Sanskrit Manuscripts : Saptavāra

‏Unknown

Sanskrit Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'> The <i>Saptavāra</i> ("Seven Days") usually incorporates seven <i>dhāraṇī</i>s, the <i>Vasudhārā</i>, <i>Vajravidāraṇā</i>, <i>Gaṇapatihṛdayā</i>, <i>Uṣṇīṣavijayā</i>, <i>Parṇaśavarī/Prajñāpāramitā</i>, <i>Mārīcī</i>, and <i>Grahamātṛkā</i>. This collection associates each <i>dhāraṇī</i> with a specific day of the week, a tradition going back to at least the sixteenth century in Nepal. This fragmentary paper manuscript, probably to be ascribed to the 18th or 19th century, contains the <i>Saptavāra</i> starting with the very end of the <i>Vajravidāraṇā</i> and therefore missing the first <i>dhāraṇī</i> in its entirety. Five illuminations represent the goddesses that preside to the four <i>dhāraṇī</i>s whose beginnig is preserved in this manuscript. </p>