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THE INDIAX ANTIQUARY.
NOVEMBER, 1874.
by the Rev. P. Wurm. Of new editions of im. portant works on the history and architecture of India, those deserving of especial notice are vol. 11. of Professor Lassen's Inlische Alterthemskuwele, and Mr. James Fergusson's Tree and Serpent IVorship.
Sanskrit Bunuscripts. The examination of the collections of MSS. in private nul public libraries, carried on at the expense of the Government of India, has been continued with laudable energy. The result of Dr. G. Bühler's labours in Gujarat have been made known in three additional numbers (Yos. 2 to ) of his Catalogue of Sanskrit SS., embracing the several departments of cinssical Sanskrit literature. From reports and occasional notes published by that scholar in the Indian Antiquary, it appears that he is now chiefly cleroting his attention to Jaina literature, written in one of the Pråkpits or popular dialects. Copies of several highly important works for the study of theso dialects have lately been discovered by him and purchased for the Bombay Government. Baba Rajendralála Mitra has also issued three more parts (Nos. 4 to 6) of his Notices of Sanskrit MSS, in the Bengal Presidency, which, when com plete, will, together with the already published catalogues of the Banaras and Calcutta libraries, atford a tolerably completo view of the MSS. in that part of India. The same scholar has also editel a catalogue of Sanskrit MSS. existing in Oudh, prepared by Mr. C. Browning and Pandit Deriprasiula.
ORIENTAL LANGUAGES-Sawskrit. That most in- dustrious scholar Dr. A. Burnell, who has lately examined for the Madras Government the large MS. collection at Tanjor, has further done good service by undertaking an edition of the eight Brilands of the Simavela, together with SA- yana's comment. Of these works, three have al. ready been published, viz. the Sameroidlina-, tho Deratuidhytya-, and the Vaino-Briihmanas. The last-named text is preceded by #bigbly interesting introduction, in which the editor arrives at the conclusion that Sayana and Madhava are the same person.
The publication of work which is of the highest importance for the study of Sanskrit, and of which a complete edition has long been ardent- ly wished for-viz. Patanjali's Muluibháskyrun or "great conimentary" on Panini's grammatical aphorisms-has at last taken place. For a lithographed edition of this work with Kaiyata's commentary, in the form of a Sanskrit MS., scholars are indebted to the industry of Professors Rajará maśāstrin and Bålaśistrin, of the Banaras
College. In the 13th volume of his Indische Stulien, Professor Weber, with praiseworthy energy, has already published a summary of such gleanings from the work as appeared to him of historicul and antiquarian interest. An instructive discussion has also taken place in the Indian Antiguury between him and Professor Bhân därkar concerning the age of this work. The latter scholar, for independent reasons, agrees with the late Professor Goldstücker in placing the composi. tion of the valuibluishyor about the middle of the second century B.C. ; whilst Professor Weber as. signs it to a dato several centuries later.
Dr. H. Grassmann's Glossary of the Rigvedla, of which three parts have been published, containing about one-half of the work, is likely to prove of great assistance to Vedic studies. Or the same Veda, Professor Max Müller has brought out, with the assistance of Dr. Thibaut, a complete edition (the first in the Dovanagari character), in both the Senhill or connected, and the Pada or disconnected, texts.
The great Sanelerit Wörterbuch, published at St. Petorsburg by Professors Böhtlingk and Roth, h as steadily advanced towards completion. Five parts (48-52) have been brought out during the years 1872-3, carrying the work on to about the middle of the last letter but one. It may, therefore, be reasonably expected that this grand under. taking will reach its end within tbe next two years. Meanwhile Professor M. Williams has published, in one volume, a Sanskřit-English Dictionary, partly in the Roman character, which is a very useful book of reference to the English student.
Of Kalidasa's drama the Sakuntala, three recensions are known to exist in different parts of India. The text of two of them, prevalent respectively in Bengal and in Western India, has long been made accessible to European Sans. kritists; and by all scholars except Professor Stenzler, of Breslau, the palm of priority had been, until lately, conceded to the Western or so-called Devanagari recension. The cause of the Bengali version was, however, boldly taken up some time since by Dr. R. Pischel, who, after a special study of the Prakritic dialects, concludes that it has more faithfully preserved the original Praksit type than either the Western recension or the one newly discovered in the South Indian MSS., the briefest, it may be noticed, of the three, the Bengali being by far the longest. Of the Devanågari version a new but scarcely sufficiently critical edition, with a useful index of words, has lately been brought out by Dr. C. Burkhard. Hemachandra's Aphorisms on the Praksits, a
• Vol. II. pp. 17, 102, 166 ; vol. III. p. 89.
† Ante, vol. I. p. 299; vol. II. pp. 57, 59, 69, $4, 206, 238.
