Talk:Nrsimhaprasada

This is an encyclopaedic work on dharmaśāstra, no part of which has been yet printed. The Benares Sanskrit College has a complete ms. of this vast work. I could examine the whole of it. Besides, the Deccan College collection has two mss. of portions of it, viz. of the Dānasāra (No. 353 of 1875-76 ) and of the Tirthasāra ( No. 352 of 1875-76 ). The Dānasāra and Sāntisāra are also noticed in Mitra’s cat. of Bikaner mss, ( pp. 429-430 ) and six sections out of twelve are noticed in the I . O. cat. p. 434 No. 1467. Unless otherwise stated the references here are to the Benares Sanskrit College ms.

The Nṛsimhaprasāda is divided into twelve989 sections called "sāra" on samskāra, āhnika, śrāddha, kāla, vyavahāra, prāyaścitta, karmavipāka, vrata, dāna, śanti ( the averting of evil foreboded by natural portents and other strange occurrences ), tīrtha and pratistha (consecration of temples, idols etc.). Each section”® begins with an invocation of Nrsimha( the man-lion incarnation of Visnu ) after whom the work is named Nrsiihhaprasada ( the fruit of the grace of Nrsiriiha ). In the Saihskarasara, after invoking Nrsimha, the introduction tells us that”* when king Rama ruled in Devagiri ( modern Daulatabad ), Samavit was ruler of Delhi and that after the latter Nijamasaha wielded power over the world. Then after pronouncing an eulogy on Nijamasaha ( verses 10-13 ) author speaks of himself. We”* are told that the author was Dalapati ( or DaladhiSa ), son of Vallabha, of the Bharadvaja-gotra and of the Yajnavalkiya ^akha ( i. e. Suklayajurvcda ) and that he was the keeper of the imperial records of Nebajana ( ? ). There are elaborate colophons’^’ at the end of almost each section ( called sara ) in which we are told that Dalapati was the pupil of Suryapandita, that he was a great exponent of the Vaisnavadharma, that he was the chief minister and keeper of the records of Nij^masaha, who was the overlord of all Yavanas ( Mahomedans ) and ruler of Devagiri. In some colophons he is styled Maharajadhiraja. It is doubtful whether Dalapati or Daladhi^a was the real name of the author or was merely a title. It is not unlikely that Suryapapdita said to be the ^uru of the author is the same as Sflrya, the father of the great Maratha saint Ekanatha, who wrote his Bhagavata at Benares in iake 1495 (i. e. 1573 A. D. ) and who states that he was born in a family of devout Vaisnavas.

The Nrsirhhaprasada names numerous authors and works. In the beginning of the Sathskarasara, he mentions a host of writers and works that he consulted.”+ Besides these he mentions Some third line is metrioally faulty in the 6th syllable. This verse occurs in each;^!^ at the end with variations. In the D.Ci ms. No. 358 of 1875-76 the last two lines are vara ( commentator of the Tantravartika ) and Kaladipa in the Saihskarasara ; the Puranasara in the Ahnikasara ; Parijata and Vadibhayaftkara in the Vyavaharasara ; Kamika, Jhanaratnavali, Balarkodaya in the Danasara.

The contents of some of the sections of the Nrsimhaprasada may be set out here. In the Saihskarasara the author treats of the meaning of dhartna, sruti, smrti, the authoritativeness of pura^as, kalivarjya ( usages prohibited in the kali age ), pupyahavSeana, madhuparka, yrddhisraddha^ garbhadhana, pumsavana, jatakarma, nSmakarana, upanayana, marriage and other saihsk&ras, the duties of brahmacarins, snatakas, householders, vanaprasthas and saihnyasins. In the Ahnikasara the author after dividing the day into eight parts speaks of the actions appropriate to each viz : in the first getting up from bed at the brahma-muhurta, sauca, brushing tlie teeth, decoration of the hair, bath etc ; in the second study ; in the third, looking after dependents and pursuit of one’s livelihood ; in the foui th midday bath, brahniayajfia, tarpana, vaisvadeva, daily sraddha ; in the fifth dinner and foods prescribed and forbidden; in the sixth and seventh rellecting over itihasa and purSna ; in the 8th decision about worldly affairs, evening samdhya etc. In the Kalasara ( which is incomplete in the Benares ms. ) he defines the nature of kola and gives rules and decisions about months, tithis and such festivals as Navaratra, Jamniistami etc. In the Vyavahirasara the author deals with the meaning of vyavahara, the eighteen titles of law, the four-fold method of deciding dharma, the pramanas ( means of proof ), dayavibhaga etc. In the Vratasara he speaks of the several principal vratas in each month, some of which are for both men and women, some for men only and some for women only. In the Danasara he dilates upon the nature of dana, its varieties, the various results of danas, the proper time and place for danas, proper recipients of dana, what things can be the subjects of gifts, units of gold, silver etc., the description of kuo4^) mandapa and vedi, the sixteen great danas such as tula, hirapyagarbha, brahmanda, kalpapadapa etc. and three atidanas, viz. land, cows and learning ; gifts of images, food, ornaments, bed-stead etc; saihkranti and eclipses etc. The Tirthasara is interesting for this that as the author hailed from Devagiri he speaks principally of tlrtbas‘iii the Deccan and Southern India. In this work he speaks of Setubandha, Pup 4 anka >»5 or Paundarika ( modern Pandharpur in the Sholapur District, it seems), Gayatirtha, eulogies of Godavari, Krstja-Vepya, Narmada, Malaprahariiji etc.

The Nrsimhaprasada being a work from the Deccan held the view that marriage with a maternal uncle’s daughter was sanctioned by the Veda and was not to be censured. It says that where there is ( irreconcileable ) conflict between the smrtis and puratias there is an option.

As the Nrsiihhaprasada relies upon the Madhaviya and the Madanaparijata, it is certainly later than 1400 A. D. As it is mentioned as an authority in the Dvaitanirijaya of SaAkarabhatta and in the Mayukhas of Nilakantha it must be earlier than about 1575 A. D. If by the Dipikavivaraija which it enumerates among its principal authorities is meant the com. of Nrsimha, son of Rimacandracarya, on his father’s commentary of the Kalanirpaya ( which is most probable ), then the Nrsimhaprasada must be later than about 1 500 A. D. Dr. Bhandarkar”® says that Ramacandracarya lived about 1450 A. D. A ms. of the Dipikavivaraija was copied in samvat 1604 (1548 A. D.).”’ The Benares Sanskrit College ms. appears to have been copied for RaniapaiiditaDharmadhikariat Benares, who is said to have been the father of Nandapandita‘°‘’° (see sec. 105 below ). At the end of several saras either sathvat 1568 ( 1511-12 A. D. ) or 1569 occurs as the date.'®®' This may be said to be the 1000 Vide Benares ‘ Pandit * ( New series ) vol. V. pp. 377-78 for an announcement about the by a learned descendant of 1001 At the end of the colophon of the have the date ms. the date « v» i. e. 7th May 1512 A. D. At the end of the wo have At tho end of the we have date of the actual composition of the work or of the copying of the ms. for Rimapandita. It seems difEcult to believe that Ramapaodita for whom the ms. was copied in 1511-12 A. D. was the father of the famous Nandapapdita. We know that Nandapandita composed his VaijayantI in 1623 A. D. Ramapandita must have been a man of middle age before he could order the copying of a huge ms. like the Nrsimhaprasada. If he did this in 1511-12 A. D. his son could hardly have been alive 120 years later. Therefore it looks probable that the dates ( sathvat 1568 and 1569 ) are not the dates when the ms. was copied for Ramapandita, but rather the dates of the composition of the original work or of the copying of the ms. from which Ramapandita got his own ms. copied. At all events it is clear that the Nfsiihhaprasada could not have been composed later than 1512 A. D. As the author was a minister of Nijamasaha who ruled over Devagiri, it appears that he is referring to Ahmad Nizam Shah who ruled from 1490-1508 A. D. or to his son Burhan Nizam Shah ( 1508-1533 A. D. ), most probably the former. It may be taken as certain that the work was composed between 1490 and 1512 A. D.

Synopsis: An encyclopaedic work • divided into 12 sections called ‘sSra’— the author’s name variously given as Dalapati or Daladhisa - personal history - writers and works named - contents of the work - flourished between 1400-1510 a. a, probably about 1490 tp 1510.