[South Indian Sanskrit MS 129, Whish MS 128] Vyavahāramālikā

Vyavahāramālikā

Language – Sanskrit

Date – [1800?]
Palm leaf, from 10 to 12 lines on a folio; numbering of folios by akṣaras in the system described by Prof. Bendall in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Oct 1896, pp.790 seq.

Manuscript consists of the following texts: 1. the Smṛticandrikā, by Deva or Devaṇṇa Bhaṭṭopādhyāya, son of Keśavāditya Bhaṭṭopādhyāya, Pariccheda I of the Vyavahārakāṇḍa (another copy of the same work RAS Whish MS 143, South Indian Sanskrit MS 141); 2. the Vyavahāramālikā (beginning only).

Text of the Smṛticandrikā begins: hariḥ śrīgaṇapataye namaḥ avighnam astuḥ sarasvatīpatiṃ vande śriyaḥ patim umāpatiṃ tviṣāṃ patiṃ gaṇapatiṃ bṛhaspatimukhān munīn pade pade praskhalatāṃ pradīpādisthitāv api draṣṭṝṇāṃ dṛṣṭiviṣaye candrikā pravitanyate | athedānīṃ vyavahārakāṇḍam ārabhyate || tatrādau vyavhārasvarūpaṃ nirūpyate | tatra Bṛhaspatiḥ | dharmmapradhānāḥ puruṣāḥ, etc.

It ends: iti smṛticandrikāyāṃ bālayantādi[?]dhanaviṣayāṇi || hariḥ || śrī-Keśavādityasamutbhavasya Devasya śāntadvijarājamūrttes sa candrikāṃ prāpya sukhena lokān kurvantu sarvavyavahārasiddhiṃ || iti sakalavidyāviśārada-śrī-Keśavādityabhaṭṭopāddhyāyasūnu-yañjika-Deveṇa[read yājñika-Devaṇṇa?] bhaṭṭopāddhyāyasomayājiviracitāyāṃ smṛticandrikāyāṃ vyavahārakāṇḍe prathamaḥ paricchedaḥ || atreyaṃ prakaraṇānupūrvī vyavahārasvarūpaṇaṃ aṣṭādaśanirūpaṇaṃ vyavahārabhedānirṇṇetṛnirṇṇayadharmmasthānevasthānaṃ vyavahāradarśanavidhiḥ || kṛṣṇāya namaḥ ||

Text of the Vyavahāramālikā begins: hariḥ śrīgaṇapataye namaḥ avighnam astuḥ śrīgurubhyo namaḥ namostu narasiṃhāya bhaktānugrahakāriṇe ajāya bahurūpāya sarggasthityantakāriṇe | manumukhyasarassamutbhavais sukumāraiḥ prasavair vacomayaiḥ tridivāptiphalair nnṛpocitāṃ racayāmi vyavahāramālikāṃ | śrī-Nāradaḥ Manuḥ Prajāpatir yasmin kāle rājyam abūbhujan dharmmaikatānāḥ, etc.

Some of the chapters are: vyavahārāvalokanadharmmaḥ (f.1), sabhāsabhyopadeśāḥ (f.2b), vyavahāralakṣaṇam (f.3), hīnalakṣaṇam (f.6), sākṣipratyuddhṛti (f.7b), rājaśāsanalakṣaṇam, dūṣitalekhyaparīkṣā (f.9b), lekhyaprakaraṇam (f.10), agnividhi (f.13v), viṣavidhi (f.14b), śapathavidhi (f.15b), ṛṇasya deyādeyavidhiḥ (f.20), nityadānasya prakāraḥ (f.24), etc.

It breaks off (f.24b) with the words: dāsyādhikaraṇaṃ | abhyupetyāśuśuśrūṣā samāptaḥ | Nāradaḥ | bhṛtānāṃ vetanasyokto dānādānavidhikramaḥ vetanasyānapākarma tadvivādapadaṃ smṛtaṃ ||

For further information on sections of the Smṛticandrikā 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.185-187. Go to http://tinyurl.com/j3tkdwj for a digital copy of this catalogue.

For the Smṛticandrikā, see A. C. Burnell ‘Classified index to the Sanskrit MSS. in the palace at Tanjore (London, 1880), p. 133-4. He notes that “The author’s name [of the Smṛticandrikā) shows that he was a Telugu”.

For the Vyavahāramālikā see ‘Catalogue of the Sanskrit manuscripts in the Library of the India Office’ by Julius Eggeling (London, 1887-), Part III, p.456-8 (“Vyavahāramālā, a manual of civil law (? by Varadarāja) much used in Malabar”); see also ‘Reports on Sanskrit MSS. in Southern India’ by Eugen Hultzsch, Part II (Madras, 1896), p.139 (No. 1472).

J. L. Whish, gift of manuscripts collected by his brother C. M. Whish, July 1836.

Text in Sanskrit; Malayalam script.