Penn in Hand: Selected Manuscripts

Kālidāsa.

Raghuvaṃśa. Sarga 13-19, circa 1700-1850.

Raghuvaṃśa. Selections

1 item (27 leaves) : paper ; 11 x 27 cm.

Manuscript is employed for contemplation and study and is a poetic work that deals with the exploits of the Raghu dynasty, important as a mythic background to and retelling of elements of the Hindu epic, the Rāmāyaṇa. Manuscript contains the last seven chapters of the work after the defeat of the demon Rāvaṇa; addresses the installation of Rāma as king of Ayodhya, the trial of Sītā, here subsequent banishment, and ends with a genealogy of kings. Manuscript is incomplete; one folio (f. 63) was added and is in a second scribal hand.

Title from colophon (f. 84r).

Written in 8 lines per leaf.

There is a watermark of a partial coat of arms (f. 63).

27 leaves foliated 53-63, 69-84, upper left and lower right verso.

Colophon: iti śrīraghuvaṃśe mahākāvye kālidāsakṛtau eko naviṃśaḥ sargaḥ samāptaḥ // (f. 84r).

Mistakes covered over in yellow or blacked out; some corrections and additions in margins; significant syllables, words, or phrases highlighted in red throughout.

UPenn Ms. Coll. 390, Item 1547.

Collection of Indic Manuscripts. Item 1547

Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts University of Pennsylvania Ms. Coll. 390

रघुवंश. सर्ग १३-१९, १७००-१८५०.