[South Indian Sanskrit MS 062, Whish MS 63] A commentary on Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa

A commentary on Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa

Language – Sanskrit

Date – [1800?]
Palm leaf; from 7 to 10 lines on a folio. Ff. 38, 39, 79, 81 damaged by insects. Manuscript consists of a commentary on Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa by Rāmānuja Ācārya, including the Āraṇya-Kāṇḍa, the Kiṣkindhā-Kāṇḍa, and Sargas 1-3 of the Sundara-Kāṇḍa. Winternitz notes that there are entries by C. M. Whish dated ‘Tellicherry 1827’, but he thinks the MS. may be about 50 years older. Text begins: atha pitṛvākyaparipālanāya daṇḍakān praviṣṭasya vṛttaṃ vistāreṇa vaktum upakramate | praviśyeti | ātmavān | dhṛtimān | mahāraṇyapraveśe niśśaṃka iti yāvat | etc. The Āraṇyakāṇḍa ends f.40: iti Rāmānu[jā]cāryyaviracite āraṇyakāṇḍavyākhyāne pañcasaptatitamas sargaḥ || hariḥ om āraṇyakāṇḍaṃ vyākhyasamāptaṃ || The Kiṣkindhākāṇḍa begins f.41: sa tām iti kharādisaṃhāreṇa sa prasiddhapauruṣaḥ tām iti ramaṇīyatayā prasiddhāṃ saumitrisahito gatvā patmādidarśśanena sītānetrasmaraṇajaśokātiśayena kṣubdhasarvendriyas san vilalāpa | etc. It ends f.80: iti Rāmānujācāryyaviracite kiškindhākāṇḍavyākhyāne saptaṣaṣṭitamas sargaḥ || Then the Sundarakāṇḍa begins: atha sundarakāṇḍe vyākhyeyāni vyākhyāyante | pūrvasmin sarge manasā gamanaṃ kṛtam ity uktaṃ idānīṃ kāyenāpi gamanaṃ karttum aicchad ity āha | tata ity ādinā atra gantum iti padam addhyāhāryyaṃ | etc. The MS breaks off at the beginning of the fourth Sarga: iti tritīyyas sargaḥ || advāreṇeti grāmaṃ vā nagaraṃ vāpi paṭṭanam avarasya hi | viśeṣāt samaye sa umyana cāreṇa viśan nṛpa | ity uktaprakāreṇa advāreṇa praviṣṭavān | praviśyeti praviśya praveṣṭum upakrammya savyaṃ pādaṃ cakre agrata iti śokaprayāṇakāle ca gṛhapraveśe vivāha 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.79. 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, in two different hands.