Alphabetical List of Manuscript in Oriental Institute Part 02

Author(s): Raghvan Nambiyar, Rajendra I Nanavati
Publisher: Oriental Research Institute Vadodra

Page 11

that is how this small work is attributed to him. It deals with the preparation of various kinds of dishes. The Bhojanakutūlala is an. other work belonging to the same class. The Mrga pakşisastra is a MS on a study of the animals and birds. The Gajalaksana and Gajanirupaņa are two manuscripts dealing with elcphants, their varieties, properties and qualities, etc. There is another work consisting of two leaves which explains the process of preparing different colours for painting. These manuscripts will show how rich Sanskrit is in secular matters of everyday importance.
Under Hindi there are altogether 99 MSS on different subjects. Hindi has now become the National Language of India. This will necessitate naturally a study of the history of Hindi language and literature. For researches into the early Hindi Language and literature, these MSS are likely to be of great value in the near future.
The MSS collection of the Oriental Institute possesses 366 MSS on Gujarati language and literature, and besides these there are 319 MSS on Jain Rasas and allied works. Out of this big collection only a few have been published. These MSS are bound to be of value to the Gujarati department of the Maharaja Sayajirao University, and it is hoped that ere long this unpublished collection will see the light of the day.
The number of Jain MSS in the MSS collection is large. It is 976. Gujarat being the home of Jain religion and culture quite a large number of Jain MSS have flowed into the archives of the Oriental Institute. Jain literature is a vast field of study. It is not possible to deal properly with this extensive literature in a short preface of this kind. But it must be said that the Jain collection at the Oriental Institute is a rich collection and deserves to be studied, worked and published, without much delay in order to make the history of Gujarat richer and fuller.
In the Buddhist Section there are 88 MSS in all. This is a small but very interesting collection of manuscripts. Several of these MSS have already been published in the Gaekwad's Oriental Series. The published list includes such important works as the Advayavajrasamgraha, Tathāgataguhyaka or the Guhyasamāja, the Tarkabháşa, the Nyayapravesa, the Nişpannayogāvali, the Sadhanamālā and the Tattvasamgraha. The last named work the Tattvasamgraha was edited with the help of a single manuscript obtained from the Pattan Bhandars. Amongst the published works, the Tattvasamgraha, the Guhyasamāja, the Sadhanamala and the Advayavajrasaingraha have already become classics and have received the approbation of scholars all over the world. Besides these, there are still unpublished works of great value in the collection, such as the Gunakārandavyuha which treats of the exploits of ilc ideal Bodhisattya Avalokitesvara who is the central god in Mahayāna,