Bruhat Katha kosha

Author(s): Harishen Acharya,
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

Page 33

· BRHAT-KATHĀKOŠA
Pha: This is a paper Ms. written in Devanăgari characters, and belongs to the Deccan College Collection now deposited at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona. It measures 13.25" x 6.5", and bears the No. 1049 of 1887-91. In all there are 377 folios, and they are written on both sides excepting in the case of the first folio. The Ms. two divisions : 157 folios are written in one hand, and the subsequent folios (with the last three lines on p. 157) are written in a different hand. In the first part there are 13 lines on a page with 35 to 40 akşaras in a line; and in the latter portion there are 12 lines on a page with some 45 aksaras in a line. Marginal lines, Dandas, numbers of verses, colophons and words like yugmam etc. are written in red ink and the verses are in black ink. The Ms. is not well preserved: it has suffered exposure to moisture; some leaves are clogged together; the surface of some pages is torn; and the edges of some folios are spoiled. Here and there some repairs are effected by pasting paper and by attempting to reproduce the lost letters, but the readings so replaced are purely conjectural. Some of the clogged pages could not be collated, but such pages are not many. The damage is apparent more in the first 157 folios, the paper of which is comparatively inferior. Scribal slips and irregularities are found in plenty in this Ms. After the symbol of bhale, the Ms. opens thus: BOTH Agiga, and the concluding portion runs thus : sa ERTT CAST All I 98400 ll ft OL १८७७ का मासोत्तममासे आसाढसुक्लपक्षे तिथौ ५ भृगुवासरे लिप्यकृतं माहात्मा संभुराम सवाईजयपुरमध्ये लिषायंतं ।
Ja: It stands for the transcript (upto the end of the story No. 55) of a Jaipur Ms. kindly sent to me by my friend Pt. Kamta Prasadaji of Aliganj. Later on he arranged to send the Jaipur Ms. itself (leaves 87 onwards) to me after procuring it through Pt. Bhanwar Lal Shastri, Jaipur. The Ms. belongs to a private library in Jaipur. I owe spe Pt. Bhanwar Lalaji but for whose kind offices it would not have been possible to get this Ms. The portion of the Jaipur Ms. received by me does not exhibit an uniform constitution. Folios 87 to 122 are written in one hand with the verse-numbers, yugmam etc. and colophons in red ink. The appearance of these pages is comparatively old. A square piece is left blank in the middle of the page. There are some 13 lines on a page and about 45 akşaras in a complete line. For folios 123 to 318 new and thick paper is used; and the handwriting too is different and comparatively inferior in appearance. Pages 183 etc. are numbered as 173 etc. In this new portion, no square-like space is left blank in the centre of the page; the red ink is used only for the marginal lines; and some light reddish powder is applied to verse-numbers, words like yugmam and colophons. There are about 14 lines on a page and some 37 letters in a line. Division of words is indicated by short comma-like strokes put at the top of the line. Absorbed vowels too are shown by a sign like the avagraha. Scribal errors are covered by some white paste. On the last page, No. 318, the name of the work is written on the left margin as Bșhadārädhanākathākośa. After the 16th verse of the Praśasti, there is a number 12500, put between the lines,