Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

Studies in the Upapuranas v2: Volume 2

Studies in the Upapurāṇas v2

Language
English

Contents

Volume 2

Front matter

v2.c15.1

VOL. II

v2.c15.3

*Calcutta Sanskrit College Research Series NO. XXII*

v2.c15.4

Published under the auspices of the Government of West Bengal

v2.c15.5

STUDIES NO. 10

v2.c15.6

COMPLIMENTARY

Studies in the Upapurāṇas, Vol. II

v2.c16.2

SANSKRIT COLLEGE CALCUTTA

v2.c16.3

BOARD OF EDITORS:

v2.c16.4

DR RADHAGOVINDA BASAK, M.A., Ph.D., Vidyāvācaspati, Chairman

v2.c16.5

DR SUNITI KUMAR CHATTERJI, M.A., D.Litt. (London)

v2.c16.6

PROFESSOR DURGAMOHAN BHATTACHARYYA, M.A., Kāvya-Sāṅkhya-Purāṇa-tīrtha

v2.c16.7

PROFESSOR SATINDRA CHANDRA Nyāyācārya

v2.c16.8

DR GAURINATH SASTRI, M.A., D.Litt., P.R.S., Secretary and General Editor By R. C. HAZRA, M.A., PH.D., D.LITT. Professor of Smṛti and Purāṇa, Department of Post-Graduate Training and Research, Sanskrit College, Calcutta.

v2.c16.9

VOL. II (ŚĀKTA AND NON-SECTARIAN UPAPURĀṆAS)

v2.c16.10

Published by The Principal, Sanskrit College 1, Bankim Chatterjee Street, Calcutta-12

v2.c16.11

Price Rs. 30.00 only

v2.c16.12

Printed by S. N. Guha Ray at Sree Saraswaty Press Limited, 32, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road, Calcutta-9

Foreword

v2.c17.1

Five years ago we published the first volume of Studies in the Upapurāṇas. It is a matter of great satisfaction that the book has been appreciated by scholars all over the world. The present volume contains an account of the Śākta and the non-sectarian Upapurāṇas. The third volume on the Śaiva and the Gāṇapatya Upapurāṇas is almost ready for the press, and we hope to publish it early next year.

v2.c17.2

Sanskrit College Calcutta, March, 1963.

v2.c17.3

GAURINATH SASTRI

Preface

v2.c18.1

It is with a feeling of much relief, though not without some amount of diffidence, that I present before the scholarly world the second volume of my ‘Studies in the Upapurāṇas’, in which I have dealt with the Śākta and the non-sectarian Upapurāṇas now available in printed forms and also a number of extinct ones of these two classes. As the Śākta Upapurāṇas still lying in Mss have been preserved at places beyond my easy reach, they have been reserved for future treatment. They are only a few in number, and most of them are of minor importance and come from comparatively late dates.

v2.c18.2

Although it was my intention to make all the volumes of my ‘Studies in the Upapurāṇas’ approximately equal in length, the extent of the present volume has far exceeded that of the first, and for this, I think, I should offer an explanation.

v2.c18.3

When, about two years back, the manuscript copy of the present volume was sent to the press, it contained chapters on the Śākta and the Gāṇapatya Upapurāṇas, but a little before the beginning of its printing I was told by our Publication Department that the matter, sent to the press, might be too insufficient for a volume of 400 pages. So, I felt extremely nervous. After much thought I recalled my manuscript from the press, replaced the Chapter on the Gāṇapatya Upapurāṇas with two more extensive ones on the non-sectarian Upapurāṇas which were meant for the third volume, and wrote in great hurry pp. 94-188 on the linguistic study of the Devī-purāṇa, which I had kept off for more detailed and elaborate treatment in a separate and independent work. I do not know how my ideas put forth in these pages will be received by scholars, but I crave their indulgence for any slips that may, in their opinion, have occurred in the arrangement of materials in these pages. As a matter of fact, some of the grammatical forms occurring in the Devī-purāṇa were highly confusing to me. For instance, in the expression ‘ketumucchrayam’, used in Devī-purāṇa 11.57, I could not be sure whether the ‘m’ immediately following the word ‘ketu’ was an intervening Saṃdhi-consonant (or hiatus-bridger) or it was due to the second case-ending used irregularly in connection with the Kṛd-anta noun ‘ucchraya’ (cf. the expressions ‘tvāṃ-kāmayā’, ‘māṃ kāmena’, ‘kṣīraṃ pāne’, etc. used in the Vedic works).

v2.c18.4

As to my use of a Ms of the Ekāmra-purāṇa instead of the Cuttack edition of this work printed in Oḍiya script, I should like to say that although I could procure a copy of this edition not very long after the manuscript copy of the present volume had been sent to the press, I was compelled to set it aside due to my complete unfamiliarity with the Oḍiya alphabet. For my use of the Vaṅgavāsī Press editions of certain Purāṇic texts I have already stated the reasons in my Preface to Volume I of the present work.

v2.c18.5

As regards certain names the varied spellings given at different places in a particular Upapurāṇa (such as ‘jalpīṣa’ and ‘jalpīśa’ in Kālikā-purāṇa, chaps. 60 and 80 respectively, and ‘varṇasā’ and ‘varṇāśā’ in Kālikā-purāṇa, chap. 81) have been retained in the summaries of the relevant chapters from linguistic and other considerations.

v2.c18.6

I shall be failing in my duty if I do not take this opportunity to express my gratitude to our Principal Dr. Gaurinath Sastri for his keen interest in the speedy publication of this volume. But for his sympathetic help and encouragement it would not be possible for me to have it published so soon. I should also thank Pandit Dinesh Chandra Sastri and more particularly Pandit Nanigopal Tarkatirtha of the Publication Department for their kind service in times of need.

v2.c18.7

Some portions of this work appeared as isolated articles in different oriental journals. But I have tried my best to improve considerably upon these published portions with much interesting material collected by more recent studies.

v2.c18.8

Sanskrit College, Calcutta. March, 1963. RAJENDRA CHANDRA HAZRA

List of Abbreviations

v2.c19.1

ABORI = Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (Poona). Adyar Library Cat. = A Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Adyar Library (Madras). AnSS = Ānandāśrama Sanskrit Series (Poona). ASB = Asiatic Society of Bengal (Calcutta). ASB Cat. — See ‘Shastri, ASB Cat.’ below. As. Soc. = Asiatic Society. Aufrecht, Bod. Cat. = Theodor Aufrecht, Catalogus Codicum Manuscriptorum Sanscriticorum Bibliothecae Bodleianae. Benares Sans. College Cat. = Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Sanskrit College Library, Benares. Bhāg. = Bhāgavata-purāṇa. Bhandarkar, Report = R. G. Bhandarkar, Report on the Search for Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Bombay Presidency during the years 1887-88, 1888-89, 1889-90, and 1890-91. Bhandarkar, Vaiṣṇavism etc. = R. G. Bhandarkar, Vaiṣṇavism, Śaivism and Minor Religious Systems. Bhav. = Bhaviṣya-purāṇa. Bibl. Ind. = Bibliotheca Indica (Asiatic Society, Calcutta). Bikaner Cat. — See ‘Mitra, Bikaner Cat.’ below. Bod. Cat. — See ‘Aufrecht, Bod. Cat.’ above. Bṛhaddh. = Bṛhaddharma-purāṇa. B. S. = Bengali Saṃvat. Bühler, Report = G. Bühler, Detailed Report of a Tour in Search of Sanskrit Manuscripts made in Kashmir, Rajputana and Central India. Burnell, Classified Index = A. C. Burnell, A Classified Index to the Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Palace at Tanjore. Bv = Brahmavaivarta-purāṇa. Calcutta Sans. College (or, Cal. Sans. Coll.) = Calcutta Sanskrit College (1, Bankim Chatterji Street, Calcutta). Calcutta Sans. College Cat. (or, Cal. Sans. Coll. Cat.)—See ‘Shastri and Gui, Calcutta Sans. College Cat.’ below. Cat. = Catalogue. Cat. of Sans. Mss in Private Libraries in the North-West Provinces = A Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts in Private Libraries in the North-West Provinces. Part I. Benares, 1874. Chakravarti, Vaṅgiya Sāhitya Pariṣat Cat. = Chintaharan Chakravarti, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Vaṅgiya Sāhitya Pariṣat (Calcutta). Chap., chaps. = Chapter, chapters. Com. = Commentary. Dacca Univ. = Dacca University. Dbh = Devī-bhāgavata. Dbht, Dpt, Dv (Śrīn.), Dv (Śūl.)—See p. 2, footnote 4. Ed., eds. = Edition, editions. Eggeling, Ind. Off. Cat. (or, India Office Catalogue) = Julius Eggeling, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office (London). Ep. Ind. = Epigraphia Indica. Farquhar, Outline = J. N. Farquhar, An Outline of the Religious Literature of India. Fol., fols. = Folio, folios. Hari-bh. = Hari-bhakti-vilāsa. Hazra, Purāṇic Records = R. C. Hazra, Studies in the Purāṇic Records on Hindu Rites and Customs. Hiralal, Cat. of Sans. and Pkt. Mss in the Central Provinces and Berar = Hiralal, Catalogue of Sanskrit and Prakrit Manuscripts in the Central Provinces and Berar. IHQ = Indian Historical Quarterly (Calcutta). Ind. Off. = India Office (London). Ind. Off. Cat. (or, India Office Catalogue)—See ‘Eggeling, Ind. Off. Cat.’ above.

v2.c19.2

JASB=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (Calcutta). JBBRAS=Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (Bombay). Jiv.=Jīvānanda Vidyāsāgara (Calcutta). JRAS=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (London). Keith, Ind. Off. Cat. (or, India Office Catalogue)=A. B. Keith, Catalogue of the Sanskrit and Prakrit Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office (London). -kh. (as in 'Sṛṣṭi-kh.', 'Bhūmi-kh.' etc.)=-khaṇḍa. Kr, Kt—See p. 2, footnote 4. Kūr.=Kūrma-purāṇa. Kv—See p. 2, footnote 4. Lewis Rice, Cat. of Sans. Mss=Lewis Rice, Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts in Mysore and Coorg. Bangalore. Mysore Government Press. 1884. Lg=Liṅga-purāṇa. Mahābhāg.=Mahābhāgavata-purāṇa. Mārk.=Mārkaṇḍeya-purāṇa. Mat.=Matsya-purāṇa. Mbh=Mahābhārata. Mitra (or, R. L. Mitra), Bikaner Cat.=R. L. Mitra, A Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Library of His Highness the Mahārāja of Bikaner. Mitra (or, R. L. Mitra), Notices=R. L. Mitra, Notices of Sanskrit Manuscripts. M. Rangacharya, Madras Cat.=M. Rangacharya, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras. Ms, Mss=Manuscript, Manuscripts. Ns—See p. 2, footnote 4. P., pp.=Page, pages. -p. (as in 'Matsya-p.', 'Devi-p.' etc.)=-purāṇa. Pd=Padma-purāṇa. Poleman, Census of Indic Mss=H. I. Poleman, A Census of Indic Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. P. P. S. Sastri, Tanjore Cat.=P. P. S. Sastri, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Tanjore Mahārāja Serfoji's Sarasvati Mahāl Library, Tanjore. Ps = Pauṣkara-saṃhitā. Roth, Tübingen Cat. = R. Roth, Verzeichniss Indischer Handschriften der Königlichen Universitäts-Bibliothek in Tübingen. Anhang. Indische Handschriften der Königlichen Oeffentlichen Bibliothek in Stuttgart. Tübingen, 1885. Sans. = Sanskrit. Shastri and Gui, Calcutta Sans. College Cat. = Hrishikeśa Shastri and Śivacandra Gui, A Descriptive Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Library of the Calcutta Sanskrit College. Shastri (or, Haraprasad Shastri), ASB Cat. = Haraprasad Shastri, A Descriptive Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Government Collection under the care of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (Calcutta). Shastri (or, Haraprasad Shastri), Nepal Cat. = Haraprasad Shastri, A Catalogue of Palm-leaf and Selected Paper Manuscripts belonging to the Durbar Library, Nepal. Shastri (or, Haraprasad Shastri), Notices = Haraprasad Shastri, Notices of Sanskrit Manuscripts, Second Series. Sm. = Saṃvat. S. K. De, Vaiṣṇava Faith and Movement = Sushil Kumar De, Early History of the Vaiṣṇava Faith and Movement in Bengal. Sp, St = See p. 2, footnote 4. Stein, Jammu Cat. = M. A. Stein, Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Raghunātha Temple Library of His Highness the Mahārāja of Jammu and Kashmir. Tübingen Cat. = See ‘Roth, Tübingen Cat.’ above. Univ. = University. Vām. = Vāmana-purāṇa. Vaṅga. = Vaṅgavāsī Press (Calcutta). Vaṅgiya Sāhitya Pariṣat Cat. = See ‘Chakravarti, Vaṅgiya Sāhitya Pariṣat Cat.’ above. Var. = Varāha-purāṇa.

v2.c19.3

Veṅkaṭ.=Veṅkaṭeśvara Press (Bombay). Viṣ.=Viṣṇu-purāṇa. Vk=See p. 2, footnote 4. Vol., Vols.=Volume, Volumes. V.S.=Vikrama Saṃvat. Weber, Berlin Cat.=A. Weber, Verzeichniss der Sanskrit-und Prakrit-Handschriften der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin. Weber, Berlin Cat. of 1853=A. Weber, Die Handschriften-Verzeichnisse der Königlichen Bibliothek, Vol. I (Verzeichniss der Sanskrit Handschriften). Berlin, 1853. Yāj.=Yājñavalkya-smṛti.

Table of Contents

v2.c20.1

| Subject | Page |
| Foreword ... ... ... | vii |
| Preface ... ... ... | ix |
| List of Abbreviations ... ... | xi |
| **CHAPTER** | |
| I. THE ŚĀKTA UPAPURĀṆAS ... | 1 |
| 1. The Devī-purāṇa ... ... | 35 |
| 2. The Kālikā-purāṇa ... ... | 194 |
| 3. The Mahābhāgavata-purāṇa ... | 259 |
| 4. The Devī-bhāgavata ... ... | 284 |
| II. THE NON-SECTARIAN UPAPURĀṆAS ... | 362 |
| 1. The Bhaviṣyottara ... ... | 366 |
| 2. The Bṛhaddharma-purāṇa ... | 396 |
| III. THE LOST ŚĀKTA UPAPURĀṆAS ... | 466 |
| 1. The Bṛhan-nandikeśvara-purāṇa ... | 466 |
| 2. The Kālikā-purāṇa ... ... | 470 |
| 3. The Nandā- or Nānda-purāṇa ... | 470 |
| 4. The Nandikeśvara-purāṇa ... | 470 |
| 5. The Nandi-purāṇa ... ... | 474 |
| 6. The Sāradā-purāṇa ... ... | 488 |
| 7. The Śaukeya Upapurāṇa ... | 489 |
| 8. The Skānda Upapurāṇa ... | 489 |
| 9. The Vāyavīya-upapurāṇa ... | 489 |
| IV. SOME LOST UPAPURĀṆAS OF NON-SECTARIAN OR UNKNOWN ORIGIN ... | 490 |

v2.c20.2

1. The Āditya-purāṇa ... 490
2. The Ākheṭaka-upapurāṇa ... 501
3. The Auśanasa-upapurāṇa ... 501
4. The Bārhaspatya-upapurāṇa ... 502
5. The Bhāgavata-upapurāṇa ... 502
6. The Brahmāṇḍa-upapurāṇa ... 503
7. The Bṛhad-auśanasa-upapurāṇa ... 504
8. The Ekapāda-upapurāṇa ... 505
9. The Gāruḍa Upapurāṇa ... 505
10. The Kūrma-upapurāṇa ... 505
11. The Laghu-brahmavaivarta-purāṇa ... 506
12. The Līlāvatī-upapurāṇa ... 506
13. The Mādhavī-purāṇa (?) ... 506
14. The Māheśa-upapurāṇa ... 507
15. The Mṛtyuñjaya-upapurāṇa ... 508
16. The Nāradīya-upapurāṇa ... 508
17. The Puṣkara-purāṇa ... 509
18. The Rudra-purāṇa ... 510
19. The Saura-purāṇa ... 511
20. The Soma-purāṇa ... 511
21. The Tvāṣṭra-purāṇa ... 511
22. The Ūrdhva-purāṇa ... 511
23. The Uttara-saura ... 512
24. The Vāmana-upapurāṇa ... 512
25. The Yama-purāṇa ... 512

v2.c20.3

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 515

Chapter I. The Śākta Upapurāṇas

v2.c21.2

The history of the worship of female deities in India goes back to a remote past, as early literary evidence from the Vedic period downwards and the excavations at Mohenjo-daro, Harappa and other places amply indicate, but the conception of a central goddess Devī as Śakti, to whom all other female deities were affiliated as her parts or incarnations, and the compilation of Purāṇic works dealing with her praise, nature, exploits and worship, were matters of comparatively late ages. As a matter of fact, there have been Mahāpurāṇas on the rites, customs and faiths of the Brāhmas, Pāñcarātras and Pāśupatas from long before the beginning of the Christian era, but not a single work of this class has ever dealt exhaustively or even principally with Śakti-worship, although chapters on the praise and worship of the different forms of Devī are to be found in the Mārkaṇḍeya-p., Vāmana-p., Varāha-p., Kūrma-p., and so on¹. In comparatively late days there arose a number of Śākta Upapurāṇas of note, of which the following have come down to us: Devī-p., Kālikā-p., Mahābhāgavata, Devībhāgavata, Bhagavatī-p., Caṇḍi-p. (or Caṇḍikā-p.), Devīrahasya, and a second Kālikā-p. (which is also called Kālī-p. and Sati-p. and is quite different from the Kālikā-p. mentioned above). Of these, the first four are available in printed forms and the rest still exist in Mss². In the present Chapter we shall deal with the printed works only, leaving out the remaining ones for future treatment. It may be mentioned here that these Upapurāṇas relate very often to the central goddess Devī and sometimes to one or other of her principal forms such as Durgā, Kālī (or Kālikā), Caṇḍī, Satī, etc., although the growing popularity of the conception of Śakti in India inspired people to look upon every female deity as a Śakti (Active Energy) of a particular male god, to whom she was associated very often as a wife.

v2.c21.3

¹ See Mārk. 81-93 (=Veṅkaṭ. ed., chaps. 78-90), Vām. 17-21 and 51-56, Var. 21-28 and 90-96, Kūr. I. 11-12. Also Mbh IV. 6 and VI. 23 (containing hymns to Durgā) and Harivaṃśa II, chaps. 2-4 and 22 (in which Devī has been praised).

v2.c21.4

² For these Mss see Mitra, Bikaner Cat., p. 187, No. 415 (Bhagavatī-p.), and Eggeling, Ind. Off. Cat., VI, pp. 1202-05, Nos. 3360-61 (Caṇḍi-p. or Caṇḍikā-p., also called Bhagavatī-p. and Kālikā-p.), and pp. 1193-98, No. 3344 (Kālikā-p., also called Kālī-p. and Sati-p.). See also Mitra, Notices, I, pp. 208-9, No. 370 (for description of a Ms of the Caṇḍi-p.).

v2.c21.5

Besides the Purāṇic works mentioned above, there are also a few others, such as the Bṛhaddharma-p. and the Bhaviṣyottaraa, which contain chapters on Devī-worship; and among the Purāṇic verses quoted in the Smṛti Nibandhas of different parts of India on the praise and worship of Devī we find a large number which cannot be traced in any of the Purāṇic works now extant. For instance, in the Bengal Nibandhas a good number of verses on the autumnal worship of Durgā has been ascribed to the Bhaviṣya-p.⁴, Liṅga-p.⁵, Nandikeśvara-p.⁶, Bṛhan-nandikeśvara-p⁷., Bhagavatī-p⁸., Kālikā-p. (which is now available in printed forms) and Devī-p⁹., to Satya¹⁰, and to a work named as Jyotiṣa¹¹. Many of these verses occur in the Nibandhas of Kāmarūpa and Mithilā¹² also and only a few are found quoted in Bhoja's Rāja-mārtaṇḍa, Hemādri's Caturvarga-cintāmaṇi, etc., but the great majority of them, especially those on the rites mentioned below, is remarkably wanting in the Nibandhas of Orissa and Southern India.¹³

v2.c21.6

a This Upapurāṇa has been printed as the fourth Book (called Uttara-parvan) of the Veṅkaṭ. ed. of the Bhaviṣya-p. It will be examined in details in Chapter II of the present Volume. For our brief analysis of its contents and a discussion on the problems relating to its date, provenance, etc. see Journal of the Oriental Institute, Baroda, III, 1953-54, pp. 8-27.

v2.c21.7

⁴ See Kv, pp. 512, 513; Dv (Śūl.), pp. 1-2, 6, 7, 9, 10, 14-17, 19-21, 23-26; Dv (Śrin.), p. 52; Kt, fol. 62a; Vk, pp. 367, 372, 376, 378-9, 385-7, 391, 396-7; Dpt, pp. 5-7, 13-14, 16-24, 30-32, 37, 38, 44; St, I, pp. 67, 68, 75, 76, 83, 87, 88, 90, 98, 101-3. The following abbreviations have been used in footnotes 4-62 of the present Chapter: Dbht = Durgā-bhakti-taraṅgiṇī (of Vidyāpati Upādhyāya of Mithilā). Dpt = Durgā-pūjā-tattva (of Raghunandana of Bengal). Dv (Śrin.) = Durgotsava-viveka (of Śrīnātha Ācārya-cūḍāmaṇi of Bengal). Dv (Śūl.) = Durgotsava-viveka (of Śūlapāṇi of Bengal). Kr = Kṛtya-ratnākara (of Caṇḍeśvara Ṭhakkura of Mithilā). Kt = Kṛtya-tattvārṇava (of Śrīnātha Ācārya-cūḍāmaṇi of Bengal). Kv = Kālaviveka (of Jīmūtavāhana of Bengal). Ns = Nirṇaya-sindhu (of Kamalākara-bhaṭṭa of Benares). Sp = Saṃvatsara-pradīpa (a Smṛti work of Bengal). St = Smṛti-tattva (of Raghunandana of Bengal). Vk = Varṣa-kaumudī (of Govindānanda Kavikaṅkaṇācārya of Bengal).

v2.c21.8

⁵ See Kv, p. 512; Sp, fols. 23b (anonymous), 24a (anonymous); Dv (Śūl.), pp. 2, 5, 8, 22; Dv (Śrin.), pp. 43-45, 50; Kt, fols. 60a, 62a (anonymous), 62b (anonymous), 63b-64a; Vk, pp. 368, 371 (anonymous), 375 (anonymous); Dpt, pp. 4, 44; St, I, pp. 65, 74, 76, 87. No verse on Durgā-pūjā is found quoted from the ‘Liṅga-p.’ in the Smṛti Nibandhas of Śrīdatta Upādhyāya, Caṇḍeśvara or any other comparatively early writer of Mithilā except Vidyāpati, who ascribes only one verse to the ‘Liṅga-p.’ in his Dbht, p. 46.

v2.c21.9

⁶ See Dv (Śūl.), pp. 7, 8 (?), 9; Vk, pp. 367, 375, 420; Dpt, pp. 2, 7, 38; St, I, pp. 69, 76, 86, 91.

v2.c21.10

⁷ See Dv (Śūl.), pp. 8, 12-13, 22, 24; Dpt, pp. 8, 10, 31, 37, 44.

v2.c21.11

⁸ See Kv, p. 511; Sp, fol. 23b (anonymous).

v2.c21.12

⁹ See Dv (Śūl.), pp. 7, 8; Dbht, pp. 3, 37-38; St, I, pp. 72, 75; and so on.

v2.c21.13

¹⁰ See Kv, pp. 514-5.

v2.c21.14

¹¹ See Dv (Śūl.), pp. 9, 10, 14, 26; Dv (Śrin.), p. 49 (anonymous); Dpt, pp. 1, 10, 16-17, 45; Kt, fols. 63a, 66a; St, I, pp. 76-77, 103.

v2.c21.15

¹² See, for instance, Caṇḍeśvara's Kr, p. 362 (for verses which have been ascribed to the 'Bhagavatī-p.' and 'Satya' in Jīmūtavāhana's Kv, pp. 511 and 514 and to the 'Bhagavatī-p.' in Vidyāpati's Dbht, pp. 37-38), and Vidyāpati's Dbht, pp. 37ff. (for verses of the 'Bhagavatī-p.', 'Kālikā-p.', 'Bhaviṣya-p.', 'Devī-p.' and 'Jyotiḥ-śāstra' on Devī's bodhana, patrikā-praveśa, etc.).

v2.c21.16

¹³ In Kamalākara-bhaṭṭa's Nirṇaya-sindhu, pp. 127-8 the line 'ṣaṣṭhyāṃ sāyam prakurvita bilva-vṛkṣe'dhivāsanam' has been derived from a work named 'Kalpataru'; but this line is not found in the section on Mahānavamī-pūjā (the great autumnal worship of Durgā) given in Lakṣmīdhara's Kṛtya-kalpataru, XI (Rājadharma-kāṇḍa), pp. 191-5. As a matter of fact, Lakṣmīdhara draws only upon the Devī-p. for his description of the Mahānavamī-pūjā.

v2.c21.17

No Smṛti-writer of Mithilā draws upon the 'Nandikeśvara-p.' in connection with Durgā-pūjā.

v2.c21.18

Not a single verse on Durgā-pūjā has been quoted from the 'Bṛhan-nandikeśvara-p.' in the Nibandhas of Mithilā.

v2.c21.19

In Kv, p. 515 two verses have been quoted with the word 'Kātyāyani-ślokau', but the first of these two verses has been ascribed to the 'Bhagavatī-p.' in Kālasāra, p. 109 and to 'Kātyāyana' in Vidyāpati's Dbht, p. 44 and quoted anonymously in Bhojadeva's Rāja-mārtaṇḍa, fol. 79a. Both these verses have been ascribed to 'Kātyāyana' in Dv (Śrin.), pp. 44-45 and Kt, fol. 63b.

v2.c21.20

See also Śrīdatta Upādhyāya's Samaya-pradīpa, fols. 41b-43a (for verses ascribed to the Devī-p. and the Brahma-p.) and Rudradhara Upādhyāya's Vrata-paddhati, fol. 28a-b (for two verses ascribed to the 'Bhaviṣya-p.').

v2.c21.21

In Bhoja's Rāja-mārtaṇḍa, fol. 79a the following three verses have been quoted anonymously:

v2.c21.22

'aim rāvaṇasya vadhārthāya rāmasyānugrahāya ca /
akāle brāhmaṇā (? brahmaṇā) bodho devyās tvaṃ priyakṛt purā (?) //
aham apy āśvine tadvaj jyeṣṭhāyāṃ bodhayāmi te /
śrīśaila-śikhare jāta śrī-phala śrī-niketana //
netavyo 'si samāgaccha pūjyo durgā-svarūpataḥ /
saptamyāṃ mūla-yuktāyāṃ patrikāṃ ca praveśya ca //¹⁴

v2.c21.23

In Hemādri's Caturvarga-cintāmaṇi, II. i, pp. 906-7 these three verses and also another, viz.,

v2.c21.24

'mūlābhāve 'pi saptamyāṃ kevalāyāṃ praveśayet /
ubhābhyāṃ nava-bilvasya phalābhyāṃ śākhikāṃ tathā //¹⁴

v2.c21.25

(i) ‘Bodhana’ of Devī in a Bilva tree (generally on the Kṛṣṇa-navamī or Śukla-ṣaṣṭhī Tithi) on the eve of her worship.¹⁴

v2.c21.26

¹⁴ ‘ṣaṣṭhyāṃ bilva-tarau bodhaṃ sāyaṃ saṃdhyāsu kārayet’ (ascribed to the ‘Bhaviṣya-p.’ in Śūlapāṇi’s Dv, p. 7, as well as in Dpt, pp. 6, 7, St, I, pp. 75, 102, Vk, p. 367, and Dbht, pp. 40, 62; derived from the ‘Durgā-bhakti-taraṅgiṇī’ in Ns, p. 127). ‘bodhayed bilva-śākhāyāṃ ṣaṣṭhyāṃ devīṃ phaleṣu ca’ (ascribed to the ‘Kālikā-p.’ in Śūlapāṇi’s Dv, p. 7, as well as in Vk, p. 365, St, I, p. 75, Dpt, pp. 7, 10, and Dbht, pp. 41, 61; derived in Ns, p. 127 from the ‘Kālikā-p. as quoted in the Gauḍa-nibandha’; being the same as Kālikā-p. 62. 7b). ‘patri-praveśāt pūrvedyuḥ sāyāhne vindhya-vāsinīm / caṇḍīm āvāhayed vidvān nātra kāryā puraskriyā / /’ (ascribed to the ‘Nandikeśvara-p.’ in Śūlapāṇi’s Dv, p. 7, to the ‘Brahmāṇḍa-p.’ and ‘Nandikeśvara-p.’ in Dpt, p. 7 and St, I, p. 76, and to the ‘Bhaviṣya-p.’ in Dpt, p. 7; not occurring in the Nibandhas of Mithilā, at least in those of comparatively early dates).

v2.c21.27

(ii) Offer of different articles (such as keśa-saṃskāra-dravya, paṭṭa-ḍora, darpaṇa, etc.) to Devī on the different Tithis from Śukla-pratipad to Śukla-pañcamī¹⁵.

v2.c21.28

¹⁵ ‘keśa-saṃskāra-dravyāṇi pradadyāt pratipad-dine / paṭṭa-ḍoram dvitīyāyāṃ keśa-samyama-hetave // darpaṇaṃ tu tṛtīyāyāṃ sindūrālaktakaṃ tathā / madhuparkaṃ caturthyāṃ tu tilakaṃ netra-maṇḍanam // pañcamyām aṅga-rāgāṇi ca śaktyālaṃkaraṇāni ca //’ (ascribed to the ‘Bhaviṣya-p.’ in Śūlapāṇi’s Dv, p. 6, as well as in Dpt, p. 6, St, I, pp. 101-2, and Dbht, p. 40; derived in Ns, p. 127 from the ‘Bhaviṣya-p. as quoted in the Durgā-bhakti-taraṅgiṇī’. Kamalākara reads ‘pakva-tailam’ for ‘paṭṭa-doram’ and says that the latter reading is given by the Gauḍas—paṭṭa-doram iti gauḍa-pāṭhaḥ).

v2.c21.29

(iii) The untying of Devī’s hair (devī-keśa-vimocana) on the Śukla-caturthī Tithi¹⁶.

v2.c21.30

¹⁶ ‘śukla-pakṣe caturthyāṃ tu devī-keśa-vimocanam’ (ascribed to the ‘Bhagavatī-p.’ in Kv, p. 511 and Dbht, p. 37, and to the

v2.c21.31

have been ascribed to the ‘Liṅga-p.’

v2.c21.32

(The Caturvarga-cintāmaṇi reads ‘devyās tvayi kṛtaḥ purā’ for the second half of the second line, ‘aham apy āśritaḥ ṣaṣṭhyāṃ sāyāhne bodhayāmy ataḥ’ for the third line, ‘-dikhare jātaḥ śrī-phalaḥ śrī-niketanaḥ’ in the fourth line, ‘mayā gaccha’ for ‘samā-gaccha’ in the fifth line, and ‘saptamyāṃ prātas tām śākhāṃ gṛhaṃ chittvā praveśayet’ for the sixth line.

v2.c21.33

The verse ‘mūlābhāve ‘pi saptamyāṃ’ is quoted in Nirṇaya-sindhu, p. 128 with the words ‘tad uktaṃ hemādrau lainge’).

v2.c21.34

It is to be noted that in the first verse (‘aiṃ rāvaṇasya vadhārthāya’, which is a mantra) Durgā-pūjā has been connected with the story of Rāma. As it is the Nibandha-writers of Bengal, Mithilā and Kāmarūpa who are found to prescribe this mantra (aiṃ rāvaṇasya vadhārthāya etc.) to be used in Devī’s bodhana in the evening of the Āśvina-śukla-ṣaṣṭhī, and as the tradition of Rāma’s performance of Durgā-pūjā for killing Rāvaṇa appears to be of East Indian origin, it is probable that the above-mentioned verses of the ‘Liṅga-p.’ were taken by Bhojadeva and Hemādri from some work or works of Bengal or Mithilā.

v2.c21.35

(iv) ‘Adhivāsa’ of Devī in a Bilva tree in the evening of the day previous to that of *patrikā-praveśa*¹⁷.

v2.c21.36

(v) ‘Nava-patrikā-praveśa’, i.e. the bringing of the nine plants, viz., *rambhā, kaccī, haridrā, jayantī, bilva, dāḍima, aśoka, mānaka* and *dhānya*, into the *pūjā-maṇḍapa*, and the worship of nine Durgās in them¹⁸.

v2.c21.37

‘Kālikā-p.’ in Vk, p. 369; quoted with the words ‘śiṣṭāḥ paṭhanti’ in Kr, p. 362; being the same as Kālikā-p. 62. 18a). ‘śukla-pakṣe caturthyāṃ tu devī-kela-vimokṣaṇam’ (ascribed to the ‘Liṅga-p.’ in Śrīnātha’s Dv, p. 43 and Kt, fol. 60a). ¹⁷ ‘ṣaṣṭhyāṃ sāyaṃ prakurvīta bilva-vṛkṣe ‘dhivāsanam’ (ascribed to the ‘Liṅga-p.’ in Śrīnātha’s Dv, p. 43 and Kt, fol. 60a; quoted anonymously in Kt, fol. 62a and Vk, p. 371; derived in Ns, p. 127 from the ‘Liṅga-p. as quoted in the Kṛtya-tattvārṇava’). ‘sāyaṃ ṣaṣṭhyāṃ tu kartavyaṃ pārvatyāś cādhivāsanam / ṣaṣṭhy-abhāve tu kartavyaṃ saptamyāṃ api nārada //’ (ascribed to ‘Smṛti’ in Śūlapāṇi’s Dv, p. 8 and in Dpt, p. 7, and quoted anonymously in St, I, p. 76). ‘pūrvedyur adhivāsyaiva bilva-vṛkṣe tathāmbikām’ (ascribed to the ‘Nandikeśvara-p.’ in Dpt, p. 2). ¹⁸ ‘saptamyāṃ patrikā-pūjā rambhādi-navabhir yutā / rambhā kaccī haridrā ca jayantī bilva-dāḍimau / aśoko mānakai caiva dhānyaṃ ca nava-patrikā //’ (ascribed to the ‘Bṛhan-nandikeśvara-p.’ in Śūlapāṇi’s Dv, pp. 12-13 and in Dpt, pp. 8 and 10). ‘rambhā kaccī haridrā ca jayantī bilva-dāḍimau / aśoko mānakai caiva dhānyaṃ ca nava-patrikā //’ (ascribed to the ‘Liṅga-p.’ in Śrīnātha’s Dv, p. 50, and to the ‘Bhaviṣya-p.’ in Vk, p. 372; quoted anonymously in Sp, fol. 24a, Kt, fol. 62b, Vk, p. 401; derived in Ns, p. 129 from the ‘Kṛtya-tattvārṇava’). ‘brahmāṇī kadali-kāṇḍe dāḍime rakta-dantikā / dhānye lakṣmīr haridrāyāṃ durgā mānaka-patrake // cāmuṇḍā kālikā kaccyāṃ śivā bilve pratiṣṭhitā / aśoke śoka-rahitā jayantyāṃ kārttikī matā //’ (ascribed to the ‘Bhaviṣya-p.’ in Vk, p. 391; quoted in Dbht, p. 63 with the words ‘śiṣṭāḥ paṭhanti’; derived from the ‘Durgā-bhakti-taraṅgiṇī’ in Dpt, p. 12). ‘pūrvāhṇe nava-patrikā śubhakarī dharmārtha-siddhi-pradā ārogyaṃ dhanadā karoti vijayaṃ patrī-praveśe śubhā / madhyāhne jana-pīḍana-kṣayakari saṃgrāma-ghorāvahā syāhne vadha-bandhanādi-kalaham sarpa-kṣataṃ sarvadā //’ (ascribed to ‘Jyotiṣa’ in Śūlapāṇi’s Dv, p. 10, Śrīnātha’s Dv, p. 49, Kt, fol. 63a, and St, I, p. 76). ‘kadali dāḍimī dhānyam haridrā mānakam kacuh / bilvo ‘loko jayantī ca vijñeyā nava-patrikā //’ (quoted anonymously in Rudradhara’s Vrata-paddhati, fol. 27b with v. 1. ‘dhānyā haridrāmalakam’ and ‘bilvālokau’ for ‘dhānyam haridrā mānakam’ and ‘bilvo ‘loko’ respectively and in St, I, p. 77 and II, p. 664; quoted with the words ‘śiṣṭāḥ paṭhanti’ on p. 63 and anonymously on p. 132 of the Dbht).

v2.c21.38

It is remarkable that in his Durgotsava-paddhati (fol. 15a) Udayasiṃha Rūpanārāyaṇa, who was a king of Gorakṣanagara (modern Gorakhpur) in Northern Kośala (vi) The tying of the nine plants (constituting the *nava-patrikā*) with an Aparājitā creeper¹⁹.

v2.c21.39

¹⁹ 'śvetāparājitā-baddhāḥ sarva-sampat-samṛddhidāḥ' (ascribed to the 'Liṅga-p.' in Śrīnātha's Dv, p. 50).

v2.c21.40

(vii) The performance of the Śāvarotsava on the Daśamī Tithi²⁰.

v2.c21.41

²⁰ 'antapādo niśā-bhāge śravaṇasya bhaved yadi / tadā sampreṣaṇaṃ devyā daśamyāṃ śāvarotsavaḥ // ' (ascribed to 'Satya' in Kv, p. 514).

v2.c21.42

and preceded Vidyāpati by a short period, prescribes the worship of the nine Mother Goddesses (mātṛkāḥ, mātaraḥ) not in the nine plants called *nava-patrikā* but in an eight-petalled lotus painted on the ground with sandal-paste, etc. The present Kālikā-p. (62. 51b-52a) also says: "The propitious nine Durgās are likewise to be worshipped in the proximity of Devī with Jayantī and other fragrant flowers, because they are the forms of Devī." For information about Udayasiṃha Rūpanārāyaṇa and his works see our article in Our Heritage, IV, 1956, pp. 157-176).

v2.c21.43

'sampūjya preṣaṇaṃ kuryād daśamyāṃ śāvarotsavaiḥ' (ascribed to the 'Bhaviṣya-p.' in Dpt. pp. 6 and 42, St, I, p. 102, and Dbht, p. 41).

v2.c21.44

'visarjanaṃ daśamyāṃ tu kuryād vai śāvarotsavaiḥ' (ascribed to the 'Kālikā-p.' in Śūlapāṇi's Dv, p. 24, as well as in Vk, p. 366, Dpt, p. 7, St, I, p. 75, and Dbht, p. 41; derived in Ns, p. 128 from the Kālikā-p. as quoted in the Gauḍa-nibandha; being the same as Kālikā-p. 63. 18a and resembling very much Kālikā-p. 62. 10a).

v2.c21.45

'tataḥ sampreṣitā devī daśamyāṃ śāvarotsavaiḥ' (ascribed to the 'Kālikā-p.' in Vk, pp. 368, 374; being the same as Kālikā-p. 62. 31b).

v2.c21.46

'bhaga-liṅgābhidhānais ca bhaga-liṅga-pragitakaiḥ / bhaga-liṅga-kriyābhiś ca krīḍayeyur alam janāḥ // parair nākṣipyate yas tu paraṃ nākṣipyate api / kruddhā bhagavatī tasya śāpaṃ dadyāt sudāruṇam // ' (ascribed to 'Satya' in Kv, p. 514, and to the 'Kālikā-p.' in Śrīnātha's Dv, p. 51 and Kt, fol. 65b, in Vk, pp. 377-8, and in Dbht, p. 42; quoted anonymously in Kr, p. 362; derived in Ns, p. 130 from 'the Kālikā-p. as quoted in the Kṛtya-tattvārṇava'; being the same as Kālikā-p. 63. 21b-23a).

v2.c21.47

'dhūli-kardama-vikṣepaiḥ krīḍā-kautuka-maṅgalaiḥ / bhaga-liṅgābhidhānais ca bhaga-liṅga-pragitakaiḥ / bhaga-liṅga-kriyābhiś ca krīḍayeyur alajjitāḥ // ' (ascribed to the 'kālikā-p.' in Śūlapāṇi's Dv. p. 24, as well as in Vk, pp. 377 and 449, Dpt, p. 7, St, I, p. 75, and Dbht, p. 42; being the same as Kālikā-p. 63. 21-22a).

v2.c21.48

'nau-yānair nara-yānair vā nītvā bhagavatīṃ śivām / sroto-jale prakṣipeyuḥ krīḍā-kautuka-maṅgalaiḥ // parair nākṣipyate yas tu paraṃ nākṣipate tu yaḥ / tasya kruddhā bhagavatī śāpaṃ dadyāt sudāruṇam // ' (ascribed to the 'Bṛhan-nandikeśvara-p.' in Śūlapāṇi's Dv, p. 24 and in Dpt, p. 44, and to the 'Nandikeśvara-p.' in Dpt, p. 3; the second verse being the same as Kālikā-p. 63. 22b-23a).

v2.c21.49

'visarjanaṃ daśamyāṃ tu krīḍā-kautuka-maṅgalaiḥ' (ascribed to the 'Liṅga-p.' in Kv, p. 512 and Kt, fol. 62a, and to the 'Kālikā-p.' in Vk, p. 369; quoted anonymously in Sp, fol. 24a; being the same as Kālikā-p. 62. 20a.

v2.c21.50

According to Jīmūtavāhana, the word 'krīḍā-kautuka-maṅgalaiḥ' in the above-mentioned line means the Śāvarotsava.—See Kv, p. 514—tathā satyaḥ'... ... ...

v2.c21.51

Even on ‘Patrikā-praveśa’ (i.e. the rite of cutting, from a young Bilva tree, a small branch having two Bilva fruits and taking this branch to the pūjā-maṇḍapa for worshipping Devī in it), which, as the Rāja-mārtaṇḍa²² and the Caturvarga-cintāmaṇi²³ show, was known outside Bengal, Mithilā and Kāmarūpa, there are a number of verses, found quoted in the Smṛti works of Eastern India, which do not occur in those of other provinces. As instances of such verses we may mention the following:

v2.c21.52

‘saptamyāṃ mūla-yuktāyāṃ patrikāyāḥ praveśanam/’²⁴ ‘mūlābhāve 'pi saptamyāṃ kevalāyāṃ praveśayet/ tathā tithy-antare 'py evam ṛkṣeṣu ca phaloccayaḥ//’²⁵ ‘saptamyāṃ bilva-śākhāṃ tām āhṛtya pratipūjayet/’²⁶ ‘saptamyāṃ patrikā-pūjā kartavyā cātha mānavaiḥ/’²⁷ ‘saptamyāṃ astagāyāṃ yadi viśati gṛhaṃ patrikā śrī-phalāḍhyā rājñaḥ saptāṅga-rājyam jana-sukham akhilam hanti mūlānurodhāt/ tasmāt sūryodayasthāṃ narapati-śubhadāṃ saptamīṃ prāpya devīm

v2.c21.53

²⁶ Ascribed to the ‘Kālikā-p.’ in Śūlapāṇi’s Dv, p. 13, in Dbht, p. 41, and in Dpt, p. 10; derived in Ns, p. 128 from the ‘Kālikā-p. (as quoted in the Gauḍa-nibandha).’

v2.c21.54

²⁷ Ascribed to a ‘dusprāpa-kālikā-purāṇāntara’ in Dpt, p. 8.

v2.c21.55

... tadā sampreṣaṇam devyā daśamyāṃ śāvarotsavaḥ // śavara-varṇa iva parṇādy-āvṛta-kardamādi-lipta-śarīro nānā-vidhāsambaddha-valgita-nṛtya-gīta-vādyādi-paro bhūtvā iti śāvarotsava-padārthaḥ /).

v2.c21.56

²² See fol. 78b—saptamyāṃ mūla-yunkte prathama-pada-gate patrikā-sthāpanam ca, etc. See also the verse ‘saptamyāṃ patrikā-pūjā aṣṭamyāṃ cāpy upoṣaṇam, etc.’ quoted in fol. 79a. In his Durgotsava-paddhati (fols. 6b-7a) Udayasiṃha Rūpanārāyaṇa derives the former verse from the ‘Rāja-mārtaṇḍa’ and reads it as ‘saptamyāṃ mūla-yoge prathama-pada-gate patrikā pūjanyā, etc.’

v2.c21.57

²³ II. i, pp. 906-7. For the relevant lines see footnote 13 above.

v2.c21.58

²⁴ Ascribed to the ‘Devī-p.’ in Śūlapāṇi’s Dv, p. 8, Dpt, p. 3, and Kt, fol. 60b, to the ‘Nandikeśvara-p.’ in Dpt, p. 2, and to the ‘Liṅga-p.’ in Śrīnātha’s Dv, p. 44; quoted anonymously in Sp, fol. 23b; mentioned in Dbht, p. 46 as occurring in a ‘Gauḍa-nibandha’; derived in Ns, p. 128 from ‘the Devī-p. as quoted in the Gauḍa-nibandha’.

v2.c21.59

²⁵ Ascribed to the ‘Nandikeśvara-p.’ in Vk, p. 367, and to the ‘Liṅga-p.’ in Śūlapāṇi’s Dv, p. 8, Śrīnātha’s Dv, p. 45, St, I, p. 74, and Vk, p. 368; quoted anonymously in Sp, fol. 24a, Kt, fol. 62b, and Kṛtya-cintāmaṇi, p. 28; derived from a ‘Gauḍa-nibandha’ in Dbht, p. 46.

v2.c21.60

(A similar verse, agreeing in the first line but differing in the second, is found quoted from a ‘Liṅga-p.’ in Hemādri’s Caturvarga-cintāmaṇi. For the text of this verse see footnote 13 above. Kamalākara-bhaṭṭa took this verse of the Liṅga-p. from ‘Hemādri’. —See Ns, p. 128).

v2.c21.61

bhūpālo veśayet tām sakala-jana-hitām rākṣasarkṣam vihāya//²⁷ ‘mūla-yoge tu saptamyām patrikāyāḥ praveśanam/ yad uktam tad-dvayābhāve kevalāyām tithāv api//²⁸ As regards the line ‘saptamyām patrikā-pūjā aṣṭamyām cāpy upoṣaṇam’ there is some scope for doubt. This line, which is the same as Kālikā-p. 62. 19a, has been ascribed to the ‘Liṅga-p.’ in Kālaviveka, p. 512 and Śrīnātha’s Durgotsavaviveka, p. 43 and Kṛtya-tattvārṇava, fol. 60a, to the ‘Bhagavatī-p.’ in Durgā-bhakti-taraṅgiṇī, p. 38, and to the ‘Kālikāp.’ in Varṣa-kaumudī, pp. 369, 371 and 375. It has been quoted anonymously in Saṃvatsara-pradīpa,²⁹ fol. 24a, Kṛtya-ratnākara, p. 362, and Kṛtya-cintāmaṇi, p. 27. On the other hand, Bhojadeva of Dhārā is found to quote it in his Rāja-mārtaṇḍa (fol. 79a) without mentioning its source, and Udayasiṃha Rūpanārāyaṇa, who has it in his Durgotsava-paddhati (fol. 6b), ascribes it to ‘śiṣṭas’, by whom he must have meant those of Bengal (because he flourished earlier than Vidyāpati, who only, among the Maithila Nibandha-writers, is found to quote the said line in his Durgā-bhakti-taraṅgiṇī).

v2.c21.62

²⁷ Ascribed to ‘Jyotiṣa’ in Śūlapāṇi’s Dv, pp. 9-10, Śrīnātha’s Dv, p. 49, and St, I, p. 77.

v2.c21.63

²⁸ Ascribed to the ‘Nandikeśvara-p.’ in Dpt, p. 3.

v2.c21.64

²⁹ This work, as occurring in Mss at present, belongs to Bengal.—See Hazra in IHQ, XXI, 1945, pp. 49-55, and D. Bhattacharya in Our Heritage, I, pp. 159-160. See also D. Bhattacharya’s Introduction (pp. xl-xlii) to his edition of Halāyudha’s Brāhmaṇa-sarvasva.

v2.c21.65

Besides the verses mentioned above, there are also many others which are peculiar to Bengal and in some cases to Mithilā and Kāmarūpa also. But, as we have already said, the comparatively early Smṛti-writers of Western and Southern India have no knowledge either of these verses or of the rites based on them and the later ones record some of these on the authority of the works of Bengal and Mithilā. For instance, in his Nirṇaya-sindhu (pp. 126-141) Kamalākara-bhaṭṭa deals with most of the above-mentioned rites and quotes many of the relevant verses, but Kamalākara’s sources are invariably the Nibandhas of Bengal and Mithilā,³⁰ the Devī-p. (a work of Bengal) on ‘śatru-bali’ only³¹, and the present Kālikā-p. (which, we shall see hereinafter, must have been written either in Kāmarūpa or in that part of Bengal which was very near to it). That neither Kamalākara nor his countrymen were familiar with the rites mentioned above, is shown by the following facts.

v2.c21.66

³⁰ The only exception is the verse ‘mūlābhāve ‘pi saptamyām etc.’ (on patrikā-praveśa), which Kamalākara derived from ‘Hemādri’. See footnote 13 above.

v2.c21.67

³¹ Nirṇaya-sindhu, p. 137— bali-prakāras tu devī-purāṇe—‘ . . . . . ||’ tathā—‘tasyāgrato nṛpaḥ snāyāt kṛtvā śatruṃ tu paiṣṭikam / khaḍgena ghātayitvā tu dadyāt skanda-viśākhayoḥ ||’ This verse is the same as Devī-p. 22. 16.

v2.c21.68

(i) In his Nirṇaya-sindhu, pp. 120-126 Kamalākarabhaṭṭa deals elaborately with the proper time and method of performing the Navarātra-vrata without mentioning any of these rites or quoting any of the relevant verses of the ‘Bhaviṣya-p.’, ‘Liṅga-p.’, etc. mentioned above. He then begins, from p. 126, to deal with these peculiar rites with the words ‘atha pratipadādiṣu viśeṣo durgā-bhakti-taraṅgiṇyāṃ bhaviṣye .. .. ..’, and bases his treatment of these rites on the Nibandhas of Bengal and Mithilā as well as on the Devī-p. (with regard to ‘śatru-bali’ only) and the Kālikā-p. Had these characteristic rites been in vogue in his country, he would not have dealt with them separately after describing the method of performing the Navarātra-vrata, nor would he have derived his materials from the present Devī-p., Kālikā-p. and the Nibandhas of Bengal and Mithilā.

v2.c21.69

In his Durgotsava-paddhati Udayasiṃha Rūpanārāyaṇa also says nothing about the peculiar rites mentioned above. In this work he quotes two verses³² on patrikā-praveśa on the authority of the ‘śiṣṭas’ (who, as we have already seen, must be the Smārtas of Bengal) and also another verse³³ on the same topic by mentioning as his source the ‘Rāja-mārtaṇḍa’

v2.c21.70

³² ‘saptamyāṃ patrikā-pūjā aṣṭamyāṃ cāpy upoṣaṇam’ etc. and ‘mūlena saphalāṃ bilva-śākhāṃ āhṛtya pūjayet’ etc. (on fol. 6b).

v2.c21.71

³³ ‘saptamyāṃ mūla-yoge prathama-pada-gate patrikā pūjanīyā’ etc. (on fol. 6b-7a).

v2.c21.72

(which must have taken it from some work of Bengal or Mithilā), but he prescribes the rite of śatru-bali on the authority of the Devī-p.³⁴, which is a work of Bengal.

v2.c21.73

³⁴ See Durgotsava-paddhati, fols. 4b and 15b.

v2.c21.74

(ii) In the Bengal Nibandhas there is a verse, viz., ‘rambhā kacci haridrā ca jayantī bilva-dāḍimau/ aśoko mānakas caiva dhānyam ca nava-patrikāḥ//’³⁵ which mentions the names of the nine plants constituting the nava-patrikā. In treating of nava-patrikā-pūjā Kamalākara quotes this verse with the mention of the ‘Kṛtya-tattvārṇava’ as his source, but reads ‘kavī’ for ‘kaccī’ and ‘māna-vṛkṣaś ca’ for ‘mānakaś caiva’³⁶. These readings ‘kavī’ and ‘māna-vṛkṣaś ca’ clearly show that neither Kamalākara nor his countrymen were familiar with ‘kaccī’ and ‘māna’. The learned editor of the printed text of the Nirṇaya-sindhu frankly admits that he did not understand what objects were meant by the words ‘māna’ and ‘kavī’ occurring in the text of the Nirṇaya-sindhu³⁷. Now, the word ‘kaccī’ (meaning ‘kacvī’ or ‘kacu’—Arum Colocasia) has been used in the above verse to mean the ‘kacu’ plant so well known in Bengal, Mithilā and Kāmarūpa, and its peculiar spelling with ‘च्च’ is common in the Bengal Nibandhas³⁸ (and also perhaps in those of Mithilā)³⁹. The ‘mānaka’ (popularly called ‘māna’ or ‘māna-kacu’ in Bengal’ is one of the varieties of arum. As neither ‘kacci’ nor ‘mānaka’ is mentioned in Amara-koṣa or any other famous lexicon⁴⁰, Kamalākara and his countrymen as well as the learned editor of the printed text of the Nirṇaya-sindhu totally failed to understand their meanings and made the mistakes mentioned above.

v2.c21.75

³⁵ For the names of the works quoting this verse see footnote 18 above.

v2.c21.76

³⁶ Nirṇaya-sindhu, p. 128—... ... iti kṛtya-tattvārṇava uktam / patrikās tu—‘rambhā kavī haridrā ca jayantī bilva-dāḍimau / aśoko māna-vṛkṣaś ca dhānyādi nava-patrikāḥ //’ iti tatraivoktāḥ / For the reading ‘kavī’ for ‘kaccī’ see also Nirṇaya-sindhu, p. 130—... ... patrikāḥ pūjayet / kadalyāṃ brahmāṇīṃ dāḍime rakta-dantikām dhānye lakṣmīm haridrāyāṃ durgām māne cāmuṇḍāṃ kavau kālikām bilve śivām aśoke śoka-rahitāṃ jayantyāṃ kārttikīṃ cāvāhya sampūjya durgāyai balim dadyāt /

v2.c21.77

³⁷ With respect to the words ‘māne’ and ‘kavau’ occurring in Nirṇaya-sindhu, p. 130 (... ... māne cāmuṇḍāṃ kavau kālikām ... ... jayantyāṃ kārttikīṃ ...) the editor writes in a footnote: “māne kavau iti vastu-dvaya-vijñānam na bhavatiti mṛgyam etat/” (See Nirṇaya-sindhu, p. 130, footnote 1). The editor was not familiar with the ‘Jayantī’ plant also. He writes in a second footnote: ‘jayantī ṭāhakalā iti amara-siṃha-ṭīkāyām’.

v2.c21.78

³⁸ See Sp, fol. 24a, Śūlapāṇi’s Dv, pp. 12-13, Śrīnātha’s Dv, p. 50, Kt, fol. 62b, Vk, pp. 372, 401, and Dpt, pp. 8, 10. See also Vk, pp. 391, 402, 425, and Dpt, p. 12. The word ‘kacu’ occurs in Kavi Karṇapūra’s Kṛṣṇāhnika-kaumudī, ii.

v2.c21.79

³⁹ See, for instance, the two verses ‘brahmāṇī kadalī-kāṇḍe’ and ‘cāmuṇḍā kālikā kaccyām’ derived by Raghunandana in his Dpt, p. 12 from the Durgā-bhakti-taraṅgiṇī. The second verse mentions ‘kaccī’. But in these verses as occurring in the printed edition of the Durgā-bhakti-taraṅgiṇī (p. 63) the name of the plant is given as ‘kacu’ and not ‘kacci’. In his Vrata-paddhati (fol. 27b) Rudradhara also names it as ‘kacu’ in the verse containing the names of the Nava-patrikā. (See footnote 18 above.)

v2.c21.80

⁴⁰ Jaṭādharācārya’s Paryāya-nānārtha-koṣa and Cakrapāṇi-datta’s Śabda-candrikā mention ‘kacvī’ but do not spell it as ‘kaccī’.

v2.c21.81

(iii) In two verses, of which one is derived by Kamalākara from the Durgā-bhakti-taraṅgiṇī with the words ‘durgā-bhakti-taraṅgiṇyāṃ bhaviṣye’, and the other from the ‘Kālikā-p.’, the reading ‘śāravotsavaiḥ’ is given in place of ‘śāvarotsavaiḥ’⁴¹. This wrong reading shows that Kamalākara and his countrymen were not familiar with the Śāvarotsava which is mentioned in all the Bengal Nibandhas⁴² dealing with Durgotsava and which was widely performed, and is still performed in some form or other, in this province on the Vijayā Daśamī Tithi. Bhav. IV, chap. 138, which is one of the main sources of the description of the method of Durgā-pūjā as given in the Nibandhas of Orissa and of Western and Southern India⁴³, refers to none of the above-mentioned rites. As a matter of fact, all these characteristic rites are of East Indian origin. Some of them have been expressly mentioned in the Bengal Nibandhas as local customs prevailing in this province. For instance, the performance of Devī's *adhivāsa* in a Bilva tree in the evening of the day previous to that of *patrikā-praveśa* is sanctioned by Śūlapāṇi and Raghunandana on the authority of a verse ascribed to 'Smṛti'⁴⁴ and by Śrīnātha on the authority of a metrical line 'ṣaṣṭhyāṃ sāyaṃ prakurvīta' ascribed to the 'Liṅga-p.'⁴⁵ But Govindānanda says that this rite is based on a local custom, that the line 'ṣaṣṭhyāṃ sāyaṃ prakurvīta' is not found in the Nibandhas of Maithilas and others and is, therefore, unfounded, and that if this line was taken to be 'samūla', it would go against 'śiṣṭācāra'.⁴⁶ The tying of the *Nava-patrikā* with an Aparājitā creeper, again, is mentioned in Śrīnātha's Durgotsava-viveka⁴⁷ and Govindānanda's Varṣa-kaumudī,⁴⁸ but is called a local custom in the Saṃvatsara-pradīpa⁴⁹ and the Durgā-pūjā-tattva⁵⁰. In his Durgā-bhakti-taraṅgiṇī, which must have been written later than the Saṃvatsara-pradīpa, Vidyāpati also refers to this custom⁵¹ but

v2.c21.82

⁴¹ Nirṇaya-sindhu, p. 126 (durgā-bhakti-taraṅgiṇyāṃ bhaviṣye- . . . . . . saṃpūjya preṣaṇaṃ kuryād daśamyāṃ śāravotsavaiḥ / . . . ) and p. 127 (kālikā-purāṇe . . . . . . visarjanaṃ daśamyāṃ tu kuryād vai śāravotsavaiḥ // . . . . . .). In his Vidhāna-pārijāta (II, p. 630) Anantabhaṭṭa also quotes the said line of the Bhaviṣya-p. with the wrong reading ‘śāravotsavaiḥ’.

v2.c21.83

⁴² Though the Saṃvatsara-pradipa does not make any express mention of the Śāvarotsava, it anonymously quotes the line ‘visarjanaṃ daśamyāṃ tu krīḍā-kautuka-maṅgalaiḥ’ (which is ascribed to the Liṅga-p. in Kv, p. 512, Śrīnātha’s Dv, p. 43, and Kt, fol. 60a). According to Jīmūtavāhana the word ‘krīḍā-kautuka-maṅgalaiḥ’ means the Śāvarotsava (see Kv, p. 514).

v2.c21.84

⁴³ See, for instance, Kālasāra, pp. 103-115 (wherein verses 1-2, 10-11, 13-14, 15-16, 21-23 and 28-30a of Bhav. IV. 138 have been quoted), and Caturvarga-cintāmaṇi, II. i, pp. 908-920 (wherein the whole of Bhav. IV. 138 has been quoted). See also Kālasāra, p. 229—seyaṃ navamī bhaviṣyat-purāṇokta-durgā-vratādau draṣṭavyā.

v2.c21.85

⁴⁴ For this verse see footnote 17 above.

v2.c21.86

⁴⁵ For this line see footnote 17 above.

v2.c21.87

⁴⁶ Varṣa-kaumudī, pp. 370-371—patrī-praveśa-pūrva-dine tv adhivāsa ācāra-prāpta eva, so'pi gandha-puṣpādyaḥ patrī-bhūṣā-rūpa eva . . . . . / yat tu "sāyaṃ ṣaṣṭhyāṃ prakurvīta bilva-vṛkṣe 'dhivāsanam" iti nāma-śūnya-vacanaṃ kenacil likhitaṃ tan maithilādi-nibandheṣv adarianān nirmūlam eva / śiṣṭācāropaṣṭambhaka-samūlatv-ābhimāne tu . . . . / As a matter of fact the line 'sāyaṃ ṣaṣṭhyāṃ prakurvīta' of the 'Liṅga-p.' does not occur in the works of Caṇḍeśvara, Vidyāpati or any other Smṛti-writer of Mithilā.

v2.c21.88

⁴⁷ P. 50—nava-patrikā coktā liṅgapurāṇe—'rambhā kaccī haridrā ca jayantī bilva-dāḍimau / aśoko mānakāś caiva dhānyaṃ ca nava-patrikāḥ / / śvetāparājitā-baddhāḥ sarva-sampat-samṛddhidāḥ / /'

v2.c21.89

⁴⁸ P. 401—. . . . . 'rambhā kaccī haridrā ca jayantī bilva-dāḍimau / aśoko mānakāś caiva dhānyādi nava-patrikāḥ / / etā ekīkṛtya aparājitā-latayā saṃveṣṭya . . . . .

v2.c21.90

⁴⁹ Fol. 24a—ācāra-vaśāc ca bilva-śākhayā saha rambhādi-nava-patrikām aparājitā-latā-baddhāṃ praveśayet /

v2.c21.91

⁵⁰ P. 51—tata ācārād aparājitā-latā-baddhāṃ nava-patrikāṃ bilva-śākhāṃ ca sthāpayitvā . . . . . /

v2.c21.92

⁵¹ See Durgā-bhakti-taraṅgiṇī, p. 63 (bilva-śākhayā saha rambhādi-nava-patrikāḥ samācārād aparājitā-latā-baddhāḥ sthāpayitvā praveśayet) and p. 129 (. . . . . samācārād aparājitā-latā-baddhā rambhādi-nava-patrikāḥ sthāpayet . . . . .).

v2.c21.93

It is to be noted that Caṇḍeśvara or any other Smṛti-writer of Mithilā does not mention this custom. On the other hand, both Caṇḍeśvara and Vidyāpati give, without naming any authority, the procedure of worshipping the Aparājitā creeper on the Daśamī Tithi after the immersion of the image of Durgā in water and mention it as a 'śiṣṭācāra' or simply 'ācāra'. (See Kr, p. 365 and Dbht, pp. 208-9). But this custom was not followed in Bengal at least down to the time of Raghunandana. It is not mentioned or referred to in Jīmūtavāhana's Kālaviveka, Śūlapāṇi's Durgotsava-viveka, Śrīnātha Ācārya-cūḍāmaṇi's Durgotsava-viveka and Kṛtya-tattvārṇava or any other pre-Raghudoes not name or quote any authority. It is highly probable that Vidyāpati derived this custom from the Nibandhas of Gauḍa, to which he refers on other occasions. Further, all the plants constituting the *Nava-patrikā* are very common nandana Smṛti work of Bengal. Even Govindānanda, who was a contemporary of Raghunandana and deals elaborately with Durgā-pūjā in his Varṣa-kaumudī (pp. 365-449), makes no mention of this custom. It is only in the section on Durgotsava in Raghunandana's Tithi-tattva that the custom has been mentioned in the following lines:

v2.c21.94

evam ca ghaṭikona-daśamyām aparājitā-pūjānarhatvāt tatpūjanam pūrva-dine / ata eva tat-param evedam
"āśvine śukla-pakṣasya daśamyām pūjayet tathā / ekādaśyām na kurvīta pūjanam cāparājitam //"
iti śivarahasyoktaikādaśī-yukta-daśamī-niṣedhaka-vacanam / tataś ca tat-pūrva-kṛtyam devi-visarjanam api tadaiva, tadantāpakarṣa-nyāyāt / vācaspati-miśro 'py evam /

v2.c21.95

(See Smṛti-tattva, I, pp. 88-89. This is a reference to Vācaspatimiśra's Kṛtya-mahārṇava, fol. 72a).

v2.c21.96

But the genuineness of these lines becomes extremely doubtful when we take into consideration the following facts:

v2.c21.97

(i) In his Durgā-pūjā-tattva Raghunandana deals elaborately with Durgā-pūjā; but neither in the section on Pramāṇa nor in that on Prayoga does he refer to the custom of Aparājitā-pūjā, although this work is, on one occasion, referred to in the Tithi-tattva for detailed treatment of the method of Durgā-pūjā (pūjāyāṃ viśeṣas tu durgā-pūjā-tattve 'nusandheyaḥ—Tithi-tattva, p. 93) and, in commenting on the above-mentioned lines, Kāśīrāma Vācaspati speaks of the high authority of the Durgā-pūjā-tattva in matters of Durgā-worship in the following words:

v2.c21.98

tatrodaya-gāminyāṃ muhūrtānyūnāyāṃ daśamyāṃ śravaṇā-nakṣatra-yuktāyāṃ kevalāyāṃ vā daśamyāṃ visarjanam iti durgārcana-tattva-likhanam / etad-grantha-prāmāṇyam tu 'pūjāyāṃ viśeṣas tu durgā-pūjā-tattve anusandheya' iti tithi-tattva-likhanena dṛḍhīkṛtam /

v2.c21.99

(See Tithi-tattva with Kāśīrāma Vācaspati's commentary, p. 283).

v2.c21.100

(ii) In his Kṛtya-tattva Raghunandana deals briefly with Durgotsava (see Smṛti-tattva, II, pp. 444-5), but there also he makes no mention of Aparājitā-pūjā.

v2.c21.101

(iii) The above-mentioned lines of the Tithi-tattva (in which Aparājitā-pūjā has been mentioned) do not occur in their right place after treatment of Devi's immersion (visarjana), which is to precede, and not follow, Aparājitā-pūjā.

v2.c21.102

(iv) From the statements of Kāśīrāma Vācaspati and the Durgārcana-kaumudī (a post-Raghunandana work mentioned by Kāśīrāma Vācaspati in his commentary on the Tithi-tattva, p. 283), it appears that even in post-Raghunandana days the custom of Aparājitā-pūjā attained popularity in a limited circle and did not obtain the sanction of renowned Smṛti-writers like Raghunandana. See Kāśīrāma's commentary (on the said lines of the Tithi-tattva): visarjanam daśamyām iti rātry-ādau visarjanam na kāryam / devī-purāṇe "patri-praveśanam rātrau visargam vā karoti yaḥ / tasya rāṣṭra-vināśaḥ syād rājā ca vikalo bhavet //" rātrāv iti paryudasta-kālopalakṣaṇam iti durgārca-kaumudī // Also Durgārcana-kaumudī (fols. 65b-66a): "atra kecit devī-visarjānā-nantaram yadi para-dine daśamī aparājitā-(pūjā-yog)yā na prāpyate tadā navamī-yukta-daśamyām evodaya-sambandh-ābhāve 'pi visarjanam kāryam tasya tad-uttara-kāla-kartavyatvāt / "ekādaśyām na kurvīta pūjitam cāparājitam" (ity a)nena ekādaśī-yukta-daśamī-niṣedha etad-viṣaya eveti tan na aparājitā-pūjanasya kālaḥ ......

v2.c21.103

in Bengal, Mithilā and Kāmarūpa, and they do not include ‘yava’ or any other plant which is peculiar to Western or Southern India. So, the verses of the ‘Bhavisya-p.’, ‘Liṅga-p.’, Nandikeśvara-p., Bṛhan-nandikeśvara-p., etc. mentioned above must have been written in Eastern India, mostly in Bengal. We shall see hereinafter that the Kālikā-p. was written either in Kāmarūpa in Assam or in that part of Bengal which was very near to it, and the Devi-p., Nandikeśvara-p. and Bṛhan-nandikeśvara-p. were written in Bengal.

v2.c21.104

As regards the verses ascribed to the Bhaviṣya-p. and the Liṅga-p., it is disappointing to find that none of them occurs in the present texts of the Bhaviṣya and the Liṅga-p. On the other hand, manuscripts are still found in Bengal of Smṛti works on the ‘Bhaviṣya-purāṇokta-durgā-pūjā-paddhati’;⁵² and Kāśirāma Vācaspati, in his commentary on Raghunandana’s Tithi-tattva, testifies to the fact that the method of Durgā-pūjā, prescribed by the ‘Liṅga-p.’, was once followed in Bengal.⁵³ Regarding the verse ‘vrati prapūjayed devīm’, ascribed to the ‘Bhaviṣya’ in Raghunandana’s Tithi-tattva,⁵⁴ Gadādhara says that it was respected in ‘Gauḍa-deśa’ but not in Orissa.⁵⁵ We can reasonably presume, therefore, that chapters consisting of verses on the methods of Durgā-pūjā, as followed in Bengal, were written by the scholars of this province and inserted into the texts of the Bhaviṣya and the Liṅga-p. current among them, so that these methods, though determined mostly by the local customs of Bengal, might be regarded as based on authoritative Śāstric injunctions. But all the verses ascribed to the ‘Bhaviṣya-p.’ and the ‘Liṅga-p.’ were not written at the same time. For instance, the lines “ṣaṣṭhyāṃ sāyaṃ prakurvīta bilva-vṛkṣe ’dhivāsanam” and “śvetāparājitā-baddhāḥ sarva-sampat-samṛddhidāḥ”, which record two of the most characteristic customs of Bengal and Mithilā and which have been ascribed to the ‘Liṅga-p.’ by Śrīnātha Ācārya-cūḍāmaṇi, were added at a comparatively late date⁵⁶. It may be that Śrīnātha himself added these two lines to those already current in his time under the name of the ‘Liṅga-p.’

First 136 of 4,282 passages. Read on

Cites (49)