[South Indian Sanskrit MS 158, Whish MS 164] Śaṅkara’s commentary on the Bahuvṛcabrāhmaṇa Upaniṣad

Śaṅkara’s commentary on the Bahuvṛcabrāhmaṇa Upaniṣad

Language – Sanskrit

Date – [1800?]
Palm leaf; from 7 to 9 lines on a page; first 2 folios are missing, and the manuscript as a whole is in very bad condition, with many folios badly damaged; folios numbered by akṣaras.

Manuscript consists of the following texts: 1. Śaṅkara’s commentary on the Bahuvṛcabrāhmaṇa Upaniṣad, i.e. the 2nd Āraṅyaka of the Aitareya Āraṇyaka (ff.3-108); 2. Śaṅkara’s commentary on the Saṃhitā Upaniṣad, i.e. the 3rd Āraṇyaka of the Aitareya Āraṇyaka (ff.109-150).

The beginning of the commentary on the Bahuvṛcabrāhmaṇa Upaniṣad is lost. F.7: atrānantarātikrānte granthe mahāvratākhyaṃ karmmādhigataṃ yasmin mahad ukthākhyaṃ śastraṃ bṛhatī sahasralakṣaṇaṃ śasyate tat karmmokthaśastropalakṣitaṃ ukthan nāmānekalokakāladevatādivibhedaviśiṣṭaprāṇavijñānena samuccicīrṣi **, etc.

F.34b: svargge loke sarvān kāmān āptvāmṛtas samabhavat samabhavad iti || śrī-Govindabhagavatpūjyapādaśiṣyaparamahaṃsaparivrājakācārya-śrī-Śaṃkarabhagavatpādakṛtau bahuvṛcabrāhmaṇopaniṣadvivaraṇe prathamoddhyāyaḥ || prāṇa uktham ity etad avadhāritam tasya ca prāṇasya sarvātmatvan tañ ca sarvātmaprāṇam uktham aham asmīti vidyāt karmajñānādhikṛtaḥ puruṣaḥ, etc.

It ends: iti śrī-Govindabhagavatpūjyapādaśiṣyaparamahaṃsaparivrājaka-Śaṃkarabhagavatpādakṛtau bahuvṛcabrāhmaṇopaniṣaṭṭīkā samāptā || || brahmaṇe namaḥ || śrīgurubhyo namaḥ || śrīdurggāyai namaḥ || nārāyaṇāya namaḥ ||

Text of the commentary on the Saṃhitā Upaniṣad begins: oṃ athātas saṃhitāyā upaniṣad ity ādyā saṃhitopaniṣad asyās saṃkṣepato vivaraṇaṃ kariṣyāmaḥ mandamaddhyamabuddhīnām api tadartthābhivyakti syād iti tadartthavijñānaprayojanañ ca vakṣyati sandhīyate prajayā paśubhir ity ādi, etc.

It ends (on the fragmentary folio 150b): —**** bhagavatpūjyapādaśiṣyaśrīmatparamahaṃsaparivrā **** rabhagavatkṛtau saṃhitopaniṣadvivaraṇam sa ** || ** ya namaḥ || śrīkṛṣṇāya namaḥ || śrīdurggāde * ai ** || akhilabhuvanahetun nityavijñānamūrttiṃ sakalajanahṛdisthaṃ sarvadāvā ***** n devadevam praśaṃ ************

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.216-217. 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; Malayalam script.