MS. Sansk. b. 28

MSS. Sansk. b.

Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa

Summary of Contents: A palm leaf manuscript of the Rāmāyaṇa, kāṇḍas 1-6, by Vālmīki, written in Grantha script.

Rubric: śrīsītārāmābhyān namaḥ |

Incipit: yasya – rada — ntrādyāḥ pāriṣadyāḥ parāś śataṃ | vighnan nighnanti satataṃ viṣvakṣenan tam āśraye | Rāmāya Rāmabhadrāya Rāmacandrāya vedhase | Raghunāthāya nāthāya Sītāyāḥ pataye namaḥ ----------- kūjantaṃ Rāma Rāmeti madhuram madhurākṣaram | āruhya kavitāśākhāṃ vande Vālmīkikokilaṃ | Valmīker mmunisiṃhasya kavitāvanacāriṇaḥ | śṛṇvan Rāmakathānādaṃ ko na yāti parāṃ gatiṃ ǁ 10 ǁ piban satataṃ Rāmacaritāmṛtasāgaram | atṛptas tammunistandaprācetasam akalmaṣaṃ | … śṛṇvan Rāmāyaṇam bhaktyā yaḥ pādaṃ padam eva vā | sa yāti brahmaṇa sthānam brahmaṇā pūjyate sadā | Vālmīkigirisaṃvṛtā Rāmasāgaragāminī | punāti bhuvanam --Rāmāyaṇamahānadī | … paraṃ vyākhyāntam Bharatādibhiḥ parivṛtaṃRāmaṃ bhaje śyāmalaṃ ǁ śubham astu ǁ oṃ ǁ tapasvāddhyāyaniradan tapasvī vāgvidāṃ varaṃ | &c. F. 3: ity ārṣe śrīrāmāyaṇe ādikāvye śrīmatbālakāṇḍe śrīnāradavākye śrīsaṃkṣepo nāma prathamas sargaḥ ǁ

Language(s): Sanskrit.

Physical Description

Form: pothī

Support: Palm-leaves, kept together by two wooden boards.

Extent: i + 358 + i

Dimensions (folio): 3 × 46 cm.

Foliation: Arabic numerals in pencil, top-right margin, recto.

Condition

A corner of f. 301, and a large piece of f. 348, are lost; f. 356 is damaged. The top and bottom lines are very frequently discoloured and damaged by breaks, as on ff. 1–14, 30, 45, 95, 120–124, 137, &c.

Hand(s)

Grantha. Scribe: Kṛṣna

‘Kṛṣna, pupil of Rāmacandra, who writes: śrīrāmacandrapādābjaṣaṭpadibhṛtacetasā | Rāmāyaṇam idaṃ śrīmatkṛṣṇena likhitam mudā ǁ … śrīmaty Ayoddhyānagare sabhāyāṃ siṃhāsane mantragaṇābhiṣiktaḥ | Saumitrisitāhanumatsametaḥ śrīkāmacandraḥ śrīyam ātanotu ǁ’

Binding

The manuscript is held together by two dark wood, undecorated boards. A new string with a wooden rod at the end is kept loosely in the box.

Kept in a textile-covered cardboard library box, including a glued-in note in pen: ‘320 leaves, written on both sides. Early 18th. Cent. Very much broken and discoloured. Shrī Rāmāyaṇē, Bāla Khāṇḍa. Sanskrit in Grantham character. The 1st. Book of Vālmīki's Rāmāyaṇa.’

History

Origin: Not dated, terminus ante quem 1698.

‘ f. 354^v parābhavasaṃvatsaraṃ śrāvaṇamāsaṃ śrīmadrāmāyaṇaṃ sampūrṇaṃ ǁ’

Winternitz and Keith write: ‘ Taking into account the fairly old appearance of the MS., the parābhava year of the cycle of Bṛhaspati, in which this copy of the Rāmāyaṇa is said to have been finished, may be A.D. 1666, or 1726, or 1786. The year A.D. 1726 is the most probable. If it is the northern Bṛhaspati cycle, the date is A.D. 1656 (cf. date of donation), Sewell and Dīkṣit, Indian Calendar, p. xc. ’

Provenance and Acquisition

Given on October 27, 1698, by the Rev. George Lewis, Chaplain of the English merchants at Fort St. George.

Record Sources

Description by Barbora Sojkova, based on observation of the manuscript and the following sources:

Winternitz and Keith, Catalogue of Sanskrit manuscripts, no. 1167, pp. 145-146

Availability

Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card (for admissions procedures contact Bodleian Admissions). Contact specialcollections.enquiries@bodleian.ox.ac.uk for further information on the availability of this manuscript.

Bibliography

Printed descriptions:

Moriz Winternitz and Arthur Berriedale Keith, Catalogue of Sanskrit manuscripts in the Bodleian Library (Oxford, 1905), no. 1167, pp. 145-146

Funding of Cataloguing

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