A 25-3 Saundarānandamahākāvya
Manuscript culture infobox
Filmed in: A 25/3
Title: Saundarānandamahākāvya
Dimensions: 55 x 5 cm x 34 folios
Material: palm-leaf
Condition:
Scripts: unknown
Languages: Sanskrit
Subjects: Kāvya
Date:
Acc No.: NAK 1/1585
Remarks:
Reel No. A 25/3+
Inventory No. 64190
Title Saundarananda
Remarks “Properly the poem should be called Sundarananda in English and Saundaranandaṁ in Sanskrit.…” (Johnston 1928, p. v, fn. 1)
Author Aśvaghoṣa
Subject Kāvya
Language Sanskrit
Reference Śāstri 1939 (11910), Johnston 1928; Śāstri 1905, Preface, p. xxxiii, Śāstri 1915, p. 98; BSP 2, p. 173, no. 411 (1/1585) and BSP 7.3, p. 127, no. 196 (1/1585)
Manuscript Details
Script Newari
Material palm-leaf
State complete; badly damaged, with considerable loss of text
Size 55.0 x 5.0 cm
Binding Hole 2, rectangular, from top to bottom
Folios 36+1
Lines per Folio 6
Foliation
Date of Copying NS 396 (?)
Place of Deposit NAK
Accession No. 1/1585
Used for Edition yes (Śāstri 1939 [11910], Johnston 1928)
Manuscript Features
This valuable MS was described for the first time by Hara Prasād Śāstri in the second volume of his A Catalogue of Palm-leaf & Selected Paper MSS. Belonging to the Durbar Library, Nepal .<ref>Śāstri 1915, p. 98.</ref> Śāstri was apparently able to read the date of the MS as sambat 396 pauṣa sudi, and so calculated that the MS was written in 1276 AD. On the available fragments at the end of the MS, however, no date can now be seen. With regard to Śāstri’s dating in the description in BSP 7.3 (p. 127), the following note was made: atra HaraPrasādaŚāstriṇā prakāśite sūcipatre etasyaiva pra. 1885 (!) pustakasya sambat 396 pauṣasudi likhitaṃ vartate adhunā tadpatraṃ bhagnatvena nāsti. Referring to the same MS, Johnston notes that it “dates from about 1165 A.D.”<ref>Johnston 1928, p. vi.</ref> In his critical edition Johnston has described this MS in detail: “[The MS.] consists of thirty-five long palm leaves, in a clear and good handwriting, with six lines of writing on each side divided into three sections. The MS. has been so badly eaten into by white ants that in the middle of each leaf usually some three lines of writing, occasionally as many as five, are missing, though the damage at the ends is less and sometimes nil. Leaf 34 has one end missing, holding about one-sixth of the text, and leaf 35 is a mere fragment. The last four leaves were turned round the opposite way to the first thirty-one at the time the MS. was attacked, with the consequence that in the first thirty-one leaves the bottom of the recto side and the top of the verso have been destroyed and vice versa in the last four. […] [It] is undoubtedly a very good MS. and has an excellent text. It has, however, been a good deal altered, apparently by different hands at different times, and not always for the better.”<ref>Johnston 1928, pp. vi–vii. For further details concerning palaeographical peculiarities of the MS see ibid., pp. vii–viii.</ref> To the actual MS of the Saundarananda a single folio accompanied by a cover leaf has been added at the beginning. In the left part on the cover leaf a modern hand (probably going back to the beginning of the 20th c.) has written “Buddhist Fragment / Contained in MS. 1”. On the right-hand side of the same leaf, a hardly legible note in modern Devanagari script is added. It reads “buddha (sugandhī.. .u)”. The text contained in this fragment is indeed Buddhist. There appear Buddhist termini technici such as lokadhātu (recto, line 1) and nirmāṇakāya (recto, line 1). On the verso side the following can be read: upadesavyākhyānam āha | abhisekam ityādinā | (verso, line 1).
Excerpts
Beginning
///⁅t || m///3(3)d dīrgha tapaso yo ʼ⁆dvitīya ivābha⁅vat |⁆
///3 ⁅iva yaś⁆ cābhūt kavyāṅg⁅irasa⁆///⁅o⁆///⁅y⁆ā ||
tasya ⁅vi⁆〇st⁅īr⁆ṇṇa⁅tapa⁆///7 ⁅śubhe |
kṣetra⁆///20
..〇///5⁅mṛdusādvala⁆///14⁅v⁆ābabhau ||
mṛdubhi syaika..///(4)gdhaḥ kesarāstar(ā)pāṇḍubhiḥ |
bhūmi bhāgair asaṃkīrṇṇais saṃgarāga ⁅i⁆vābhavat ///
.⁅u⁆cibhis tīrthasaṃkhyātai〇ḥ pāvanair bhāvan///r api |
bandhamān iva yas tasthau sar⁅obhiḥ sasaroruhaiḥ ||
paryāptapha⁆lapuṣp⁅ā]/// sarvvato vana〇rājibhiḥ |
śuśubhe vavṛdhe caiva⁅naraḥ s⁆ādhanavān iva || (fol. 1v3–4)
End
kāvyavyājena tatvaṃ kathitam iha mayā mokṣa (!) param iti | 〇 |
tad buddhvā ⁅śā⁆m⁅i⁆ka⁅ṃ⁆ yat tad/// (fol. 35r5)
Sub-colophons
saundaranande ma⁅h⁆ākāvye kapilavastuvarṇṇano (!) nāma pra⁅tha⁆〇mas sarggaḥ || (fol. 3r3)
saundaranande mahākāvye rājavarṇṇano nāma dvitīyas sarggaḥ || (fol. 4v5)
iti || || saundaranande mahākāvye tathāgatavarṇṇano nāma tṛtī〇yas sarggaḥ || (fol. 6r4)
|| saundarana〇nde mahākāvye bhāryāyacitako nāma caturthaḥ sarggaḥ || (fol. 7v5)
|| saundara〇nande mahākāvye nandapravrājano nāma paṃcamas sargga[[ḥ]] || (fol. 9v3)
|| saundaranande mahā⁅kāvye bhāryāvi⁆/// (fol. 11r6)
|| sau〇ndaranande mahākāvye ⁅nandavi⁆lāpo nāma saptama⁅s sarggaḥ ||⁆ (fol. 13r4)
|| saundaranande mahākāvye strīvighāto nāmā〇ṣṭamas sarggaḥ || (fol. 15r4)
|| saundaranande mahākāvye madāpavādo nāma nava(2)mas sarggaḥ || (fol. 17r1–2)
|| sau〇⁅ndaranande⁆ ///13<ref>Read: mahākāvye svarganidarśano nāma daº.</ref> ⁅śa⁆mas sarggaḥ || (fol. 19r4)
|| saundaranande mahākāvye svarggāpavādo nāmaikādaśas sargga (!) || (fol. 20v6)
|| saundaranande mahākāvye pratyavamarśo nāma dvādaśas sarggaḥ || (fol. 22r1)
|| saundaranande mahākāvye (!) ādiprasthāno nāma caturddaśas sarggaḥ || (fol. 24v6)
|| saundaranande mahā〇kāvye (!) āryyasatyavyākhyāno nāma ṣoḍaśas sarggaḥ || (fol. 30r4)
|| ///⁅tau⁆ mahākāvye saundaranande (!) amṛtādhigamo nā(6)ma saptadaśas ⁅s⁆arggaḥ || (fol. 32v5–6)
Colophon
///rṇṇākṣīputrasya saṃketakasya (!) bhikṣor ācāryyabhadantāśvagho〇ṣasya mahākaver mahāvā/// (fol. 35r6)
Microfilm Details
Reel No. A 25/3
Date of Filming 06-09-1970
Exposures 42
Used Copy Berlin
Type of Film negative
Remarks On the microfilm the folios of the MS are to be seen in the following order: exp. 1 (index card), exp. 2 (cover – fragment), exp. 3 (fragment), exp. 4 (fragment), exp. 5 (cover), exp. 6 (fols. 1v [1.4a1–1.17a1], 2v [1.43b4–1.57b6]), exp. 7 (fols. 2r [1.17a2–1.36c2], 3v [2.13a5–2.32d8]), exp. 8 (fols. 3r [1.57b7–2.10b8], 4v [2.56c6–3.4c8]), exp. 9 (fols. 4r [2.33a1–2.47b6], 5v [3.20a3–3.35a5]), exp. 10 (fols. 5r [3.4c9–3.18a5], 6v [4.7a7–4.22a4]), exp. 11 (fols. 6r [3.35a6–4.5b1], 7v [4.36c8–5.4b3]), exp. 12 (fols. 7r [4.22a5–4.34d6], 8v [5.19a5–5.33c3]), exp. 13 (fols. 8r [5.4b4–5.19a4], 9r [5.33c4–5.48c3]), exp. 14 (fols. 9v [5.48c4–6.9b7], 10v [6.23c6–6.38a10]), exp. 15 (fols. 10r [6.9b8–6.23c5], 11v [7.2c9–7.17b7]), exp. 16 (fols. 11r [6.38a11–7.2c8], 12v [7.32a1–7.46d2]), exp. 17 (fols. 12r [7.17b8–7.29d9], 13v [8.10b6–8.23c5]), exp. 18 (fols. 13r [7.46d2–8.4d7], 14v [8.40a1–8.56c6]), exp. 19 (fols. 14r [8.23c6–8.37c10], 15v [9.7b10–9.21d12]), exp. 20 (fols. 15r [8.56c7–9.5a5], 16v [9.36a10–9.50b4]), exp. 21 (fols. 16r [9.22a1–9.34a7], 17v [10.13a11–10.27c5]), exp. 22 (fols. 17r [9.50b5–10.13a10], 18v [10.42a9–10.56b4]), exp. 23 (fols. 18r [10.27c6–10.42a8], 19v [11.8b4–11.28d8]), exp. 24 (fols. 19r [10.56b5–11.8b3], 20v [11.48d5–12.1a1]), exp. 25 (fols. 20r [11.29a1–11.48d4], 21v [12.22a4–12.42b7]), exp. 26 (fols. 21r [12.1a2–12.22a3], 22v [13.17b7–13.37a7]), exp. 27 (fols. 22r [12.42b8–13.17b6], 23v [13.56c11–14.20a1]), exp. 28 (fols. 23r [13.37a8–13.56c10], 24v [14.39c7–15.2a2]), exp. 29 (fols. 24r [14.20a2–14.39c6], 25v [15.21a6–15.40d5]), exp. 30 (fols. 25r [15.2a3–15.21a5], 26v [15.60b3–16.5c11]), exp. 31 (fols. 26r [15.40d6–15.60b2], 27v [16.21a10–16.35d11]), exp. 32 (fols. 27r [16.5d1–16.21a9], 28v [16.50c2–16.64d8]), exp. 33 (fols. 28r [16.36a1–16.50c1], 29v [16.79c4–16.93d11]), exp. 34 (fols. 29r [16.64d9–16.79c3], 30v [17.6b5–17.19c1]), exp. 35 (fols. 30r [16.94a1–17.6b3], 31v [17.34b1–17.48b2]), exp. 36 (fols. 31r [17.19c2–17.33d11], 32v [17.62d9–18.2d11]), exp. 37 (fols. 32r [17.48b3–17.62d8], 33v [18.16d7–18.26d7]), exp. 38 (fols. 33r [18.5c4–18.16d6], 34r [18.31b7–18.45a9]), exp. 39 (fols. 34v [18.45c8–18.57b8], 35r [partly 18.61b9–colophon]), exp. 40 (fols. 35v, 36r), exp. 41 (fol. 36v), exp. 42 (concluding index card)
Catalogued by DD
Date 16-09-2003
Bibliography
- Johnston, Edward Hamilton (1928): The Saundarananda of Aśvaghoṣa. Critically Edited with Notes by E. H. Johnston. Oxford 1928.
- Śāstri, Hara Prasād (1939): Saundarananda Kāvya of Ārya Bhadanta Aśvaghoṣa. Edited by Haraprasad Shastri. Re-issue with additions by Chintaharan Chakravarti. Calcutta 1939 [11910]. (Bibliotheca Indica, Work No. 192).
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