Indian Antiquary Vol 05

Author(s): Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 36

28
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[JANUARY, 1876.
as I knew that it would not be of much use to get more than forty of which are written on birch a fresh Devanagari transcript made, I borrowed an bark. As I also increased the number of MSS. excellent annotated old copy of the work, which to be copied to more than one hundred, the total had been transcribed by one Ganakåk Pandit from of books which I finally took with me from Kas. the codex archetyprus belonging to Kesavråm Pan- | mir is considerably over 270. dit, and began to collate it with the printed edition. All the old MSS., with two or three exceptions This work of collation occupied me for four to five only, are written in Sarada I characters. This hours a day until September 29th, when the 8,000 alphabet, and not the Devanagari, is commonly slokas were finished. Several particularly impor- used in Kasmir, and must be of great antiquity, as tant passages were also collated with Keśavram's it occurs also on the coins of the 9th century. copy. I found that the published editions contain a Like all Indian alphabets, it has been derived very large number of mistakes, most of which from the old PAli alphabet of the Asoka inscripseriously affect the meaning of the text, the formtions. It preserves, however, more ancient forms of the names, &c. To give one example only, the than any other modern alphabet which I have seen. name of the oldest Kaśmirian dynasty is not, as MSS. written in Såradå cha acters are mostly usually read, Gonarda, but Gonanda.
pretty correct. But nearly all oli Kasmirian MSS. In order to clear up the numerous geographical are more or less mutilated. Very frequently the and other questions connected with the Rdjataran. end and the beginning are missing, or at least gini, I had frequent meetings with some of the single lines, words, or letters. The cause of this Pandits best acquainted with the antiquities of state of things is chiefly that the birch bark, wbich Kasmir, and I made several excursions to ancient before Akbar's time was the only material used sites in the western half of the Valley. These in- for writing on, is exceedingly fragile. As soon quiries resulted in the identification of a consider- as birch-bark MSS. reach any considerable ago able number of the sacred and historical places or are used frequently, they begin to split and mentioned in the Rdjatarangini, e.g. of the Prad- to tear in all directions, and the surface of the yumnapitha with the Hariparvat or Särika- pages begins to slough. Of course letters, words, parvata in Srinagar, of the Mahapadma with and even whole lines are lost or become illegible. the Wollur lake, of Jayavana with the village The destruction of the first and last pages is of Zevan, of Shadarhad vana with the village owing to the custom of having the MSS. bound of Hårvan, of Jay&pida's Dvåravati with the in rougu country leather, without inserting blank village of Bahirkaç near Sumbal," of Chakra- leaves for protection. dhara with the Chakdhar hill or mound, &c. Modern MSS. are mostly complete, but in many
They also led to the discovery of the real nature cases, where few copies only of a book existed, of the Kasmirian era which has been used by it is very probable that the lacuna have been Kalhana in the last three books of his chronicle, filled up at random. One Pandit confessed to me and is still in use among the Brâhmans of Kasmir. that he had restored more than twenty-four pages Its true name, derived from the supposed secu- of the Vishnudharmottara. Another Pandit asked lar procession of 'Ursa major, is the era of the me if tho copies to be prepared for myself were Saptarshis. It began on Chaitra Sudi 1st of the to be made complete or not. I do not believe,how26th year of the Kaliyuga, or March-April 3076 ever, that this course has been adopted for those B.C. In using it the Kasmirians usually leave works which are to be found in a great number out the hun Ireds, though there are instances in of copies. There it is likely, and I have heard it which they have been added. The year 24, stated asserted as a fact, that complete copies are obtainby Kalhana to be equal to Saka 1070, is really the ed by comparing a number of mutilated MSS. year 42247 of the Saptarshi era. With this key it As to the contents of the acquired books, Poetry, will become possible to fix the chronology of the Poetics, Grammar, and Saiva Philosophy are best later Kasmirian kings with perfect accuracy. I represented, as these subjects have been since may add that General Cunningham's dates very time immemorial the specialities of the Kagclosely agree with those obtained by reducing Kal- mirians. But there are also curious and rare hana's Saptarshi years to years of the Christianera. works from all branches of Hiuda learning.
Very soon after the beginning of my search, In Poetry the historical works take the first a great many ancient MSS. were offered to me place. I am happy to state that I have been able for sale, out of which I selected upwards of 160, to secure a complete set of the four known Rdja
• Not Andarka, as conjectared by General Cunning- dakaharanf may be translated by characters sacred to Saham, whose mention of the site in his Geography, however, led me to visit the place.
rasvatt. Similarly Kasmir is sometimes called Sarad - + 1.. 3076 + 78 + 1070 = 4294.
dess, 'the country of Sarasvati.'
& Toramana' coins show characters Dearly idenI sdradd or Sdradd is a name of Sarasvati, and sara. tical with those of the Gapta inscriptions.