वैखानस श्रौतसूत्रम्: Vaikhanasa Srauta Sutram (an Old and Rare with pin Hole Book)

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Vaikhanasa Srautasutram containing a description of Vedic Rites according to the Vaikhanasa School belonging to the Black Yajurveda was critically edited for the first time by Dr. W. Caland, Emeritus professor of Sanskrit, University of Utrecht and published by the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1941.

All who follow this Sutram in their daily lives are followers and worshippers of Lord Visnu and many of them officiate in temples as archakas, including the temple of Sri Venkateswara at Tirupati. Since Visnu occupies an important position in the Hindu Trinity, the Sutram is very much in demand in the country, particularly in the South, where there is a large number of temples dedicated to Lord Visnu. The Asiatic Society, therefore is pleased to reprint the Sutram and place it before the academic community and the general readers once again.

1. M (Madras), copy of a Ms. belonging to the Government Library of Madras : No. 1605 of " a triennial catalogue. of Mss. 1913-14 and 1915-16 collected for the Government Or. Mss. Library” Vol. II, Part I, Sanskrit C, page 2262. In Telugu script. This Ms. contains not only the Srautasutra but also the Grhya.dharma. and pravare-chapters. The text is designated throughout as "grhyasutra", and the prasnas (the grhya : 7 prasnas ; the dharma: 3 prasnas ; the pravara : one prasna ; the srauta.: 21 prasnas). are numbered continuously, so that the first prasna of the Srautasutra here figures as the 12th, and the last as the 32nd prasna.

2. L (Lahore), modern copy on paper made in the year 1926, in Devsnagari, of the Srautasutra only, belonging to the Daya- nand Anglo-Vedic College at Lahore. The prasnas are number- ed: 1, etc. up to 21; last words: iti srivaikhanasasrautasutre somaprayascittividhir namaikavimsah prasnah /sampurnam idam vaikhanasasrautasutram.

3. A (Akulamannadu), palm-leaf Ms. in Telugu script, complete, containing 146 leaves, long 44 c.m., high 31/2 c.m., eight lines on a page. The prasnas are numbered from 1 to 21. 4. B, a Ms. belonging to the Adyar Library at Madras, registered x, 8.17; modern copy in Grantha (made in the year 1917), complete on 783 pages; high 21 c.m., broad 17 c.m.; 15 lines on a page. The praeaas are numbered 1-21.

5. T (Telugu), paper Ms. from Akulamannadu belonging (as does No.3) to Pandit Parthasarathi Iyangar, bound in book-form (octavo); complete: 470 pages, 17 lines a page. Numbered in continuation of the Grhya-dharma- pravarasutra . So the colophon of the first prasna in the Srautasutra runs : iti srivaikhanasagrhyasutre dvadasaprasnah and so mutatis mutandis up to ekavimsaprasnah The colophon of the 23rd prasna is : iti srimad aukheuasakhayam vikhanasa prokte srivaikhanasasutre mulagrhye trayovimsat prasnah. in the second half of this Ms. the upadhmantya is used before voiceless guttural and labial. The Ms. is neatly written by two different hands; after prasna 15, four pages are left blank, but ' in the text nothing is missing.

6. V, complete Ms. in Telugu script, 186 palm-leaves, 39 c.m. long, 3 c.m. broad, 6 a 7 lines on a page. Neatly written by one and the same hand with the exception of a few pages. The type of Telugu here used is rather difficult to read, it has a peculiar form of some aksaras. The prasnas are reckoned as 1-21. This Ms. is peculiar by its verses outside the text proper, which contain some data of importance to ascertain the contents of the sutra, the age of the Ms. and the locality where it has been written. The Ms. seems not to be very old. it belongs. (as do the Nos. 3 and 5) to Pandit Parthasarathi Iyangar and bears on the cover the number 84.-The Ms. begins :