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JULY, 1026 )
A LIBRARY OF MSS. AT DACCA UNIVERSITY
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FORMATION OF A LIBRARY OF MANUSCRIPTS AT DACCA UNIVERSITY.
BY N. K. BHATTASALI, M.A. In the Modern Review for December 1925, the Editor announces (p. 738) the discovery by Prof. V. S. Sukthankar of the Bhandarkar Research Institute, Poona, of a manuscript of the Adi Parva (Ist Canto) of the Mahabharata, dated in v.s. 1575 or A.D. 1519. Persong interested in Oriental Research know that this Research Institute is trying to bring out a reliable edition of the great Sanskrit Epic, Mahabharata, by collating all important manuscripts of the epic from different parts of India and the world. The discovery of an early dated MSS. of an important Parva like the Adi Parva must be very important for the projected edition and will undoubtedly delight all lovers of Oriental Research.
The Dacca University, since its inception, has been trying to form a good Library of Sanskrit and Bengali manuscripts, and set apart Rs. 5,000 for the purpose in the very first year of its existence. The scheme, however, materialised only last year, when a strong committee for the collection of manuscripts was formed. The committee advertised widely, asking for offers of manuscripts, either for purchase or as presents, and their appeal has met with a wonderful response. Manuscripts poured in with such rapidity that more than 3,000 of them were collected, practically within the short period of one year. Indeed, the pressure on this honorary organisation has become so great that the authorities of the Dacca University are seriously considering the desirability of relieving the manuscript committee by employing very shortly a paid curator of manuscripts.
Not only have the Manuscript Committee of the Dacca University succeeded in securing Valuable donations of manuscripts, sometimes amounting in number to more than 500 (the most notable donor being Babu Krshnadas Acharyya Choudhuri, Zemindar of Muktagachha, who presented the committee with 573 manuscripts), but the actual purchases contain books in Bengali and Sanskrit on all conceivable subjects. Manuscripts of all the Parva of the Mahabharata have been collected in duplicate, triplicate or more copies, and the Bhandarkar Institute will be glad to learn that Dacca University now possesses a complete manuscript of the Harivamia, dated in 1426 Saka, i.e., 1503 A.D.; a manuscript of the Aranya Parva of 1393 Saka, 1.e., 1471 A.D.;a manuscript of the Santi Parva of 1442 Saka i.e., 1520 A.D. That such early manuscripts of the Mahabharata could be found in a damp country like Bengal, came indeed as a great surprise to the committee in the first days of its activities. As regards the manuscripts of the Ramayana, the committee have succeeded in collecting duplicate and triplicate copies of all the Kandas, but the earliest of them does not date back beyond about 250 years. Manuscripts of the majority of the Puranas have been collected, in some cases in more than one copy; and the gem of the lot is a complete manuscript of the Vinnu-Purana, dated in 1388 Saka (1466 A.D.), or twenty years previous to the birth of Chaitanya. A manuscript of the Padma Purana, dated in 1311 saka, in the reign of Sultan Ghiyasuddin of Bengal, would have been a more valuable addition, but for its fragmentary character. The committee was practically overwhelmed by the number of MSS. on Navya Nydys that appeared, a few of them in palm leaf and dated in La Sam, and has stopped accepting any more of them, unless they be very old and well-preserved. Numerous MSS. of different Tantras have appeared, the most remarkable being a MSS. of Saradatilaka, dated in 1427 Saka or 1505 A.D. and a second MSS. of the same book, even older. A splendid manuscript of the Saktisargama Tantra, complete in 334 folia, is also one of the notable collections of this iine. MSS. of the other minor and major Tantras collected, some of them hitherto unknown, are too numerous to be mentioned.
The Committee made a special effort to collect genealogical works, and they have succeeded in collecting a number of MSS. of the works of Dhruvananda and Mahesha, and some other genealogical works of the Varendra and the Radhi Brahmans. A most remarkable book in this line is a genealogical Kavya, dealing with the family history of the Rai Choudhuris of
