Yadavendramahodaya of Nilakantha with The Commentary of V.S. Ranade- A Critical Edition and Study

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The present book is the first attempt to publish a Mahakavya, viz. Yadavendra mahodaya of Nilakantha with its commentary, Tippani, composed by V. S. Ranade. The Yadavendramahodaya is a Mahakavya in ten sargas describing the life of Lord Kṛṣṇa from is birth till his marriage with Rukmini. It was composed in the middle of the nineteenth century and immediately, a commentary was written on it to keep it current. The work is based on two manuscripts of the original kavya and one manuscript of the commentary, which are preserved in the manuscript-collections of the Bombay University Library and the Bharat Itihas Samshodhaka Mandal, Pune. The present work is the first ever attempt to criti cally edit this little-known and rare work. The scholar, in his exhaustive Introduction, deals with such topics as the Author of the poem and his other relatives, his scholarship, the commentator and his scholarship, the available manuscripts and their peculiarities, the canto-wise summary of the poem, sources with incident-units, the Historicity of Krsna etc. and finally, attempts a Critical Appre ciation of the poem. The II part gives the Sanskrit-Text, critically edited along with its commentary and Index of Verses and Quotations. It is a welcome addition to the vast mass of literary works on Kṛṣṇa.

Dr. Siddharth Yeshwant Wakankar (b.) Jan. 1947) had his education in Bombay. He did his M.A. (1969) in Sanskrit, with Sanskrit Grammar as his Special Sastra and bagged the coveted Dr. Shridhar Ramakrishna Bhan darkar Prize for proficiency in Sanskrit Grammar. He taught Sanskrit, Ardhamagadhi and Ancient Indian History and Culture in the Colleges affiliated to the Universities of Bombay and Pune. He taught Middle Indo Aryan Languages and Linguistics at M.A. in the M.S. University of Baroda. He has been in this field since 1969. He has translated into English for the first time (1971) the allegorical Apabhramsa work, viz. Mayanaparajayacariu of Harideva. He has nearly 80 research papers (in Sanskrit, Marathi, Gujarati and English) to his credit and most of his research is based on rare, little-known and important unpub lished manuscripts, covering a wide area of subjects like Kavya, Nataka, Campů, Vedanta, Grammar, Lexicography, Dietetics, Games in Sanskrit Literature etc. The special field of his research is: Games in Ancient India, esp. Chess, Playing Cards and Snakes and Ladders. wherein he has earned international recognition. His other topics of interest and study are, Manuscriptology, Grammar and Linguistics and Scientific and Technical Literature in Sanskrit and has been elected as the President of the Section on "Technical Sciences and Fine Arts" at the 40th Session of the All India Oriental Conference, to be held at Chennai in 2000 A.D. He has three books to his credit, the foremost amongst them being the CETOVINODANAKAVYAM of Daji Jyotirvid, published in 1991 and pre sently, he is working on Critical Editions of seven other important works, based on rare manuscripts. He has widely travelled in India and Germany to deliver lectures in many Universities and Research Institutes and has attended 20 National and 5 International Seminars/Conferences. Since, 1977 Jan. he is working as a Research Officer, in the Oriental Institute, M.S. University of Baroda.

In the Sanskrit Language there are a number of works which are still in the form of manuscripts. Their authors have so to say remained into oblivion because of the non-currency of their works. Some works were fortunate enough to be printed. But, the unpublished material outnumbers the published one. The majority of such unpublished works is stored in manuscript-col lections throughout this land.

Here is an attempt to publish one such unknown and rare mahäkävya dealing with the life of Krsna from his birth upto his marriage with Rukmini. It is composed in the middle of the nineteenth century by Nilakantha, a Kannadiga Brahmin, who was domiciled in Maharashtra and immediately, a small commentary was written on it, that too in Pune by Visnu Samaraya Ranade-a versatile scholar, scribe and collector of manuscripts. Both these works are edited together in this Book.

Their manuscripts are available in only two libraries, viz. the Bombay University Library and the Bharat Itihasa Samshodhaka Mandal Library in Pune. The present work is based on these three manuscripts as no other manuscript of any of these two works is available anywhere else, neither are they mentioned to be in existence in any of the catalogues of manuscripts. Authorities of both these Institutes were very kind to supply the xerox-copies of their manuscripts. The active co-operation of those authorities is acknowledged with gratitude.

During the course of my study, I received guidance and assistance from many scholars and well-wishers, to whom I am deeply obliged. It is difficult to mention all of them here.

First of all, I express my deep sense of gratefulness to the authorities of the Bombay University Library, especially, the Librarian, Shri A.C. Tikekar, for promptly supplying the xerox copy of the manuscript. Secondly, it is my duty to thank the authorities of the Bharat Itihasa Samshodhaka Mandal, Pune, for supplying the xerox-copies of their two manuscripts, one each of the original poem and its commentary.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages