Sanskrit Manuscripts : Lomaśīśikṣā

Lomaśa, Gargācārya

Sanskrit Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'> The <i>Lomaśīśikṣā</i> is a <i>śikṣā</i> ("Teaching [on Pronunciation]") belonging to the Sāmavedic school of recitation and included in the branch of knowledge known as <i>vedalakṣaṇa</i>. The <i>Lomaśīśikṣā</i> contains ca. 74 verses distributed in eight <i>khaṇḍa</i>s (“section”). As the great majority of the <i>śikṣā</i>s, it does not present a comprehensive account of <i>vedalakṣaṇa</i> knowledge, but focuses on specific phonetic and phonological observations as well as on aspects of Vedic recitation, in particular the musical notes. This manuscript, written in 1877, has been written by the same scribe who wrote the <i>Keśavīśikṣā</i> (<a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='/view/MS-ADD-01710/1'>Add.1710</a>) and the <i>Laghvamoghanandinīśikṣā</i> (<a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='/view/MS-ADD-01711/1'>Add.1711</a>). These three manuscripts were most probably produced as a single collection, as they share many common features: paper and layout are identical, and at the end of the present manuscript a catch number (18) is written, which is repeated on the firsto folio of manuscript <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='/view/MS-ADD-01710/1'>Add.1710</a> and on the verso of manuscript <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='/view/MS-ADD-01711/1'>Add.1711</a> (which consists of a single folio). </p>