Descriptive Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts in Tanjore Vol 09

SR No.: 020234
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: P P S Shastri
Publisher: Government of Madras
Publication Year: 1930
Total Pages: 460
Language: English, Sanskrit
Classification: Catalogue
File Size: 15 MB

Page 9

“The manuscripts described in this Report belong to Jambunātha bhatta, a Mahratha Brābmana at Tanjore, who is the eldest son of a certain Mannambhatta. He is a no mean Sanskrit Scholar and knows the whole Rgveda by heart. As he is continually teaching the text of this sacred book to students, even his blind daughter has learnt to recite portions of it. The existence of this Library was brought to my notice by Mr. T. S. Kuppuswami Sāstri, of the Educational Department, who is favourably known to Sapskritists by his paper on Rāmabhadra Dikṣita. During my absence on furlough in Europe, my First Assistant, Mr. V. Veåkayya, M.A., was deputed to Tanjore in order to catalogue Jambunatha's collection. He spent three months at this work, in which he received the valuable aid of Mr. Kuppuswämi Sāstri. Both the list and the extracts testify to the throughness and care with which he has accomplished his task. From his Annual Report on Epigraphy for 1898-99 I quote the following details about Jambunătha's collection:
“He is the eldest of the three brothers and is descended from a family whose influence is reported to have been very great when the Mabrātha Kingdom of Tanjore was in existence. When manuscripts were obtained for the Palace Library from Benares and other places in Northern India, the ancestors of Jambunătha bhatta appear to have systematically used their influence to make their collection of Sanskrit works. This accounts for the existence in this collection of a large number of ancient manuscripts evidently copied in Northern India. The texts were transcribed by the members of the family, who appear to have been learned men. This according to the present owner of this Library, was how this collection came into existence. The manuseripts are all written in Nägars characters and on loose sheets of