Praises the pilgrimage center of Karavīra, related to the modern city of Kolhapur in Maharashtra (India), suggesting that it surpasses even the famous center of Vārāṇasī. Especially praises the Hindu goddess Lakṣmī and mentions regional deities such as Pāṇḍuraṅga, a youthful god sometimes equated with Kṛṣṇa and well known in Maharashtra. Contains a long section called the Lakṣmīsahasranāma, the Thousand Names of Lakṣmī (96r-103v). Text is framed by a discussion between the god of death Yama and a legendary sage called Mahāmuni (possibly Vyāsa) and also contains narratives presented as a discussion between the legendary figures Nārada and Mārkaṇḍeya or between the legendary sage Agasti and his wife Lopāmudrā. Text is complete and continuous, but with inconsistent foliation, repeating across two sections. Colophons vary between identifying the text as the Karavīramāhātmya and the Karavīrakāṇḍa, part of the Padmapurāṇa. Incorrectly stated to contain only 236 folios in Poleman, not taking into account the complicated foliation in the manuscript adding to 322 folios.
Title from colophon (f. 16v); alternate title Karavīrakāṇḍa from colophon (f. 12r).; Written in 9 lines per leaf.; 322 leaves, foliated [i], 1-85, 87, 1-236, contemporary foliation in ink; [1-321], modern foliation in pencil, lower left verso. References in this record are to modern foliation.; Colophon: iti śrīpadmapurāṇe karavīrakāṃḍe ya[ma]mahāmunisaṃvāde yekattpatitamodhyāyaḥ 71 cha nāradaḥ itīritaṃ dharyayuktam api vākyaṃtayāmune daittyarāṭanacaśuśrāvastrīrājyam iti garhayan 1 munīnā kāryasakalān maṃtriṇopisasainpakān vicāryaniścayaṃ kṛtvo sūmuhūrte śubhehani 2 jyeṣṭhāyakaravīrāyadadaurājyaṃ sattāyaśaḥ cha cha tataḥ vyāsapūjāṃ kuryāt // cha // śake 1766 krodhīnāmasaṃvatsare jyeṣṭakṛṣṇa aṣṭamyāṃmaṃdavāsare tad dinīpustakaṃ samāptaṃ // (f. 321v).; Dated śaka 1766 (1844) (f. 321v).; Mistakes covered over in yellow or blacked out; some corrections and additions in margins; vertical margins marked with double line in pencil and penciled guide lines for the text are drawn throughout.; Written on European stock of paper with a watermark depicting a crown above Victory next to a shield with cross.; Non-Latin script record.; In Sanskrit (Devanāgarī)
Physical Location:
Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Manuscripts, Ms. Coll. 390 Item 2350
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