Sanskrit Manuscripts : Bṛhatsaṃhitā

Varāhamihira

Sanskrit Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'>A 13th-century copy of the <i>Pratimālakṣaṇa</i>, one of the chapters of the <i>Bṛhatsaṃhitā</i>, an encyclopedic work in verse by Varāhamihira comprising more than a hundred sections on a wide range of subjects, from astrology to planetary movements, eclipses, rainfall, gems and pearls. The <i>Pratimālakṣaṇa</i>, transmitted independently in this manuscript, provides instructions for the production of effigies of gods and other holy beings, such as the Buddha. Here the chapter has been divided for unknown reasons into two sections of approximately equal length, each followed by an identical rubric that does not mention the <i>Bṛhatsaṃhitā</i> but attributes the work to Varāhamihira; the foliation of the second section, which has a colophon with the date, starts again from 1. The copy is nicely written but quite faulty, with many instances of skipped syllables and spelling mistakes, in particular the frequent substitution of n for ṇ and s for ś. </p>