KUMARAVISNUMITRACARYA | MS 2163

KUMARAVISNUMITRACARYA

MS 2163
MS Short Title KUMARAVISNUMITRACARYA
Text KUMARAVISNUMITRACARYA, RIGVEDAPRATISAKHYAPARSADAVYAKHYA (MAHABHASYAM)
Description MS in Sanskrit on paper, India, 17th c., 391 ff. (complete), 10x20 cm, single column, (5x16 cm), 7 lines in Devanagari script, deletions in yellow, highlighting in red, double vertical lines at both sides of the text. Binding: India, 17th c., dark wooden covers. Chicago, Ill., 1920-1940, cloth folding case, by Newberry Library.
Context For the full text of RigVeda, see MS 2097 above.
Provenance 1. Eames Collection, Chicago, Ill., no. 1963; 2. Newberry Library, Chicago, Ill., ORMS 955 (acq.no. 152861) (ca. 1920-1994); 3. Sam Fogg cat. 17(1996):44.
Commentary The Pratisakhyas shows how regular rules and patterns could explain the transformation of the abstract units into the modulated forms used in real speech and in particular in the performance of the hymns of the Rigveda. The Rigvedapratisakhya-parsadavyakhya of Kumaravisnumitracarya is one of the later more theoretical commentaries on the Pratisakhya of the Rigveda. The Rigveda-Samhita is the only surviving recension of the oldest ritual hymns of India. It consists of 1028 hymns, largely organised by subject/matter. It is an anthology collected from the larger number of hymns in use in the many priestly families of ancient India. The text preserves a stage of Indian religion quite different from modern Hinduism, the rituals being centred on animal sacrifice and the consumption of Soma, an intoxicating drink, and the pantheon being that of Indo-European steppe-dwellers.
Place of origin India
Dates 17th Century