[South Indian Sanskrit MS 018, Whish MS 17] [Collection of twelve Ātharvaṇa Upaniṣads]

Language-Sanskrit
Date [1800?]

Manuscript consists of two parts. Part A: a collection of 12 Ātharvaṇa Upaniṣads: 1. Rahasya Upaniṣad (f.1-4b); 2. Amṛtabindu Upaniṣad (f.4b-5b); 3. Tripurasundarī Upaniṣad (f.5b-6b); 4. Kālāgnirudra Upaniṣad (f.6b-7b); 5. Śārīra Upaniṣad, or Śārīraka Upaniṣad (f.8a-9a); 6. Atharvaśira Upaniṣad (f.9a-13b); 7. Kaivalya Upaniṣad (f.13b-15a); 8. Skanda Upaniṣad (f.15a-15b); 9. Mahā Upaniṣad, (or Tripurātapana Upaniṣad?) (f.16a-27a); 10. Devī Upaniṣad (f.27a-28b); 11. Tripurā Upaniṣad (f.28b-29b); 12. Upaniṣad (Kaṭha Upaniṣad?) (f.30a-34a) ? Part B: consists of 3 texts: 1. the Śrīvivdyāratnasūtra by Gauḍapādācārya, a pupil of Śuka Yogīndra (f.1-3a); 2. the Śrīvidyāratna(sūtra)dīpikā by Vidyāraṇya Muni, a pupil of Śaṅkarācārya (f.3a-23b); 3. the Atharvaśirobhāṣya by Bhāskararāya (f.24-37).

Winternitz notes that there are similar collections of Upanisads in the manuscripts described in Burnell, A. C. ‘Classified index to the Sanskrit MSS, in the Palace at Tanjore’, p.28-36, and in Part IV (by Ernst Windisch and Julius Eggeling) of ‘Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office’ by Julius Eggeling, Vol. I, p.126 seq.

Manuscript begins: athāto rahasyopaniṣadaṃ vyākhyāsyāmaḥ devarṣayo brahmāṇaṃ saṃpūjya praṇipatya papracchuḥ | bhagavan rahasyopaniṣadaṃ brūhīti | sobravīt | purā vyāso etc.

F.5b: bhadran nopi vātaya manaḥ | oṃ śāntiś śāntiś śāntiḥ | tisraḥ puras tripathā viśvacarṣaṇi yatra kathā akṣarās sanniviṣṭāḥ | etc. See Burnell, A. C. ‘Catalogue of a collection of Sanskrit manuscripts’ Part I Vedic manuscripts (London, 1869), p.62, where this is given as the beginning of a Tripuropaniṣad.

F.16a, Mahā Upaniṣad and f.30a Kaṭhopaniṣad (?): See ‘Catalogue of the Sanskrit manuscripts in the library of the India Office’ by Julius Eggeling, Part IV, Vol. 1, p.127.

F.34a: sa eva śivayogīti kathyata ity upaniṣat | bhadraṃ karṇebhir iti śāntiḥ | śrīmad viśvādhiṣṭhāna-paramahaṃsa satguruśrīrāmacandrārpaṇam astu | … acyutosmi mahādeva tava karuṇyaleśataḥ | vijñānagha evāsi śivosmi kim ataḥ paraṃ | na nijan nijavat bhāty antaḥkaraṇajṛṃbhaṇāt | antaraḥkaraṇanāśena. Here the MS breaks off and a new foliation begins.

In Part B, the text of the Śrīvidyāratnasūtra begins: jñānānandamayan devan nirmmalasphaṭikākṛtiṃ | ādhāraṃ sarvabhūtānāṃ hayagrīvam upāsmahe | atha śāktamantrāṇāñ jijñāsā | ātmaivākhaṇḍākāracaitanyasvarūpāśaṃ svavidyā | etc.

It ends: anuttarasaṃketapradhānavidyās saptadaśavarṇaviśiṣṭā(ḥ) | athaitāsāṃ parivārāṇām anuparivārā asaṃkhyākāḥ | iti śrīmat paramahaṃsaparivrājakācāryya Śuka-Yogīndra-śiṣya-śrī-Gauḍapādācāryya-viracitāni sūtravākyāni | samāptāni ||

Text of the Śrīvidyāratna(sūtra)dīpikā begins: bālārkamaṇḍalābhāsāṃ caturbāhān trilocanāṃ | pāśāṃkuśadhanurbāṇāṃ dhārayantīṃ śivāṃ bhaje | śrīvidyāratnasūtrāṇāṃ vākyārtthap(r)atipādane | bhagavatyāḥ prasādena kriyate dīpikā mayā | sā bhagavatī jagat sṛṣṭvedan tasmin devatādīn utpādya, etc.

It ends: iti paramahaṃsa-parivrājakācāryya-śrīmat-bhagavat-Śaṃkarācāryya-śiṣya-śrī-Vidyāraṇya munikṛta-śrīvidyāratnadīpikā samāptā || hariḥ oṃ etc.

Winternitz notes that the folios of the Atharvaśirobhāṣya are foliated in the ordinary way as f.24b-27, and also as 1 to 14 by letters, i.e. ka, kha, ga, gha, ṅa, ca, cha, ja, jha, ña, ṭa, ṭha, ḍa, ḍha.

Text of the Atharvaśirobhāṣya begins: śrīnāthāṃghriparāgaiko parāgād aparāgadhīḥ | atharvaśiraso bhāṣyaṃ bhāṣate Bhāskaras sudhīḥ || iha khalu śrīmahātripurasundaryyāḥ etc.

It ends: iti bhāvanopaniṣadotharvaṇaśirasotra raciravān bhāṣyaṃ | Bhāskara-Rāyo viduṣān tuṣṭyai jīvanmumukṣūṇāṃ || oṃ śrīgurubhyo namaḥ ||

For more extensive quotations from the text, see Winternitz catalogue entry.

South Indian Sanskrit / Whish Manuscript Collection.

See ’A catalogue of South Indian Sanskrit manuscripts (especially those of the Whish Collection) belonging to the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland’ by M. Winternitz, with an appendix by F. W. Thomas (London: RAS, 1902) p.19-21. Go to http://tinyurl.com/j3tkdwj for a digital copy of this catalogue.

J. L. Whish, gift of manuscripts collected by his brother C. M. Whish, July 1836.

Text in Sanskrit; Grantha script.