Studies in the Bhakta Mala Oj? Nabha Dasa
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STUDIES IN THE BHAKTA MALA OJ? NABHA DASA Thesis presented to the University of London for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Gilbert POLLET, Licentiate (Louvain) School of Oriental and African Studies, October, 1963 ProQuest Number: 10672654 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10672654 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 -2- DEDICAf ION To my teachers in London and Louvain. ABSTRACT These Studies in the Bhakta Mala consist of three parts. The first part contains an introductory chapter and a description of the manuscripts and editions. After a note on Nabha Dasa and on the scope of his work, the introduction deals with the approximate date of the Bhakta Mala and with the principles of its prosody. In the second chapter the manuscripts and edi tions are described and their genealogical relations are shown. A summary is given of the principles followed in constituting the text. Photocopies illustrate the peculiarities of the four manuscripts. In fthe second part, which coincides with the third chapter, the Braj text of ninety-five Bhakta Mala verses has been based on the collation of the four London manuscripts and of four editions. The third and last part contains an annotated English transla tion of the Braj text, followed by a glossary. In the fourth chapter it appeared useful to attempt a translation , since the Bhakta Mala has not as yet been translated or systema tically commented on in a European language. The notes of the fifth chapter have a double aim. They intend to indicate the Sanskrit sources which Nabha 3Dasa amply used in the first twenty-seYen verses. In the remaining verses the notes are meant to establish the historical features of the Yaisna- « * va saints and to extricate - if necessary with the help of Priya Dasa's commentary - the enigmatic legends. A glossary in the sixth chapter analyses the grammatical structure of the old Braj language as used by Nabha Dasa. -4- SABLE OF COITEITS page: - Abstract 3 - Abbreviations 5 - Preface 9 chapter: I. Introduction 10 - Date of the Bhakta Mala. II - The metres. 12 II.Description of the manuscripts and editions. - 16 1) The four manuscripts. 17 2) The four editions. 26 3) Comparison of the mss.and edd. 28 4) The critical recension. 31 5) Table showing the concordance of the Bh.M*verses (nrs.1-95) iu the mss.and edd. 35 6) Specimina of the manuscripts. 39 III. Text of the Bhakta Mala (vv.1-95). 43 - Transliteration of the Hindi alphabet. 44 - Sigla of the mss.and edd. 45 - Text. 47 IV. Translation. 142 V. Hotes. 235 VI. Glossary. 353 - Introductory notes: Alphabetical order. Words omitted. Reference to synonyms. Use of grammars. 354 VII.Bibliography. 445 -5- A B B R E V I A T I OHS abs. absolute dir. direct (1) A.D. Anno Domini. ed(d). edition(s) e.g. exempli gratia ad,j . adjective esp. especially Agni Pur. Agni Purana exc. except (2) art * cit. articulo citato exclam. exclamation b. born f . feminine Bhg.Pur. Bhagavata Purana ff. following Bh.M. Bhakta Mala fl. flourished Br.Pur * Brahmanda Purana fol(s). f o3Lo (s) 1 BSOAS. Bulletin of the Hariv. Harivamsa School of Oriental Hi. Hindi and African Studies ibc. in the beginning of c. circa a compound word cf. confer ibid. ibidem Cll ( S ) . chapter(s) id. idem CD • conj ecture I.e. id est cont. continued if c. in fine compositi(at the corr. correction end of a compound) correl. correlative impf. imperfect cpd. compound impv. imperative d. died ind. indeclinable dem.pron. demonstrative inf. infinitive pronoun intr. intransitive (1) A.D. is to be understood with all unspecified dates. (2) I.e. the article referred to under the name of its author in the bibliography. JASB. Jounal of the Asia opp. opposed to tic Society of p(p) • page(s) Bengal part. participle JRAS. Journal of the patr. patronym(ic) Royal Asiatic perf. perfect Society pers.pron. personal pronoun k°. kar- (1 to do’) pi. plural Kathas. Kathasarit sagara prep. preposition ’ kav.v.kavitta verse (1) pres. present 1(1). line(s) pron. pronoun 11 b . literally prop. properly m. masculine q.v. quad videas M.Bh. Mahabharata Ram. Ramayana * med. medieval Ramacar. Ramacaritamanasa met .length.metrical lengthening Hulas! Dasa mg. margin rel. relative mo. modern RgV. Rg Yeda M .Pur. Matsya Purana S. (Vikramiya) Samva- • • ms (s). manuscript(s) SBE . The Sacred Books n . noun of the Bast N. proper noun, name s.d. sine data n r (s). number(s) (without date) o . old sg. singular obi. oblique Sk.Pur. Skanda Purana om. omitted Skt. Sanskrit / \ op.cit. opere citato• j. a. (2) subjunct, subjunctive (1) In numbering Priya D&sa's kavitta verses I have followed, the Bhakta Ivlala edition by S.S.Bhagavan Prasada. (2) I.e. the work referred to in the bibliography. -7- S .V. sub verbo (under the word) syn(s). synonym(s) tr. transitive trsp. transposed v(v). verse(s) Valmiki Ram. Valmiki*s Ramayana Va.Pur. Vayu Purana • vb. verb vbl. verbal Vi.Pur. Visnu Purana v.l. varia lectio (variant reading) vol (s). volume(s) -8- PREFACE It is a pleasant duty to acknowledge the help and encouragement from a number of persons without whom this thesis could not have taken shape, I am much indebted to my supervisor Dr,J.Brough. He guided me throughout my course of studies, whereas his lectures on Sanskrit and the Prakrits made me better understand the phi lological and /historical background of the Hindi text. I am equally grateful to Mr.J.G.Burton-Page for the constant guidance and encouragement he gave me. His knowledge of the Medieval Hindi dialects was a safe touchstone for my inter pretation of Habha Dasa's verses. He permitted me mo^reover to use some material which had been gathered under his di rection by Mr.K.Sawhney in 1957 for a study of the Bhakta Mala but which had remained unfinished and unpublished. I gladly acknowledge the occasional help which was given to me by Dr.D.L.Friedman, Mr.R.D.Gupta, Mr.S.Ratna, Mr, J.C. Wright and Mr.W.Zwalf. Mr.R.S.McGregor and Miss Y.B.Keskar are fully entitled to my gratitude. Their lectures on the ‘Modern Hindi language enabled me to read without too much difficulty the Indian commentaries on the Bhakta Mala. My best thanks are also due to the directors of the India Office Library and the Department of Oriental Manuscripts in the British Museum for having put the manuscripts at my dis posal. Mr.J.D,Pearson, librarian, and the Library Committee of the School of Oriental and African Studies kindly allowed me to take a number of useful books overseas at the end of each school term. A similar permission was given to me by -9~ Mr.S.C.Sutton, librarian in the India Office Library. Po the members of the staff of the three above-mentioned libraries in London, as well as of the Bibliotheca Lovaniensis S.J. and of the University Library of Louvain, I owe a special word of thanks for their extraordinary helpfulness. Phis thesis is also dedicated to my teachers of Louvain Uni versity because I have grown increasingly conscious of my 3 indebtedness towards them. It is my duty to mention more par ticularly the names of Dr.J.Masson,S.J., Prof.A.Van Windekens and Prof.E.Lamotte who have successively directed my Indian studies since 1951 and whose continual encouragement has also been extended to this work. By awarding the Millicent Harrington Scholarship the Forlong and Scholarships Committee of the School of Oriental and African Studies enabled me not only to complete my course of studies, but also to continue during the coming year the translation of the Bhakta Mala text and to examine its written sources. In composing this thesis I have experienced again and again how difficult it can be to render rather intricate ideas in a language other than onefs mother-tongue. I am grateful to Mr.G.M.d'Souza for the syntactic and orthographic correc tions he made in the English translation and the notes. I dare hope that the readers will kindly forgive the poorness of style and any other shortcomings which are due to my de fective knowledge of the language. INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION The Bhakta Mala gives an account of the principal Vaisnava devotees who lived in Northern India between the twelfth and the seventeenth century A.D.. Irrespective of the different castes and sects, the work shows the same veneration for the worshippers of Krsna as for those of Rama. The author, Nabha Dasa, says (l)he composed the Bhakta Mala at the request of his preceptor Agra Dasa. The latter ranks amongst the disci- a (2) pies of Payah&ri Krsna Dasa who was in his turn a follower (3) of Ramananda . Hence Nabha Dasa professed himself to be a Ramanandi and a worshipper of Rama. Date of the Bhakta Mala.