[South Indian Sanskrit MS 078, Whish MS 78] Bhāṣyaratnaprabhā

Bhāṣyaratnaprabhā

Language – Sanskrit

Date – [1800?]
Palm leaf; 8 lines on a folio.

Manuscript consists of the following 7 texts:

1. The Bhāṣyaratnaprabhā, or gloss on Śaṅkara’s commentary to Bādarāyaṇa’s Vedānta-Sūtras, by Govindānanda, with notes (f.1-69). Winternitz notes: ‘It is incomplete, containing only the portion corresponding to Vol. I, pp.1-90 in the edition of the Vedānta-Sūtras published in the Bibliotheca Indica (Calcutta, 1863). In the margin of f.1 the title ‘Tātparyyabodhinī’ is given, and Mr. Whish states (f.69): “Here ends the Tālparyyabōdhinī. This appears to be annotations on the Sūtra-Bhāshyam of Sankara Āchāryyah”‘. See also Whish MS 92, South Indian Sanskrit MS 93.

2. The Bahvṛcabrāhmaṇopaniṣadvivaraṇa, or Aitareyopaniṣadbhāṣya, i.e. the commentary on the Aitareya-Upaniṣad, by Śaṅkara (ff.70-94b). Printed in the Bibliotheca Indica, Vol. VII, Calcutta, 1850.

3. The Kauṣītaka, or Śāmbhavya Gṛhyasūtra (ff.1-23). This is the MS. K discussed by Prof. Oldenberg in his edition of the Śāṅkhāyana-Gṛhyasūtra. See Indische Studien, Vol. XV, p.4 seq., and Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XXIX, p.6 seq. Winternitz notes that the last chapter contains mantras with accents (udātta only being marked). See Mantrapāṭha, II, 8; Aśv. Gṛhy. III, 8, 21.

4. A metrical commentary on the Kauṣītaka, or Śāmbhavya Gṛhyasūtra (ff.24-570. See preceding text. It ends (f.57=f.34) with the description of funeral rites.

5. The Āśvalāyana-Gṛhya-Sūtra (ff.1-29). The fourth Adhyāya breaks off in the middle of the 12th Khaṇḍa (corresponding to IV, 8 in Stenzler’s edition) with the words: pātraṃ palāśena vapāṃ juhuyād iti vijñāyate | (IV, 8, 18 Stenzler).

6. The Sarvānukramaṇī by Kātyāyana, divided into 8 Aṣṭakas (ff.30-54). Incomplete. It breaks off after Rv. X, 105: triṣṭub antyādyā gāyatrī vā || 5 || ubhau bhūtāṃ || śrīgurubhyo namaḥ || śrīmahātripurasundaryyai namaḥ || hariḥ oṃ śubham astu śrīgaṇādhipataye namaḥ ||

7. Lists of words, occurring in the Ṛgveda-saṃhitā, and offering certain difficulties with regard to sandhi: apparently a kind of Pariśiṣṭa to the Prātiśākhya (ff.56-86). Winternitz notes that in the margin of f.55 it is wrongly described as ‘Sarvānukramaṇī’.

For quotations from the beginning and end of each text, see Winternitz catalogue entry.

Winternitz notes that there is an entry by C. M. Whish dated 1829, but he thinks the manuscript may be about 50 years older.

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.102-106. 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.