Featured Manuscript · Vedānta
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad,
with Śāṅkarabhāṣya.
A 16th-century palm-leaf codex preserving the longest of the principal Upaniṣads together with Ādi Śaṅkarācārya's foundational commentary — a cornerstone of the Advaita Vedānta tradition.
- Accession
- MS-CU-01890
- Title
- Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad with Śāṅkarabhāṣya
- Language
- Sanskrit
- Script
- Bengali / Devanāgarī
- Substrate
- Palm leaf (tāla-patra)
- Date
- circa 16th century
- Folios
- 148
- Condition
- Stable; edges brittle
- Status
- Digitised · Critical edition in progress
The Opening Invocation
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते।
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते॥
“That is whole. This is whole. From the whole, the whole arises.
Take the whole from the whole; the whole alone remains.”
Provenance
A scribal lineage in Bengal.
Acquired from the Sanskrit College repository in 1924, the codex appears to have been copied in the Nadia region of Bengal during the late sixteenth century. The colophon names one Rāmacandra Vidyāvāgīśa as the scribe.
Paleography
A transitional Bengali hand.
The script shows characteristic transitional forms — the matras curve as in proto-Bengali, but conjuncts retain a Devanāgarī compactness. Ink analysis suggests a lampblack base with a gum-arabic binder typical of the period.
On Substrates
What the words are written on.
Tāla-patra
Palm Leaf
Dried, treated leaves bound between wooden covers — preserved with lemon-grass oil.
Bhūrja-patra
Birch Bark
Layered birch sheets, prevalent in Kashmir and the northwest.
Kāgaja
Handmade Paper
Cotton-rag papers from the 13th century onward, often dyed with turmeric.
Tāmra-paṭṭa
Copper Plate
Inscribed metal sheets used for grants, charters, and consecrations.