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

Rare Book & Manuscript Library University of Pennsylvania Ms. Coll. 390

रघुवंश. सर्ग १३-१९, १७००-१८५०.