2023-02-16 14:47:24 by ambuda-bot
This page has not been fully proofread.
56:
INTRODUCTION
II. Collection And Distribution Of The MS Evidence.
2.1. Methods of gathering the MSS. Theodor Aufrecht's threo-part
Catalogus Catalogorum [Leipzig 1891-1903] is sadly out of date for
modern editorial purposes. Many times the number of MSS mentioned
there have now gravitated to public collections while the number of such
collections has itself increased enormously. The need will eventually be
filled by the great Catalogus Catalogorum projected by the University of
Madras. The information which I used as a starting point was furnished
from the records of this forthcoming publication by its present editor, Dr.
V. Raghavan. The general procedure which now prevails is that institutions
allow MSS to be sent on loan to each other provided the borrower furnishes
a legal indemnity bond for the approximate value of the MSS. The
necessary guarantee was given for me in most cases by P. K. Gode of the
BORI, where the borrowed MSS were lodged and studied. No less than
75 were actually found in Poona collections. Foreign institutions sent
microfilm or rotograph duplicates at reasonable cost. In the case of those
Indian collections which operate under rules permitting them to borrow
but not to lend out MSS, a pratika index or hand-copy was sometimes
made. In a few cases, collation at the distant centre was also possible, but
generally slipshod. I was
was able examine a few private collections by the
kindness of friends who negotiated; in these cases, as also in dealing with
many semi-public libraries, personal influence is of prime importance, and
should be the first line of attack. A few known depositories of Bhartrhari
MSS have escaped being tapped. The largest from which no information
could be obtained at all is at Leipzig, where Aufrecht's own catalogue of
1901 reports eight MSS, nos. 417-424. One each is reported in the
state collections at Bharatpur and Kotah. These, like the 5 MSS in
the Raghunath Temple Library at Srinagar (Stein's catalogue) cannot be
issued on loan, while there are no satisfactory arrangements for reliable
copies at any reasonable cost. The logical procedure, had it been within
my means, would have been to travel to all these places with a microfilm
camera and take duplicates. Actually, this would not be worth while
unless arrangements were also made to visit the innumerable Jain Bhandars
all over the country in the same tour. The East Punjab abbeys at
Ambālā, Amritsar, Nakodar, Patti, and Zira contain-according to
Banarasi Das Jain's Catalogue [Pt. I, Lahore 1923 ]-no less than 20
Bhartrhari MSS. Other collections of similar type should be extant in
Näthapanthiya, Lingayat, and a few Hindu Mathas. On the wholo, however,
the examination of material has been reasonably thorough, if not exhaustive.
The most remarkable external feature of the MSS is their distribution.
They are to be found, in local or indigenous versions, in just three large
regions: N- Greater Rajasthān, including Gujorat, S = the Dravidian peninsula,
and a third region, which may be denoted by greater Mahärāṣtra, to include
not only western India but settlements of Maharastrian pundits from
Tanjore to Benares. This is approximately the territory that was sealed
off at an early date by Mohammedan conquest. Of the three, the Greater
Rajasthan area undoubtedly gives MSS of the most varying types. A
parallel to Vavilov's law for botanical species would justify the conclusion
INTRODUCTION
II. Collection And Distribution Of The MS Evidence.
2.1. Methods of gathering the MSS. Theodor Aufrecht's threo-part
Catalogus Catalogorum [Leipzig 1891-1903] is sadly out of date for
modern editorial purposes. Many times the number of MSS mentioned
there have now gravitated to public collections while the number of such
collections has itself increased enormously. The need will eventually be
filled by the great Catalogus Catalogorum projected by the University of
Madras. The information which I used as a starting point was furnished
from the records of this forthcoming publication by its present editor, Dr.
V. Raghavan. The general procedure which now prevails is that institutions
allow MSS to be sent on loan to each other provided the borrower furnishes
a legal indemnity bond for the approximate value of the MSS. The
necessary guarantee was given for me in most cases by P. K. Gode of the
BORI, where the borrowed MSS were lodged and studied. No less than
75 were actually found in Poona collections. Foreign institutions sent
microfilm or rotograph duplicates at reasonable cost. In the case of those
Indian collections which operate under rules permitting them to borrow
but not to lend out MSS, a pratika index or hand-copy was sometimes
made. In a few cases, collation at the distant centre was also possible, but
generally slipshod. I was
was able examine a few private collections by the
kindness of friends who negotiated; in these cases, as also in dealing with
many semi-public libraries, personal influence is of prime importance, and
should be the first line of attack. A few known depositories of Bhartrhari
MSS have escaped being tapped. The largest from which no information
could be obtained at all is at Leipzig, where Aufrecht's own catalogue of
1901 reports eight MSS, nos. 417-424. One each is reported in the
state collections at Bharatpur and Kotah. These, like the 5 MSS in
the Raghunath Temple Library at Srinagar (Stein's catalogue) cannot be
issued on loan, while there are no satisfactory arrangements for reliable
copies at any reasonable cost. The logical procedure, had it been within
my means, would have been to travel to all these places with a microfilm
camera and take duplicates. Actually, this would not be worth while
unless arrangements were also made to visit the innumerable Jain Bhandars
all over the country in the same tour. The East Punjab abbeys at
Ambālā, Amritsar, Nakodar, Patti, and Zira contain-according to
Banarasi Das Jain's Catalogue [Pt. I, Lahore 1923 ]-no less than 20
Bhartrhari MSS. Other collections of similar type should be extant in
Näthapanthiya, Lingayat, and a few Hindu Mathas. On the wholo, however,
the examination of material has been reasonably thorough, if not exhaustive.
The most remarkable external feature of the MSS is their distribution.
They are to be found, in local or indigenous versions, in just three large
regions: N- Greater Rajasthān, including Gujorat, S = the Dravidian peninsula,
and a third region, which may be denoted by greater Mahärāṣtra, to include
not only western India but settlements of Maharastrian pundits from
Tanjore to Benares. This is approximately the territory that was sealed
off at an early date by Mohammedan conquest. Of the three, the Greater
Rajasthan area undoubtedly gives MSS of the most varying types. A
parallel to Vavilov's law for botanical species would justify the conclusion