Praśnottararatnamālā, circa 1700-1850.
प्रश्नोत्तररत्नमाला

Format:

Manuscript

Author/Creator:

Śaṅkarācārya, attributed name.

Language:

Sanskrit

Subjects (All):

Devotional literature, Sanskrit.

Hindu hymns, Sanskrit.

Gurus.

Genre:

poems

prayers (compositions)

hymns

Manuscripts, Sanskrit.

Manuscripts.

Physical Description:

1 item (4 leaves) : paper ; 13 x 25 cm

Contained In:

Collection of Indic Manuscripts. Item 570

Other Title:

Praśnottaramālika.

Praśnottararatnamālika.

Place of Publication:

circa 1700-1850.

१७००-१८५०.

Language Note:

In Sanskrit (Devanāgarī)

Biography/History:

Text is attributed to the eighth-century Vedanta philosopher Śaṅkarācārya. Some scholars hold that many examples of such hymns (stotras) are falsely attributed to this figure.

Summary:

Manuscript used for public or private recitation, prayer, and contemplation. The title means: Garland of jewels in the form of questions and answers, and is written in poetic verse, but asks large religious and philosophical questions about the nature of the world and one's place in it; raises issues such as the cycle of life and death and one's ultimate release from it, especially if one recites the poem. Contains a praise of teachers (gurus).

Notes:

Title from colophon (f. 4v); alternate title Praśnottararatnamālika from opening verse (f. 1r); second alternate title Praśnottaramālika from incipit (f. 1r).

Written in 7 lines per leaf.

4 leaves foliated 1-4, upper left and lower right verso.

Colophon: iti śrīśaṃkarācāryaviracitāpraśnottararatnamālikāsamāptā // śrīśaṃka (f. 4v).

Mistakes blacked out; some corrections and additions in margins.

Cited in:

Listed in H. I. Poleman, Census of Indic Manuscripts in the United States and Canada (New Haven, Conn.: American Oriental Society, 1938), Poleman 1796 (UP 570).

Cited as:

UPenn Ms. Coll. 390, Item 570

OCLC:

857174288