Srngaramanjari Katha

Author(s): Bhojdev, Kalpalata K Munshi
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

Page 26

DESCRIPTION OF THE MS.
External Peculiarities of the Ms.: Description
The palmleaf Ms. is written in beautiful Devanagari script, the style of writing is similar to the Mss. of the 11th and the 12th centuries. The leaves are smooth and of a superior quality. A deep black ink is used in writing and the characters of the script indicate the use of a reed pen. The writing is distinct.
3
The complete text is in 158 folios, of which sixteen leaves are missing and twenty-six are in fragments of various sizes. A small fragment of folio 1 written on one side, and the left part of the last folio have also been found. The leaves measure approximately 11.7" in length and 2" in breadth. The leaves are divided into two parts by a centre column. The left side is shorter than the right side, the left measuring 4.7" and the right 6.9". The centre columns have string holes which are uniform and not much enlarged. The edges of some of the leaves are broken resulting in loss of letters in some cases. The lines are regular and at the end are marked by vertical double lines running across the whole breadth of leaves. There are generally six lines on a page. In some cases where the leaves are
narrow in breadth there are five lines. The lines are written on both the sides with about 52-55 letters in each line. It follows the usual method of writing words continuously without a break up to the end of the line. In some cases, as in folio 68a, where the leaf is defective, lines are not completed and in folio 18b, the right hand corner is left blank.
Punctuation
The simple vertical stroke, the danda is used for the separation of single words or groups of words. But it is used very irregularly and many times without significance. For example on folio 6a, lines 3-4 we have क्वचित् संक्रान्तस्फटिकशालवलय प्रतिबिम्वतया । नगरीविलोकनकुतूहलाकुलितनिर्यच्छेषयेव । परिखया परिक्षिप्ता । A double vertical stroke is usually used at the end of a sentence where a particular description or a conversation is finished. The sign usually marks the change of topic or the end of a story. Occasionally at the end of a story a double mark is put which is rather unusual. A sign like a horizontal comma is used when lines are not completed due to some defect in the palm leaf before inscription. indicates continuation in the next line.
The sign
Pagination
The pagination is on the reverse of the leaves and both in the numerals of numbers and letters as is found in the palm leaf Mss. of