Details

Subjects:

Vālmīki. Rāmāyaṇa.
Hindu mythology.
Rāma (Hindu deity).
Dharma.
Hunting -- Poetry.
Hunting.

Form/Genre:

Poetry.
Poems.
Manuscripts, Sanskrit.
Manuscripts.

Language:

In Sanskrit (Devanāgarī)

Summary:

Manuscript used for recitation or contemplation and comprises the second half of Kālidāsa's poem, from the ninth chapter (sarga), verse eight, until the end of the work at chapter 19. Draws heavily from Hindu mythology and pantheons as well as assumes some knowledge of the storyline of the Rāmāyaṇa and its main characters and gives a genealogical account of Rāma's dynastic background and lineage. Work is full of rich, poetic imagery of flora and fauna and references to courtly life and Hindu dharma. Manuscript is incomplete.

Notes:

Title from colophon (f. 123v).
Written in 9 lines per leaf.
63 leaves foliated 52-65, 72-119, 123, lower right verso.
Colophon: iti śrīraghuvaṃśemahākāvye śrīkālidāsakṛtau strIrājyā 'bhiṣikonāmaikonaviṃśatitamaḥ sargāḥ // 18 // saṃvat 1837 śaka 1702 kāśyāṃ madhye idaṃ pustakaṃ likhitaṃ śe[va]lālabrāhmaṇena kārtike māse kṛṣṇe pakṣe varakacaturddaśyāṃ guruvāsarānvitāyāṃ idaṃ pustakaṃ samāptaṃ (f. 123r).
Dated saṃvat 1837 śaka 1702 (1780) (f. 123r).
Scribe is Śevalāla Brāhmaṇa (f. 123r; "va" is supplied and the paper torn); the scribe lived in Varāṇasī (f. 123r).
Mistakes blacked out; some corrections and additions in margins; significant syllables, words, or phrases highlighted in red throughout.

Penn Provenance:

Formerly owned by Sītārāma (f. 126).

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 1952 (UP 503).

Cited as:

UPenn Ms. Coll. 390, Item 503

Contributor:

Śevalāla Brāhmaṇa, scribe.
Sītārāma, former owner.

OCLC:

845391448