Descriptive Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts in Tanjore Vol 01

SR No.: 020226
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: P P S Shastri
Publisher: Government of Madras
Publication Year: 1928
Total Pages: 480
Language: English, Sanskrit
Classification: Catalogue
File Size: 20 MB

Page 5

II
was brought to my notice by Mr. T. S. Kuppuswami Šāstrī, of the Educational Department, who is favourably known to Sanskritists by his paper on Rāmabhadra Diksitar. During my absence on furlough in Europe, my First Assistant, Mr. V. Venkay ya, M.A., was deputed to Tanjore in order to catalogue Jambunătha's collection. He spent three months at this work, in which he received the valuable aid of Mr. Kuppuswami Sāstri.Both the list and the extracts testify to the thoroughness and care with which he has accomplished his task. From his annual Report on Epigraphy for 1898-99 I quote the following details about Jambunătha's collection:
“He is the eldest of the three brothers and is descended from a family whose influence is reported to have been very great when the Mahratha Kingdom of Tanjore was in existence. When manuscripts were obtained for the Palace Library from Benares and other places in Northern India, the ancestors of Jambunătha bhatta appear to have systematically used their influence to make their collection of Sanskrit works. This accounts for the existence in this collection of a large number of ancient manuscripts evidently copied in Northern India. The texts were transcribed by the members of the family, who appear to have been learned men. This, according to the present owner of this Library, was how this collection came into existence. The manuscripts are all written in Nāgarī characters and on loose sheets of paper. Having been frequently handled by ignorant and careless men the manuscripts became mixed up, and the owner, who despaired of restoring order among them, made them into bundles and tied them with cloth. About two years ago, Mr. Kuppuswami Sāstrī, to whom examination of Sanskrit manuscripts is a labour of love, prepared a tentative list of the contents of these bundles.
went to Tanjore on the 2nd January, Jambunăthabhatta showed me about one hundred of these bundles. A cursory inspection of them satisfied me that the Library was an important one, and it should be carefully examined. This meant that not only should these works wbich were still coinplete be registered in my list, but that an attempt should also be made to put together pieces which, through careless handling, had got out of their places."