[South Indian Sanskrit MS 121, Whish MS 118] Commentary on Kālidāsa’s Kumārasambhava

Commentary on Kālidāsa’s Kumārasambhava

Language – Sanskrit

Date – [1800?]
Palm leaf; from 9 to 12 lines on a folio; some folios damaged by insects, part of f.196 lost. Manuscript consists of a commentary on Kālidāsa’s Kumārasambhava, by Nārāyaṇa, a pupil of Kṛṣṇa; Sargas I-VIII, with a lacuna from II, 58 to III, 76. Text begins: hariḥ śrīgaṇapataye namaḥ | avighnam astu | ṣaṭpadamukharitagaṇḍaṃ koṭirabharāṃva[read -bhārāva?]baddhaśaśikhaṇḍaṃ praṇamata vāraṇatuṇḍaṃ padakamalaṃ praṇatasakalasuraṣaṇḍaṃ apāra + ruṇāpūrataraṃgitadṛgañcalaṃ kaḻāyakomaḻacchāyañ jānakīnāyakaṃ bhaje F.36b: iti śrī-Kṛṣṇasya Nārāyaṇasya kṛtau Kumārasaṃbhavavivaraṇe prathamas sarggaḥ || || F.54 ends with the commentary on II, 58. Up to f.54 the folios are numbered by Akṣaras, then begins a new foliation (by numbers) and a different handwriting with f.55 where we find the commentary on III, 76 (last verse of Sarga III. The IIIrd Sarga ends (f.55): iti śrī-Kṛṣṇaśiṣyasya Nārāyaṇasya kṛtau kumārasaṃbhavavivaraṇe tṛtīyas sarggaḥ || Sarga IV ends f.70b, Sarga V f.110b, Sarga VI f.132b, Sarga VII f.165. The VIIIth Sarga begins: hariḥ atha pūrvasarggopakṣiptan devasya navavadhūviṣayaṃ prathamānurāgānantarasaṃbhūtaṃ saṃbhogaṃ varṇṇayitum aṣṭamas sarggoyam ārabhyate tatra Mādhavenoktaṃ atrāṣṭamas sarggo gaurīsaṃbhogavarṇṇanatvād vācayituṃ śrotuṃ vyākhyātuñ ca na yuktaṃ etacchīlānān devatāśāpād āyuṣaḥ kṣayo bhaviṣyati iti dakṣiṇāvartte na punaḥ asya prakaraṇasya śivayos saṃbhogaviṣayatvād rasabhāvān vivicya vaktuṃ bibhemi tasmād anvayamātram atrādhikriyate ity uktaṃ Aruṇācalanāthena tu tad ubhayam api dūṣitaṃ ayaṃ kila tasyābhiprāyaḥ pārvatīparameśvarayoś śarīramātragrahaṇam api lokānugrahārttham eva yathoktaṃ bhagavato viditam vo yathā svārtthā name [read nāma?] kāścit pravṛttayaḥ iti | Sarga VIII ends f.196, and the MS. breaks off on f.197 with the words: nana yadi bhavyā maduktaprakāratvam eva virūpākṣasyānuditaṃ tarhi tatprāptimātraphalāt tapaso viramyatāṃ ata āha | mama manaḥ atra sthiraṃ For more extensive quotations from the text, see Winternitz catalogue entry. 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.174-176. 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.