Parsuram Kalpasutra Part 01

Author(s): A Mahadev Shastri
Publisher: Central Library

Page 9

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But by the side of the others this copy was found superfluous and it did not offer correct readings where there were any doubts. It is referred to as a 2.
There were besides many copies of the mere text of the Kalpa-Sutra available for collation of the Sutra. But, as their various readings are represented by the copies of the Vritti, it was not found necessary to note any variations in their readings. As to the copies of the Vritti used for this edition, none of them is quite correct, but, fortunately, owing to the variety in the copies and collations secured, no difficulty has been found in determining the correct text.
While the work was in progress Mr. R. Anantakrishna Sastri sent me a manuscript containing what purports to be an extension to the Sutra by eight Khandas from 11th to 18th. This portion is printed as an appendix at the end. It does not seem to be a genuine portion of the Sutra. Ramesvara's Vritti closes with the tenth Khanda and regards it as the concluding portion. The manuscript is very incorrect, and in some places the meaning is quite unintelligible. This portion is added simply to show that there is such an alleged extension of the Sutra.
The Kalpa-Sutra is a digest of Sri-Vidya, a system of Divine Mother's worship compiled by one Parasurama from the several systems of the same which prevailed in his day. This, however, is only one of the many forms now in vogue, though it is tersest and perhaps the best arranged one of them all. It seems very hard to make out in what sense the author can be identified with Parasurama of the Ramayana as is done in the colophons of the several sections of the Sutra.
The commentary on the Sutra is of a recent age, hardly more than a hundred years old. The work is said to have been written in 1753 of the Saka era which corresponds to 1831 A.D. Without this commentary it would not be easy to make out the meaning of the Sutra, especially for those who are not quite