by MADHU KHANNA 177 Kalasha: A Living Visual Metaphor by HARSHA V. DEHEJIA 199 Cultural Interpretation of Oral Folktales SANTOSH K. SAREEN 215 Sabda in Guru Nanak Dev'sjapji Sahib by SIMI MALHOTRA 224 IDEAS Panini and Contemporary Literary Studies : A Note by ANIRUDDHAMUKHOPADHYAY 237 Panini and Modern Linguistics by ANISH KOSHY 244 Sabda as Sanskriti: Socio-Cultural Categories in Kautilya's Arthashastra by GAUTAM CHAKRABARTI252 Dhvani as a Method of Interpreting Texts by DHANANJAYSINGH 258 Literary Theory : An Indian Conceptual Framework by ANEETA RAJENDRAN 262 The Primacy ofSruti in Sri Aurobindo's Thought by PRASHANT KHANNA 270 Afterword by SANTOSH K. SAREEN 273 Professor Kapil Kapoor : Curriculum Vitae 277 Contributors 290