Details

Subjects:

Narasiṃha (Hindu deity).
Vishnu (Hindu deity).
Rāma (Hindu deity).
Devotional literature, Sanskrit.
Saraswati River (India).

Form/Genre:

Prayers.
Poems.
Manuscripts, Sanskrit.
Manuscripts.

Language:

In Sanskrit (Devanāgarī)

Summary:

First part of the manuscript is a Hindu praise (stotra) of the river Sarasvatī, typically associated with a heavenly river than an earthly river, its physical location being disputed; and would be used to aid in private or public meditation or prayer. Second part of manuscript similarly praises the terror inducing deity Narasiṃha, who is conceived as half a man and half a lion, and an avatāra of the deity Viṣṇu. Text emphasizes the god's power, strength, and fearfulness. Both parts open with a mantra to the god Rāma rather than to Gaṇeśa, the lord of beginnings, who more typically opens every Sanskrit text.

Contents:

(Part one:) Sarasvatīstotra
(Part 2:) Narasiṃhajayati.

Notes:

Title from incipit (f. 1r); alternate title Sarasvatīstotra for first part of manuscript; alternate title Narasiṃhajayati for second part of manuscript.
Written in 9-10 lines per leaf.
2 leaves foliated 1, [2], upper left and lower right verso.
Colophon (part one): iti brahmapurāṇe sarasvatīstotrasaṃpurṇam sūbham astu (f. 1).
Colophon (part two): iti śrīnarasi[ṃ]hajayati saṃpurṇamarāmarāma (f. 2v).
Mistakes covered over in yellow or blacked out; some corrections and additions in margins; vertical margins marked with double black line.
Non-Latin script record.

Cited in:

Listed in H. I. Poleman, Census of Indic Manuscripts in the United States and Canada (New Haven, Conn.: American Oriental Society, 1938), Poleman 1147 (UP 2568).

Cited as:

UPenn Ms. Coll. 390, Item 2568

Contains:

Puranas. Brahmapurāṇa. Selections.
Sarasvatīstotra.
Narasiṃhajayati.

OCLC:

794412762