Kuvalayamala Part 2

SR No.: 002778
Original Sutra Author: Udyotansuri
Author: A N Upadhye
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Publication Year: 1970
Total Pages: 368
Language: Sanskrit, English
Classification: Book_Devnagari & Literature
File Size: 12 MB

Page 44

INTRODUCTION
V. viii and VI. xiv: what deserves to be noted is the graded thickness of the vertical line with a pointed tip. For i cf. BÜHLER V. viii, ix & xxi; VI. vi; it is clearly different from that in VI. xv. This letter 7 in J is peculiar and unlike those noted by BÜHLER in plates V & VI, the nearest in shape being that at VI. vii. 4; but it resembles the Pratihāra (9th c. A.D.) type noted by C. SIVARAMAMURTI. In its second variety (see the akşara-valikā block at the beginning) the top mark is not the usual curvy or wavy line but a half-bracket-like hook resembling the upper roundish mark as in BÜHLER VI. xv. 4 or V. xxi. 4, very much like the present-day hook on the top of Devanāgarī i to show that it is 7. For u of J, cf. BÜHLER V. iii & VI. XV-xvi, its lower hook being more sharp pointed. For ū cf. BÜHLER V. xv & VI. XV-xvi: its wedge-shaped serif is very striking, and it looks very much like ja of J. For e, cf. Ibidem V. vi & VI. xv-xvii: the sharp point at the bottom is striking. For o of J, cf. BÜHLER VI. XV-xvi. 13, the symbols in which are sufficiently similar to those for u. J writes u and o apparently alike. There seems to have been some difference, but it is not definitive. The forms of these akşaras in our chart are taken from a context where the values are definite. The letters u and o in OJHA's, plate xix, the varna-mālā from the palm-leaf Ms. Uşnīşa-Vijayadhāriņi, deserve comparison.2 In later corrections which are made in a squarish hand, o is represented by u with a top-stroke as in later Devanāgāri found in Mss. like our P.
For k of J, cf. BÜHLER VI. v, xiv & xv; the flourish of it agrees more with that in xiv than that in xv. For kh, cf. Ibidem V. xvi and VI. xiv. For g, cf. Ibid. VI. xv, but its shape in J is more curvy. For gh, cf. Ibid. VI. XV-Xvi; at times it is similar to that in V. xi etc.
For c of J, cf. BÜHLER V. iii and also VI. xv; its shape is more acute angled in J; and when the interior space is covered by ink, it often looks like r. For ch, cf. Ibidem V. xvi and VI. XV; it is very much similar to th in the conjunct group; and often cch stands for ch. For j, cf. Ibid. V. xvi, and also VI. xiv-xvi. For jh, cf. Ibid. VI. xvi; it is often difficult to distinguish it from jjh: and it very much resembles the akşara in paragraph 2, Plate XXVI of OJHA.
For † and th of J, cf. BÜHLER VI. xv. For d, Ibid. VI. xvi; at times it looks like r when the ink column of the letter is less thick. For dh cf. V. xiv. For n, cf. VI. XV; it has roundish arms, one of which has a fine point; and by later scribes it is sometimes misread as l.
For t of J, cf. BÜHLER VI. xvii-xvi; the top wedge of our t is very thick. For th cf. Ibidem V. xxi; but often it resembles tth. For d cf. VI. xv, but its style is very much like that in V. iii-xi. For dh cf. VI. xv, but the style as in V. iii-x. The structure of ddh is somewhat ticklish. For n, cf. VI. xv, but for its style V. xi.
For p of J. cf. BÜHLER VI. XV. For ph cf. VI. xv, but in some places its shape is different (both the types being shown in the chart) and resembles that in V. viii. (c. 993 A.D. or the Sena type (p. 125) noted by C. SIVARAMAMURTI.3 For b cf. VI. xii; b and v are similar; and perhaps the same symbol served the pur
C. SIVARAMAMURTI Indian Epigraphy and South Indian Scripts, Fig. 87, p. 181, Madras 1952; also p. 64. 2 G. H. OJHA: The Palaeography of India (2nd ed.), Ajmer 1918. 3 See C. SIVARAMAMURTI's book noted above, pp. 127 and 140.