A Catalogue of Sanskrit and Prakrit Manuscripts (An Old and Rare Book)

We have pleasure in placing before the readers Part II (B) of the 'Catalogue of Sanskrit & Prakrit Mss.' in the Rajasthan Oriental !Research Institute ( Jodhpur Collection) in continuation of Part II ( A) already published last year. As already mentioned in preface to Part II ( A) the total number of entries of manuscripts in Part II (A & B), in the Jodhpur collection, was to be 5,900 but on actual cataloguing 25 Mss. were left out being non-Sanskrit & non-Prakrit ones. Part II ( C) will contain entries of 1,6o8 Mss. in the Jaipur collection, the printing of which is also nearing completion. According to the classification laid down by the Ministry of Education, New Delhi, manuscripts bearing on the first seven subjects viz., Veda & Vaidika, Vedangas, Smriti, Itihas & Purana, Philosophy, Buddhistic and Jain, have been included in Part II ( A) comprising 2,792 entries. The volume in hand contains details of 3,o83 Mss. on the remaining subjects namely Bhakti, Tantra, Agama, Mantrashastra, Kavya, Vyakarana, Kosha and Nighantu, Chhandas-shastra, Alankar, Natya-shastra, Geet, Shilpa, Artha and Raja-shastra, Ratna-shastra, Kama-shastra, Ayurved, and Jyotish.

The method and technique adopted in preparing the catalogue has been the same as in the previous volumes. Extracts from important manuscripts from the point of their subject, author, date or some important information contained in the post-colophonic entries have been given in the appendix. It would be very interesting and illuminating to go through these extracts. It is obvious that all manuscripts are generally not correctly written. Some of them contain many scribal and other errors. Least efforts are made to correct the mistakes or to edit the portions reproduced in this appendix so as to give an accurate idea of the manuscript and the text contained in it. Some of the manuscripts included in this volume are rare and unpublished.

Scholars working in this field will be interested in and benefitted with these entries, I hope. Inspite of all care taken in compiling and editing this work, it is just possible, many mistakes might have crept in through oversight.

I request the scholars for setting them right while making use of this catalogue. This publication is being brought out with the financial assistance given by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, New Delhi, both for the preparation and printing of it. We are, therefore, grateful to the Ministry for this encouragement to such an under-taking. I offer my thanks, as before, for full cooperation and assistance rendered by Shri Gopal Narayan Bahura, Dy. Director and Shri Lakshmi Narayan Goswami, Cataloguing Assistant, of this Institute, in the preparation and publication of this volume. Shri Vinayasagar, Sahitya-mahopadhyaya and Shri Bhuramal yati, M.A. did very good and careful work in filling up the identity cards of the Mss. and then in preparing the press copy of the volume. I thank them both for the help done and the interest taken in the preparation of the catalogue. Shri Hari Prasad Pareek, Manager, Sadhana Press, Jodhpur also deserves my thanks for his cooperation in the printing of this catalogue.

The Government of Rajasthan established the Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute in the year 1951 with the following aims and objects:-

I. to explore and bring to light the ancient literature of Rajasthan and adjacent areas as available in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Apabhramsa, Rajasthani, Gujarati, Vraj, Hindi and other regional languages,

2. to collect, preserve, compile, and carry out survey of original source-material of ancient history and culture of Rajasthan i.e. architecture, paintings, arts, inscriptions, copper-plates, coins and documents etc.,

3. to collect old manuscripts and prepare their pen-copies, microfilmed and photostat copies and sound records etc.,

4. to organise a well equipped reference library of books use-ful and indispensable for research work in the field of Indology and

5. to investigate, record, interpret and present clearly

(i) the varied folk-literature throwing light on public life in Rajasthan,

(ii) devotional and canonical literature embodied in the lyrics of various religious sects and

(iii) all sorts of material related to the social, cultural and religious customs and secular practices.

When independence came to India an opening was provided in its wake for the preservation of a truly great heritage. The task was not an ordinary one and, howsoever limited in resources, the Institute has, within a short span of 15 years, collected and preserved about 83,000 manuscripts, written in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Apabhramsa, Hindi, Old Rajasthani and Vraj etc. They deal with a variety of subjects including works on the Vedas, Brahmanas, Upanishads, Vedanta, Philosophy, Astrology, Logic, Grammar, Mimamsa, Nataka, Champu, Classical metres, Ka tha, Akhyayika, Kamasutra, Ayurveda, History etc. etc. Some of them are very rare dating back to the IIth C. Some of these manuscripts are of exceptional exhibitory value being extensively illustrated representing certain broad characteristics of the various Rajput Schools of painting that flourished in the ancient and medieval times. Large amount, skill, time and patience would be required to bring out descriptive catalogues and reproductions of these illustrated works.

There is a reference library also, containing about t 11000 rare and valuable volumes on various subjects. Equal attention is paid to the closely allied aspects of preservation and publication. Under the series styled as "Rajasthan Puratana Granthmala" the Institute has so far published 7o works and a good many are under print. These works have been highly appreciated by eminent scholars in the country and abroad in that they make a definite advance in the exploring of hitherto unknown material. Lately, a scheme for the preservation and publication of important manuscripts in the Jain Grantha Bhandars at Jaisalmer was taken up by the Institure.

The late President and the late Prime Minister both, after visiting Jaisaimer, had expressed their wishes for the preservation and proper study of these manuscripts. Consequently, the Government of Rajasthan took up the task through the Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute. In these Bhandars some of the manuscripts on paper belong even to the 12th and 13th centuries. A good number of palm-leaf manuscripts belonging to still earlier centuries is the main attraction of this treasure.

In antiquity they perhaps surpass all similar collections in India, and it is said that we have at present only a remnant of what was at one time a still more splendid collection. The first European to have taken notice of these Bhandars was Col. James Tod-the pioneer annalist of Rajasthan. Dr. Buhler and Dr. Jacobi, afterwards, examined, took notices of and copied out certain important manuscripts of these Bhandars. After a long gap of time, work on these manuscripts has been resumed by this Institute. Photo-stat copies of 258 manuscripts comprising 336 works in 27,297 leaves and 7,862 plates have been prepared and preserved.

Publication of certain rare manuscripts available in these Bhandars, such as-a complete copy of Bhatta Somesvara's commentary on the 'Kavya Prakasha' of Mammata, a work written on palm-leaf and dated 1158 A. D., not much later after the date of composition of the 'Kavya Prakash', between ioso-t ioo A.D., the 'Cakrapani.vijaya Maha-kavya' by Laxmidhara Bhatt, the 'Shabdaratnapradipa', 'Karakasambandhodyota', 'Balsiksha Vyakarana' by Thakkur Sangram Singh and the `Vrittajatisamuchchaya' of Virahank, 'Kavidarpana', 'Padartharatnamanjusa' and `Tripura Bharati Laghustava Tika' etc., goes to the credit of the Institute. The 'Cakrapani - vijaya - mahakavya' is the only palm-leaf copy of the work available now. It is a love-tale.

The `Shabdaratnapradipa, as the title suggests, is a work of lexical character containing several works that yield more than one meaning. The `Karkasambandhodyota' is a monograph on the Katantra school of Sanskrit grammar. The `Vrittajatisamuchchaya' is a work on Prakrit and Sanskrit metres, written by Virahank about the 7th century A.D. The `Kavidarpana' represents an invaluable phase in the history of middle Indo-Aryan prosodical tradition. Composed about the i4th century A.D. the 'Padartha-ratna-manjusa' of Krishna Bhatta is an important manual of the Vaisheika school of Philosophy. The 'Tripura Bharati Laghustava' is a devotional poem by Laghuacharya dedicated to Goddess Tripura. Vasavadatta', the wellknown love-story in elegant Sanskrit prose by Subandhu. Its printing is almost complete. Many other similar works from the Jaisalmer collection are also under publication, which are pledged to add a lot to our information about the medieval Sanskrit, Prakrit and allied literature.

One of the latest undertakings of the Institute is the scheme for the survey of manuscripts, paintings and other art objects that are lying scattered all over Rajasthan.

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