[South Indian Sanskrit MS 091, Whish MS 90] Sārarahasyacāturvarṇakramavibhāga

Sārarahasyacāturvarṇakramavibhāga

Language – Sanskrit

Date – [1800?]
Palm leaf; 9 or 10 lines on a folio.

Manuscript consists of the following texts: 1. the Gṛhyapariśiṣṭa, a compendium of domestic rites (incomplete and author’s name is not mentioned); 2. the Sārarahasyacāturvarṇakramavibhāga, a treatise on civil law, extracted from Vaidyanātha Dīkṣita’s work (Smṛtimuktāphala?).

Winternitz notes that there is an entry by C. M. Whish dated ‘Tellicherry 1830’, but he thinks the manuscript may be about 50 years older.

Among the authorities quoted in the Gṛhyapariśiṣṭa are Śātyāyani (ff.6, 65), Rāṇāyana Muni (f.24b), Śālihotra Muni (f.51b), Rauruki (f.66b), and Śaunaka (ff.66b, 70).

Ceremonies described in the work include: śaucavidhi (f.1), mṛttikāsnānavidhi (f.2), sandhyopāsanavi- (f.3b), brahmayajñavi- (f.4b), pratisarabandhavi- (f.6b), aṅkurārpaṇavi- (f.7b), puṇyāhavi- (f.8b), udakaśāntivi- (f.9), rudrasaṃhitāyāḥ kalpa (f.13), mahābhiṣekavi- (f.13), śatābhiṣekavi- (f.14), parjanyasūktavi- (f.15), arkavivāhavi- (f.15b), agnivivāha (f.17b), gṛhaśāntivi- (f.18), aṅkurasya vidhi (f.22b), apamṛtyuñjaya (f.25b), āyurhomasya lakṣaṇa (f.27b), gṛhārcanavi- (f.32), aghamarṣaṇasūkta (f.36b), garbhiṇīvi- (f.40), vṛṣotsarjanavi- (f.41), ekoddiṣṭavi- (f.42), nāndīmukhaśrāddha (f.44), piṇḍapitṛyajñavi- (f.45b), kṛcchravi- (f.56b), cāndrāyaṇa (f.58b), sarpaśānti (f.68).

Text begins: athātaś śaucavidhiṃ vyākhyāsyāmo grāmād dūrataraṃ gatvā yajñopavītaṃ śirasi dakṣiṇakarṇe vā kṛtvā mṛttikā gṛṇhāti kāṣṭham antarddhāya upaviśed, etc.

The text breaks off (f.70b) with the words: kāyāntarārjjitan doṣaṃ kālarūpī vyapohatu svāhā | suryyāyedaṃ || om ||

For further quotations from the text, see Winternitz catalogue entry.

Text of the Sārarahasyacāturvarṇakramavibhāga begins: gurubhyo namaḥ | abhiṣekādiguṇayuktasya nṛpasya prajāpālanan dharmmaḥ | tac ca duṣṭanigraham antareṇa na saṃbhavati | duṣṭaparijñānañ ca na vyavahāreṇa vineti vyavahāradarśanaṃ aharahaḥ karttavya[m] ity uktaṃ [|] vyavahārān nṛpaḥ [|] paśyet sabhyaiḥ parivṛtonvaham iti | sa ca vyavahāraḥ kīdṛśaḥ | etc.

F.10b: iti vyavahāramātraprakaraṇaṃ |

It ends: ātmasamīpaṃ netavyaḥ mocanīya ity artthaḥ | evañ cāturvarṇakramā vicāryyāḥ || iti Vaidyanāthadīkṣitīyoddhṛtasārarahasyacāturvarṇakramavibhāgas samāptaḥ || śrīgurubhyo namaḥ || śubham astu ||

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.119-121. 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.