Sanskrit Manuscripts : Newārī work on legal matters, unidentified Newārī text, Mānavanyāyaśāstraṭīkā, Abhinavarāghavānandanāṭaka, Nāradīyamanu...

Sanskrit Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'> This Nepalese palm-leaf manuscript, written in Patan in 527 Nepāla Saṃvat (1407 CE) by a certain Rāmadatta, contains three works: a <i>Newārī work on legal matters</i>, a portion of a different <i>unidentified Newārī text</i> and the oldest recension of the <i>Nāradasmṛti</i> accompanied by a Newārī commentary-cum-translation (verse by verse or group of verse by group of verse), the <i>Mānavanyāyaśāstraṭīkā</i> by Māṇikya (or Maṇika), the author of the <i>Abhinavarāghavānandanāṭaka</i>, a drama preserved in <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-ADD-01658-00001/1'>Add. 1658.1</a>, as well as of a Newari commentary on the <i>Amarakoṣa</i>, preserved in <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-ADD-01698/1'>Add.1698</a> (see also Shastri 1905: x and 43-44). The recension is the one normally found in Nepalese manuscripts as well as in the closely related text called <i>Nāradīyamanusmṛti</i> (see Lariviere 2003: 6). The text of the <i>Nāradasmṛti</i> starts with verse 5.8cd on folio <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(48);return false;'>28r</a>. The <i>Nāradasmṛti</i> is the only legal treatise from the first millennium that focuses solely on strictly juridical procedures, lacking therefore the portions on righteous conduct (<i>ācāra</i>) and atonements (<i>prāyaścitta</i>) common in other legal <i>smṛti</i>s. As already hinted at by Lariviere (2003: 1), it is highly possible that the <i>Nāradasmṛti</i> was among the legal texts chosen by the Malla kings for the legal administration of their kingdoms. </p>