[South Indian Sanskrit MS 118, Whish MS 115] Praśnāmṛta

Praśnāmṛta

Language – Sanskrit

Date – [1800?]
Palm leaf; Text 1 has 9 to 13 lines on a folio; Text 2 has 11 or 12 lines on a folio. Manuscript is slightly damaged by insects in the middle.

Manuscript consists of the following texts: 1. the Naukā, or Horāvivaraṇa, a commentary on Varāhamihira’s Bṛhajjātaka; also called Daśādhyāyī, according to Th. Aufrecht ‘Catalogus catalogorum’ (Leipzig, 1891), p.248; 2. the Praśnāmṛta by Kumāra, pupil of Nārāyaṇa Jyotiṣa, a fragment only; a work of the same title is ascribed to Jambūnātha in the ‘Index of MSS. in the Government Oriental MSS. Library, Madras’, p.55.

Text of the Naukā begins: hariḥ śrīgaṇapataye namaḥ avighnam astu jayati bhagavān gajāsyena [corrected to gajāsyo] yatkarṇṇavyajanamārutā bhajatāṃ yānto vyasanāni haranty āyāntaś cārppayanty abhīṣṭāni satyajñānaparaṃ brahma jyotirānandarūpiṇīṃ naumi sarvottarodāttapraśnamālāṃ sarasvatīṃ satyajñānapradāyeṣṭadeśakālaprabodhine nama śrīgurave sākṣāt parameśvaramūrttaye | …. śrīmad-Varāhamihirahorātālparyasāgare sadarttharatnasaṃsiddhyai ṭīkā naukā vicāryate | etc.

It ends: viṃśaḥ prakīrṇṇaḥ ekaviṃśoniṣṭayogaḥ dvāviṃśas trijātakaṃ trayoviṃśo niryāṇaṃ caturviṃśo naṣṭajātakaṃ pañcaviṃśo drekāṇaphalapakṣa ṣaḍviṃśopradarśanaparoddhyāyaḥ horāvivaraṇaṃ samāptaṃ || || śrīparamagurave śaraṇaṃ || etc.

Text of the Praśnāmṛta begins: hariḥ śrīgaṇapataye namaḥ avighnam astu śrīgurubhyo namaḥ samastavighnaprabhavopaśāntaye namaskaromi dvipanāyakānanaṃ vacaḥ prasādaṃ kurutāṃ sarasvati etc. ….. āsīd dvijanmā dvipakānanākhye grāme sudhīḥ prātṛ[?] janīnacetāḥ śāstrārtthavettā śrutipāradṛśvā Nārāyaṇo jyotiṣas tarppayāyī | tasyāsti śiṣyo vinayapradhānas tadīyakāruṇyanivāsabhūmiḥ yaś śrī-Kumāro vidito dvijanmā grahendrasañcāravicāracuñcuḥ praṇamya soyaṃ gurupādapatmaṃ nirīkṣya horāṃ sakalārtthapuṣṭāṃ ādāya sāran tu tato vyadhatta praśnāmṛtaṃ bālahitāya hṛdyaṃ paropakāraikato mahāntas santoṣamantaḥ kṛpayā vidhāya sammānayantām idam asmadīyaṃ praśnāmṛtan nirmmalakīrttibhājaḥ etc.

It breaks off with the words: caturtthajvaraśāntaye | kṛṣṇāya namaḥ |

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.170-171. 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, with folios numbered by akṣaras in the same way as RAS Whish MS 18 / South Indian Sanskrit MS 19.