Essay name: Notices of Sanskrit Manuscripts
Author: Rajendralala Mitra
These pages represent a detailed description of Sanskrit manuscripts housed in various libraries and collections around the world. Each notice typically includes the physical characteristics, provenance, script, and sometimes even summaries of the content of the Sanskrit manuscripts. The collection helps preserve and make accessible the vast heritage of Indian literary and philosophical traditions contained within these manuscripts.
Volume 9 (1888)
361 (of 409)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
men.
ceive the true reason why a foreign Government should wish to know
the contents of works which, it openly declares, treat of a false reli-
gion, and therefore readily lend their ears to the suggestions of wicked
Wholesale destruction of Hindu scriptures, imposition of a
tax on them, taking them away forcibly for transmission to Europe,
are among the more extravagant insinuations of the kind, but the im-
pression is pretty general in remote villages that it would be impious
to let foreigners have access to what are most sacred, and that of itself
is a serious deterrent. It is by no means easy to overcome this pre-
judice. It is intensified in the case of the Jains. Between them and
the Hindus, there has always existed a rancorous odium theologicum,
and quarrels at Delhi, Agra and other places in India in con-
nexion with Jain religious processions are frequent. The Hindus
have a Sanskrit maxim which says, "One should rather run the
risk of being eaten up by a tiger than enter a Jain temple even if
it be the only shelter available," (vy谩ghrena kh谩dyam谩nopi na gach-
chhet Jain-mandiram.")
Tolerance to me.
10. Under the circumstances tolerance in connexion with religi-
ous matters is often not to be expected. I have,
however, met with every consideration from R谩i
Dhanapat Singh, Bah谩dur, who has, in compliance with my request,
given my pandit free access to his library, and none has altogether
withheld it, though the restrictions imposed by some are often
harrassing, and always the cause of much loss of time. The men in
charge of the libraries are mostly narrow-minded, and have no end of
excuses to throw difficulties in the way of the pandit readily and
regularly doing his duty. The convictions that these libraries and
pa帽ishals are the only places where Jain MSS. are to be found in
Bengal, and that it would be a pity to neglect the opportunity such as it
is to examine them have induced me hitherto to tolerate the excuses.
11. Of the descriptions compiled by the travelling pandit and
Lists published.
myself some are found on reference to my re-
cord to be duplicates not fit to be published.
Of the remainder 1260 have been published in volumes 6, 7, 8 and 9
of the 'Notices,' many of which will appear new to oriental scholars.
Putting them under the different headings of the classification I have
followed in preparing the Notices,' I arrive at the following results:-
