South Indian Scripts In Sanskrit Manuscripts And Prints

This book is intended to facilitate access to the amazing wealth of documents written in the five major South Indian scripts. It focusses on the South Indian Sanskrit tradition, but also takes into account the modern alphabets of the respective Dravidian languages. The sometimes bewildering variety of the five scripts is mapped out in altogether c. 5200 basic characters, ligatures (i.e., vocalizations), conjuncts/consonant clusters, numerals, abbreviations etc. Special care has been taken to break down the complexity of Grantha Tamil in a system of graphic classification.The material surveyed comprises Sanskrit manuscripts as well as the Southern tradition of Sanskrit printing, and books in Dravidian languages (including Tranquebar prints).

The Nyāyasūtravivaraṇa, written in the first centuries of the 2nd millennium CE, provides the most accessible introduction to the core teachings of old Nyāya. Excerpting from the two earliest and most important treatises of this tradition—the Nyāyabhāṣya and Nyāyavārttika—Gambhīravaṃśaja created a comprehensive yet concise digest. The present work contains not only a critical edition of the first chapter based on all known textual sources but also a complete documentation of the variants, a comprehensive study of the parallel passages, a detailed discussion of the preparation and processing of the text-critical data, and a detailed documentation of the Grantha Tamil, Telugu and Kannada scripts.

This book explores multilingualism and multiscriptism in a great variety of writing cultures, offering an in-depth analysis of how diverse languages and scripts seamlessly intertwine within written artefacts. Insights into scribal practices are particularly illuminating in that respect, especially when exploring artefacts originating from multicultural communities and regions where distinct writing traditions intersect. The influence of multilingualism and multiscriptism on these writing cultures becomes evident, with essays spanning various domains, from the mundane aspects of everyday life to the realms of scholarship and political propaganda. Scholars often relegate these phenomena, despite being frequently encountered, to the status of exceptions compared to the more prevalent monolingualism and monoscriptism. However, in daring to challenge this viewpoint, this book emphasises the profound significance and relevance of multilingualism and multiscriptism in shaping the development of languages, cultures, and societies across Asia, Africa, and Europe. It caters to a diverse readership keen on delving into the intricacies of these phenomena within this rich tapestry of writing cultures.

This volume, the outcome of a seminar organized at the International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden, marks an important advancement in the study of South Indian Sanskrit manuscripts which are predominantly on palm leaf and rarely older than three to four centuries. Nevertheless, they continued a manuscript culture for around two millennia and had a profound impact on traditions of knowledge and culture. After an introductory essay (by J.E.M. Houben and S. Rath) addressing theoretical and historical issues of text transmission in manuscripts and in India’s remarkably strong oral memory culture, it contains twelve contributions dealing with South Indian manuscript collections in India and Europe (mainly of Vedic and Sanskrit texts) and with problems related to the scripts, the dating of manuscripts and India's literary and intellectual history. Contributors include: G. Colas, A.A. Esposito, M. Fujii, C. Galewicz, J.E.M. Houben, H. Moser, P. Perumal, K. Plofker, S. Rath, S.R. Sarma, D. Wujastyk, K.G. Zysk

Located in the city of Dwaraka, on the west coast of India in Gujarat, is the famous temple of Dwarakadhish, which is dedicated to Lord Krishna, the Lord of Dwaraka. Among the seven holy cities of India, it is considered to be one of the most sacred. Another list includes Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Varanasi, Kanchipuram, and Ujjain. It is believed that the original temple of Dwarakadhish was built by the great-grandson of Krishna, Vajranabha, on the ruins of Krishna's own palace, which survived the tsunami intact. The ancient, famed city of Dwaraka did exist during the Krishnavatara's reign some five thousand years ago. It is no longer visible since it lies at the bottom of the ocean. The poets, writers, saints, and sages of ancient India have all praised the majesty and beauty of Dwaraka. Several Hindu texts, including the Srimad Bhagavatam, the Skanda Purana, the Vishnu Purana, Harivamsha, and the Mahabharata, refer to it as the "Golden City.". A verse in the Bhagavatam says: "The golden fort of Dwaraka City had its yellow glitter all around it, as if the flames of Vadavagni (the fire of eternity) had come out and tore the sea asunder." It was a thriving port and had a harbor on an island nearby. Dwaraka must have been the largest port on the Indian coast during the third millennium BC according to the number, size, and variety of stone anchors. Some fifty stone anchors are visible, but hundreds have been buried in the sediment. It is probably because of this that the city received its name. Dwaraka, which means "gate" in Sanskrit, was perhaps the gate that enabled ancient civilizations to access the ports. Cities of the West used seafaring to enter India's vast subcontinent. Ka in Sanskrit also means "Brahma," so perhaps it was devoted to Brahma, the creator of the Hindu trinity.

This collection of essays explores the history of the book in pre-modern South Asia looking at the production, circulation, fruition and preservation of manuscripts in different areas and across time. Edited by the team of the Cambridge-based Sanskrit Manuscripts Project and including contributions of the researchers who collaborated with it, it covers a wide range of topics related to South Asian manuscript culture: from the material dimension (palaeography, layout, decoration) and the complicated interactions of manuscripts with printing in late medieval Tibet and in modern Tamil Nadu, to reading, writing, editing and educational practices, from manuscripts as sources for the study of religious, literary and intellectual traditions, to the creation of collections in medieval India and Cambodia (one major centre of the so-called Sanskrit cosmopolis), and the formation of the Cambridge collections in the colonial period. The contributions reflect the variety of idioms, literary genres, religious movements, and social actors (intellectuals, scribes, patrons) of ancient South Asia, as well as the variety of approaches, interests and specialisms of the authors, and their impassionate engagement with manuscripts.

As records of the link between a manuscript and the texts it contains, paratexts document many aspects of a manuscript’s life: production, transmission, usage, and reception. Comprehensive studies of paratexts are still rare in the field of manuscript studies, and the universal categories of time and space are used to create a common frame for research and comparisons. Contributions in this volume span over three continents and one millennium.

Since ancient times, the Hindus have had a lunisolar cycle based on the combination of solar and lunar years, determined by the course of the sun and the moon, but with the lunar year beginning near the solar year. Exactly how their earliest Calendar was arranged remains a mystery. Our focus is on the current form of their Calendar, developed around 400 under the influence of Greek astronomy and introduced into India at no long time. There are two kinds of Hindu years, solar and lunar. To understand the lunar Calendar, we will first explain the solar year, which governs the lunisolar system. Bengal, including Madras's Orissa, Tamil, and Malayalam districts, used solar years for civil purposes. General religious rites and festivals are regulated by the lunar year and the details of private and domestic life, such as choosing auspicious occasions for marriages and journeys, choosing lucky moments for shaving, etc. Almanacs that follow the lunar year contain details about the solar year, such as the sun's course through the zodiac signs. Despite following the solar year, almanacs include lunar year details. The astronomical solar year determines the civil solar year. According to the latter, the Calendar begins at the vernal equinox but actually starts at the vernal equinox. Because of the rotation of the equinoxes, in Western astronomy, the zodiac signs correspond to the astronomical solar because they are drawn away extensively from the constellations from which they derive their names. Therefore, the sun now comes to the vernal equinox, before the beginning of Aries, not in the constellation Aries but at the end of Pisces. From (A.D. 499, 522, or 527, referring to different schools) when, according to their system, the signs aligned with the constellations, the Hindus disregarded precession about their Calendar. According to them, Aries begins at or near the star Piscium. Hence, their astronomical solar year is, in fact, not the tropical year, in the course of which the sun passes from one vernal equinox to the next, but a sidereal year, the period during which the earth makes one whole rotation in its orbit around the sun regarding the first point of Mesha; its start is the moment of the Mesha-Sankranti when the sun enters Mesha rather than Aries, and it begins not with the actual equinox but with an artificial.

The discovery of Sanskrit literature at the end of the eighteenth century was the most significant cultural event since the Renaissance. The Greeks became acquainted with the Indians after Alexander's invasion; the Arabs brought Indian science to the West during the Middle Ages; some European missionaries from the sixteenth century on gained some familiarity with the ancient language of India; and Abraham Roger translated the Sanskrit poet Bhartihari into Dutch in 1651. However, it is only now that this highly advanced knowledge is being revealed. The existence of Sanskrit literature was only vaguely known in Europe about two hundred years ago, expressed in stories about Indian wisdom. In ancient times, our modern age has discovered tales of Vimanas flying aircraft; their poems preserve glacial rivers from the Ice Age. Our Indian possessions gave us the first impetus to study Sanskrit. Warren Hastings, Governor-General, seeing the advantages of ruling the Hindus according to their laws and customs, commissioned several Brahmans to prepare a digest based on the best ancient Indian legal authorities. Early in 1776, a Persian translation of this Sanskrit compilation was published in English. The introduction provided reliable information about the ancient Indian language, literature, and specimens of the Sanskrit script. With this era's technology, a limited understanding of Vedic civilization's advanced knowledge was possible. Throughout the last 200 years, we have had revelation after revelation of the advanced Vedic civilization that once existed, and we are missing an essential episode in the history of humanity. Nevertheless, Charles Wilkins took the first steps toward introducing others to actual Sanskrit writings. Having acquired knowledge of Sanskrit at Benares at the behest of Warren Hastings, he translated in 1785 the Bhagavad-gita, or The Song of the Adorable One, and published two years later Hitopadeça, or Friendly Advice, a collection of fables.

Today, the word "God" carries a lot of baggage. People conjure up different meanings for it based on their backgrounds and cultures; it often evokes positive and negative emotions. Humanity living in God's awareness on a day-to-day basis is often complicated for people from the Dwapara Yuga. As previously discussed, atheism and science often limit the Kali Yuga conception of God. According to Sri Yukteswar, God is not a venerable personage who resides in an antiseptic corner of the universe. As a result of God's consciousness, which is pure and beyond form and limitations, our consciousness is an inextricable expression of his consciousness. As we become more aware of ourselves, we become part of God's pure consciousness. Humanity has discovered more profound, subtle aspects of its true identity through the yugas. The layers of wrapping that hide the gift inside get removed as we move through the yugas. Most wrappings will be removed in Satya Yuga, revealing the gift underneath as if through a thin layer of tissue. Each individual in Satya Yuga will experience "God the Spirit beyond this visible world" after removing the last layer.