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Paṇḍit Seu to Mānaku: a pictorial Rāmāyaṇa with text

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2021

John Brockington*
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh (retired) Email: John.Brockington@btinternet.com
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Abstract

This article examines the linked sets of paintings commonly known as the “small Guler” Rāmāyaṇa by Paṇḍit Seu, the “Mankot” Rāmāyaṇa and the “Siege of Laṅkā” by Mānaku in the light of the text from the Vālmīki Rāmayaṇa on the versos of the paintings. This allows significant conclusions about the intentions behind their production and the original extent of each set.

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Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Royal Asiatic Society

During the first quarter of the eighteenth century the most monumental of all Pahāṛī illustrated Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa manuscripts was produced, if it is accepted that the three sets listed here do indeed all belong to the same series, which many art historians have suggested,Footnote 1 albeit with differences of opinion on the painting styles involved. One is the so-called small Guler Rāmāyaṇa of around 1720, which is the only major series of paintings ascribed to Paṇḍit Seu; its extant folios illustrate episodes from the Araṇya and Sundara kāṇḍas. The Kiṣkindhākāṇda comprises another series, datable between 1710 and 1725 in a very similar format that has been called the “Mankot Rāmāyaṇa”; it is not known where exactly it was painted but it was not in Paṇḍit Seu's own workshop.Footnote 2 However, the most spectacular part, in terms of its size (the standard folio size is around 60 x 83 cm), is the Yuddhakāṇḍa, the “Siege of Laṅkā” series by Mānaku, older son of Paṇḍit Seu and brother of Nainsukh, produced probably around 1725 but abandoned with most of its sequence of forty folios left just as preliminary drawings.Footnote 3 It is reasonable to surmise that whoever was the patron of this very large-scale project farmed out the work to more than one workshop—or possibly that he simply entrusted its direction to Paṇḍit Seu who then divided out the work in this fashion, retaining two kāṇḍas for himself. Although this patron is not named, both Seu and Mānaku were natives of Guler and the Siege of Laṅkā paintings were in the possession of the then raja of Guler early last century, which together make it virtually certain that he was Dalip Singh of Guler (r. 1695-1741).Footnote 4

It was clearly the intention that the paintings on the rectos of all the sets should be accompanied by text portions from the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa on the versos but plans for its implementation—or at least the mode of it—seem to have changed during the course of production, which it is one purpose of this article to investigate.Footnote 5 On the question of the scale of the enterprise, it is worth emphasising that folios are known only from four out of the seven kāṇḍas and that there is no trace of the first two (the Bāla and Ayodhyā kāṇḍas) or—less surprisingly since it is not uncommonly ignored—of the last (the Uttarakāṇḍa).Footnote 6 In the rest of this article I will investigate the parts in more detail in the sequence of the kāṇḍas, which will involve separating the two parts of what is usually designated the small Guler Rāmāyaṇa. These may indeed originally have been distinct and certainly have suffered rather different fates in terms of survival. Jutta Jain-Neubauer listed thirty-five folios—out of perhaps seventy or more originally—illustrating the Araṇya and Sundara kāṇḍas that belong to the small Guler Rāmāyaṇa, together with their subjects and locations.Footnote 7 However, almost all, possibly all, of those belonging to the Araṇyakāṇḍa have survived whereas only nine out of an original total of at least forty are known from the Sundarakāṇḍa.

The folios illustrating the Araṇyakāṇḍa (twenty-seven in all which may be the actual total produced or very little less) were originally acquired by the Lahore Museum in 1933 but were then divided at partition in 1947. Fifteen remained in Lahore (two of which are now on loan in the National Museum, Karachi) and twelve went to the Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh.Footnote 8 Jain-Neubauer notes the folio numbers and gives an identification of the text on many of the versos but, although she is evidently aware of the Critical Edition as well as the different recensions, most of her identifications are only intelligible in terms of another, usually the Bombay edition but sometimes possibly the Lahore edition.Footnote 9 She also illustrates one verso (Chandigarh E.101, in black and white, as fig. 10) and identifies it as “from āraṇyakāṇḍa: canto 59, v. 2; canto 64, v. 36”; this is actually CE 3.59.1-3ab, 63.9a+10b, 19, 64.36 with Northern or Northwestern readings, so in this instance she evidently did use the Critical Edition but identifies only the beginning and ending of the text passage and does not mention the folio number 24, which is in the same style as the text and presumably contemporary. In another (Chandigarh E.104, folio number not given but it must be 9) she identifies the verso text as “first part: interpolation after canto 24, v. 23; second part: canto 25, v. 10”, which is presumably CE 3.456* and 25.10, and Khara's army as “under the leadership of Dūṣaṇa”, who is not named in just these verses, only in surrounding ones. For a few other folios the text identification she gives fits well with the CE.Footnote 10

Folio 1, so numbered on the verso, depicts on the recto the episode of the exiles’ visit to Atri's hermitage with Anasūyā and Sītā conversing inside the hut; this is narrated at the end of the Ayodhyākāṇḍa in the Critical Edition (at 2.109-111) but in the Northern recension starts the Araṇyakāṇḍa (which fits with Jain-Neubauer's identification of the text on the verso as from 3.1). The next folio, of which the number is not recorded, shows the exiles welcomed by ṛṣis with fruits. The third and fourth folios, so numbered, show Virādha seizing Sītā and then being killed by Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa. The next folio (Chandigarh E.92) depicts Śarabhaṅga going to the Brahmaloka but is wrongly identified by Jain-Neubauer as Rāma cremating Kabandha; the figure of Sītā shown behind Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa is decisive for the identification. The following folio shows Śūrpaṇakhā as a beautiful woman being mutilated by Lakṣmaṇa and then flying off in hideous form. She is again in her hideous form in folio 7, where she complains to Khara, and folio 8, where she leads Khara's army to Rāma. Next come four folios depicting Rāma's successive engagements with Khara's forces; the first of these (Chandigarh E.104) was discussed at the end of the previous paragraph and shows Dūṣaṇa and other rākṣasas being killed by Rāma, while the other three, numbered as folios 10-12, show general fighting, the death of Triśiras, and Khara on a chariot attacking Rāma.

Appropriately, the next two folios show Rāma being fêted by the ṛṣis and the gods raining flowers on him.Footnote 11 The action continues on folios 15-18 with Śūrpaṇakhā complaining to Rāvaṇa, Rāvaṇa going to Mārīca's āśrama, Mārīca appearing as the golden deer before Sītā and Rāma shooting him. Folios 19-22 depict Rāvaṇa approaching Sītā disguised as a mendicant, Jaṭāyus vainly attacking Rāvaṇa, Rāvaṇa as he abducts Sītā flying over Sugrīva and other vānaras seated on rocks, and Sītā placed in the aśokavana with rākṣasīs ordered to guard her. Folio 23 shows an incident largely absent from the Southern recension and so from the text of the Critical Edition: Indra bringing food to Sītā as her rākṣasī guards are sleeping. The action then returns to the forest in folios 24-26, with Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa meeting the dying Jaṭāyus, Rāma killing Kabandha, and Kabandha ascending to heaven. In a further folio, for which the number is not recorded, Rāma and Lakṣkaṇa watch the Śabarī's immolation; this is almost the last episode in the kāṇḍa, followed only by their arrival at Pampā (less distinctive visually), so this might well be the final folio in the Araṇyakāṇḍa series. In any case, the paintings provide a comprehensive coverage of the significant episodes, to the extent that it is unlikely that any have been lost.

The Kiṣkindhākāṇda series first became known in the 1970s.Footnote 12 It also has Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa text on the versos.Footnote 13 Thirty-three paintings are known to survive out of nearly fifty but they are widely dispersed in both museums and private collections.Footnote 14 Folio numbers on the versos run up to 48 and, since the text on folio 48 comes from the last sarga of the kāṇḍa in the Northern recension, this is very probably nearly the original total, meaning that the majority are still extant. There is, however, one further folio for which the number is not recorded but which fits best after folio 48, since it shows at the far left two crowned vānaras in discussion with a crowned ṛkṣa towards the centre (i.e Sugrīva, Hanumān and Jāmbavān) seated on rocks beside the ocean. It is worth noting that the style of representation of the waves and sea creatures here bears a close resemblance to the way in which Mānaku depicts them in the “Siege of Laṅkā” series.

The text on the twenty versos from the Kiṣkindhākāṇda that I have been able to examine follows basically the Northeastern recension of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa and in all but one instance consists of a skilfully made sequential selection of verses from the text forming a condensed narrative relating to the painting on the recto. The sole exception is one folio from the Habighorst collection (recently up for sale by Francesca Galloway), which is folio 6 and has continuous text.Footnote 15 The question of who made the selection of verses is an intriguing one. They are skilfully done to form an apparently continuous text which makes excellent sense, despite the condensation. However, the selector is clearly not the scribe of some of the folios (and I think that they are all written by the same hand), who is capable of elementary mistakes through inadequate knowledge of Sanskrit, writing sabhupāviśat for samupāviśat and varśete for varttete on folio 23 (San Diego 1990.1063), or more generally of the text, writing svayamgabhām for svayaṃprabhām on folio 41 (Rietberg REF 25). Clearly he was misreading what he was copying, which may not of course have been perfectly legible, but anyone with an adequate grasp of Sanskrit would have corrected or correctly identified these without even thinking.

Folio 1, depicting Sugrīva's fear on first seeing Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa, contains on the verso text from the opening sarga of the Kiṣkindhākāṇḍa in the Northern recension. An episode which Sugrīva only narrates to Rāma, Vālin's killing of Dundubhi, is shown in a folio which Tandan erroneously identifies as the last illustration in the kāṇḍa; this belongs closely with one showing Rāma kicking Dundubhi, who in the text from CE 4.11 is a dessicated corpse but here “looks remarkably alive”.Footnote 16 The most dramatic section of the narrative is depicted in one of the unbroken sequences of folios, that from folio 15, showing Rāma shooting Vālin from behind trees, to folio 19, showing Vālin's funeral procession, and what is probably folio 20, showing Vālin's cremation.Footnote 17 A longer unbroken sequence is that from folio 29, where Hanumān warns Sugrīva and Tārā as Lakṣmaṇa arrives at the cave entrance to Kiṣkindhā,Footnote 18 up to folio 37, depicting one of the search parties sent out by Sugrīva to discover Sītā's whereabouts and attributed to one of the sons of Devīdāsa. The text on f. 35v comprises a selection of verses from the search party accounts which exceptionally is not in sequence but instead carefully selected to include all four directions in which the search parties were sent, echoing the painting on the recto which shows a separate group of vānaras in each of its four corners (that led by Aṅgada and Hanumān is at the top right); the text is prefaced by an apparently unique śloka, either from an unidentified manuscript tradition or perhaps composed by the scribe or compiler of the selection. As is clear from its position in the sequence as well as from the text on the verso, folio 36 depicts Sugrīva before Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa, not Hanumān as often stated.

Another unbroken sequence is that from folio 41 to folio 48, preceded by a folio which is almost certainly folio 40 and followed by one further folio, as noted above. Folio 41 depicts the vānaras closing their eyes as instructed by Svayaṃprabhā; the two paintings which must immediately precede and follow it (both in the Goenka collection) share an almost identical layout, the first showing Hanumān and party approaching Svayaṃprabhā and the other Svayaṃprabhā leading the vānaras from the cave. Folio 47, depicts Saṃpāti's son Supārśva offering to carry the vānaras to Laṅkā but it has previously been misidentified as showing Saṃpāti himself through failure to realise that the episode shown is actually one found only in the Northern recension (as reading of the text taken from parts of CE App.I.24 on the verso reveals); the colophon or caption identifies the scene as the discussion between Aṅgada and Supārśva.

The only known folios from the Sundarakāṇḍa are the nine which are now in the Rietberg Museum, Zürich,Footnote 19 although it is clear that well over forty were at least planned, since the highest certain folio number is 39 (Rietberg RVI 845), this is followed by a further folio (possibly numbered 41) and yet there is still a considerable portion of the kāṇḍa left in the Northern recension, which the text on their versos follows. Indeed the text aligns mainly with the Northeastern recension, despite the location of its production (John Brockington, “Illustrated Rāmāyaṇa manuscripts”, in Mitrasampradānam: a collection of papers in honour of Yaroslav Vassilkov (Saint Petersburg: MAE RAS, 2018), pp. 204-221. In consequence the first two extant versos (folios 2-3, RVI 846 and 847) contain text located in the Critical Edition at the end of the Kiṣkindhākāṇḍa, which caused some puzzlement to Goswamy in his pioneering publication on these Rietberg folios.Footnote 20 Correspondingly, the end of the kāṇḍa in the Northern recension comes after CE 6.15 and so the first folio of Mānaku's “Siege of Laṅkā” series has text from CE 6.16.1-12 on its verso.Footnote 21

The text on folios 2 and 3 (RVI 846 and 847) is quite short and looks rather like extracts intended simply to explain the picture on the recto but even so it is from contiguous sargas. The layout of folio 4v with line ends mostly corresponding with verse ends (2 ślokas to the line) is exceptional. On most folios the amount of text is fairly brief but the text of folio 39 (RVI 844) is very full, with part of it continued sideways in the right margin to accommodate what was needed to correspond with the painting on the recto, and it ends with a sarga end, although the numbering does not correspond at all.Footnote 22 All except the last of these versos end with what looks like a colophon but which is in reality a caption to the painting (as well as the number of the painting); the text was clearly planned to be read continuously. The selection of verses, taken mainly from the Northeastern recension (indeed sometimes closest to the Maithilī and Bengali manuscripts alone), has been skilfully done to produce a coherent text by an unknown compiler who was evidently not the actual scribe, as already noted. As a consequence of the difference in the kāṇḍa ends between the Critical Edition (largely representing the Southern recension) and the Northern recension, folios 2 and 3 have on their versos text from the end of the Kiṣkindhākāṇḍa (CE 4.64-66) and folio 4 (RVI 842) follows on immediately, as the numbering suggests that it should (the irregular sequence of verses in its text is matched—though not precisely—in the NE mss).

Similarly the text on folio 39 (RVI 844) follows on directly from folio 38 (RVI 840). The text throughout follows the Northern recension and indeed mainly the Northeastern recension.Footnote 23 By contrast with the brevity of the text on folio 2-3 and 24 and with the relaxed layout of folio 4 with its line ends mostly corresponding with verse ends, the text of no. 39 (RVI 844) is very full, with part of it continued sideways in the right margin, and ends with a sarga end, although the numbering of folio and sarga does not correspond at all. This tends to confirm that the text of these versos was planned to be continuous, although it is not impossible that there were also once text-only folios (of which there are, for instance, a few in the Mewar Rāmāyaṇa of Jagat Singh in the middle of the 17th century); it also suggests that the view that it and the “Siege of Lanka” series belong together is sound. The text on the verso of RVI 843 (possibly folio 41) breaks off without any caption and has no colophon for sarga 62; together, these points suggest that it is incomplete (it is followed on the same line by a scrawl in a different hand (probably that of a subsequent owner);Footnote 24 the painting on the recto seems more appropriate to the text of sarga 64. This might nonetheless be the final folio, since the last two sargas (65-66) are Hanumān's narrative of events earlier in the kāṇḍa, where presumably they would have been illustrated (somewhere in the big gap between folios 4 and 24).

The most spectacular part of the set, partly because of its size (the standard folio size is around 60 x 83 cm), is the Yuddhakāṇḍa, the “Siege of Laṅkā” series by Mānaku, the older son of Paṇḍit Seu, produced probably around 1725 but abandoned with most of its forty folios left just as preliminary drawings.Footnote 25 These forty folios form a continuous sequence up to the point when the project was abandoned and not, as previously thought, a series in which there were a number of gaps.Footnote 26 Only the first four folios have text on the versos. The first folio has an incipit (in red): atha laṃkākāṇḍacitraṃ likhyate || “here/next the painting of the Laṅkākāṇḍa (OR the pictorial Laṅkākāṇḍa) is written”; this unusual form of words suggests the deliberate combining of text and illustration. The text that follows (6.16.1-12) is the start of the Yuddhakāṇḍa in the Northern recension and the rubric that follows, though initially in the form of a standard colophon, becomes in effect a caption to the painting on the recto. The text on the versos of this and the next three folios forms a continuous text up to 6.22.4cd and contains several colophons on the third and fourth folios, as well as a final caption to each painting on all except folio 4. This is a major shift from the practice on the versos in the other kāṇḍas (which have only captions) towards the layout of a text-only manuscript. Nevertheless, the amount of text is tied to the subject of the paintings on the recto and consequently folio 3v is very crowded (and even so the last ten verses of the account of Rāvaṇa's angry reception of the unsuccessful Śuka and Sāraṇa had to be carried over to folio 4v), the text on folio 2v is brief, and that on folios 1v and 4v is intermediate.

It seems that the scale on which the work was planned steadily increased from one kāṇḍa to the next. The Araṇyakāṇḍa paintings are essentially complete at twenty-seven in total, the Kiṣkindhākāṇḍa paintings must have totalled over forty-eight of which more than thirty are known, there must have been at least a similar number of the Sundarakāṇḍa paintings, and the Yuddhakāṇḍa paintings and drawings, more monumental also in size, comprise forty up to the point at which the project was abandoned and, if carried to completion, would have totalled perhaps twice as many. For comparison, it is worth noting that Jagat Singh's Rāmāyaṇa contains thirty-six paintings in its Araṇyakāṇḍa and thirty-four in its Kiṣkindhākāṇḍa (its fragmentary Sundarakāṇḍa now contains just eighteen paintings). Similarly, plans for the amount of text on the versos became steadily more ambitious, from the limited selection of relevant verses on the Araṇyakāṇḍā versos, through the sequential selection of verses providing a condensed narrative on the Kiṣkindhākāṇḍa versos and the fuller continuous text on some Sundarakāṇḍa versos, to the complete text found across the first four versos of the Yuddhakāṇḍa, the “Siege of Laṇkā series”. Indeed, it is possible that the growing scale and expense of the project could have been too ambitious for Dalip Singh's resources and so provides a possible reason for its eventual abandonment as an alternative to or alongside Mānaku's diversion to the Gītagovinda series of around 1730.

Appendix I

Araṇyakāṇḍa

Sequential listing of known folios (numbers that are only inferred are enclosed in square brackets), together with Jain-Neubauer's identifications of the verso text, locations of illustrations and their accession numbers

  1. f.1 exiles at Atri's hermitage [illustrated at Aijazuddin, Pahari paintings, Nurpur 2 (i)]  Lahore E.109

  2. [f.2] exiles welcomed by ṛṣis with fruits   Chandigarh (? 93 or 113)

    [illustrated at B. N. Goswamy, “Pahari painting: the family as the basis of style”, Marg 21.4 (1968), 17–62, fig. 17 and Jain-Neubauer, Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting, fig. 3]

  3. f.3 Virādha seizes Sītā; text on verso from 3.2 + numeral 3   Lahore E.89

    [illustrated at Aijazuddin, Pahari paintings, Nurpur 2 (ii)]

  4. f.4 killing of Virādha; text on verso from 3.4 + numeral 4  Lahore E.102

    [illustrated at Aijazuddin, Pahari paintings, Nurpur 2 (iii)]

  5. [f.5] Śarabhaṅga goes to the Brahmaloka   Chandigarh E.92

    [illustrated at Jain-Neubauer, Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting, fig. 9]

  6. [f.6] Śūrpaṇakhā is mutilated  Chandigarh E.98

    [illustrated at Goswamy, “family as basis of style”, fig. 18; Taha-Hussein Okada, Amina (comp.), Ramayana de Valmiki, illustré par les miniatures indiennes du XVIe au XIXe siècle, 7 vols (Paris: Diane de Selliers, 2011), III, 49]

  7. f.7 Śūrpaṇakhā complains to Khara; text on verso from 3.7 [apparently an error: incident narrated at CE 4.18 ≈ Bombay 19 ≈ Lahore 24] + numeral 7  Lahore E.110

    [illustrated at Aijazuddin, Pahari paintings, Nurpur 2 (iv); Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, III, 59]

  8. f.8 Śūrpaṇakhā leads Khara's army; text on verso from 3.19 + numeral 8  Lahore E.111

    [illustrated at Aijazuddin, Pahari paintings, Nurpur 2 (v); Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, III, 61]

  9. [f.9] Dūṣaṇa and his army are killed by Rāma; text on verso: interpolation after 24.23 [presumably 3.456*] + 25.10  Chandigarh E.104

    [illustrated at Jain-Neubauer, Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting, fig. 4; Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, III, 65]

  10. f.10 Rāma fights rākṣasas  Chandigarh E.103

    [illustrated at B.N. Goswamy, Essence of Indian Art (San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 1986), p. 161, no. 119 (giving acc. no.); Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, III, 57]

  11. f.11 death of Triśiras; text on verso from 3.27 + numeral 11  Lahore E.100

    [illustrated at Aijazuddin, Pahari paintings, Nurpur 2 (vi)]

  12. f.12 Khara on chariot attacks Rāma; text on verso from 3.28 + numeral 12  Lahore E.105

    [illustrated at Aijazuddin, Pahari paintings, Nurpur 2 (vii)]

  13. [f.13] Rāma fêted by ṛṣis – Aijazuddin, Pahari paintings, 71 (on E.99) “The folio of the preceding scene in which Rāma and his family are fêted by the Dandakaranya rishis, was formerly in the Lahore Museum (E.90). It is now in the Chandigarh Museum, and has been reproduced in Goswamy (1968), fig. 17.”  Chandigarh E.90

  14. f.14 ṛṣis congratulate Rāma as gods rain flowers; text on verso from 3.30 + numeral 14

    [illustrated at Aijazuddin, Pahari paintings, Nurpur 2 (viii)]  Lahore E.99

  15. f.15 Śūrpaṇakhā complains to Rāvaṇa; text on verso from 3.31 + numeral 15

    [illustrated at Aijazuddin, Pahari paintings, Nurpur 2 (ix); Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, III, 80]  Lahore E.107

  16. [f.16] Rāvaṇa goes to Mārīca's āśrama; text on verso: 3.33.37-38, 34.10,13,17

    [illustrated at W.G. Archer, Indian paintings from the Punjab Hills: a survey and history of Pahari miniature painting, 2 vols (London: Sotheby Parke Bernet / Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1973), II, Nurpur 17 (iii); Jain-Neubauer, Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting, fig. 5; Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, III, 90]   Chandigarh E.106

  17. f.17 Mārīca appears as golden deer before Sītā; text on verso from 3.43 + numeral 17

    [illustrated at Aijazuddin, Pahari paintings, Nurpur 2 (x); Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, III, 97]  Lahore E.96

  18. [f.18] Rāma shoots Mārīca; text on verso 3.42.14-15, 43.1 (which fits well with CE)

    [illustrated at Jain-Neubauer, Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting, fig. 6; Rām. illustré: III, 91]  Chandigarh E.97

  19. f.19 Rāvaṇa approaches Sītā dressed as mendicant; text on verso from 3.45 + numeral 19

    [illustrated at Aijazuddin, Pahari paintings, Nurpur 2 (xi)]  Lahore E.112

  20. [f.20] Jaṭāyus attacks Rāvaṇa but is defeated (listed by Jain-Neubauer, Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting, as no. 18 on p. 32)  Chandigarh (E.93 or 113)

  21. f.21 Rāvaṇa, abducting Sītā, flies over vānaras; unspecified text on verso + numeral 21

    [illustrated at Archer, Indian paintings from the Punjab Hills, Nurpur 17(ii); Aijazuddin, Pahari paintings, Nurpur 2 (xii); Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, III, 131] Lahore E.108

  22. [f.22] Sītā placed in aśokavana with rākṣasīs to guard her; text on verso: 3.52.12,14,16-20 [illustrated at Jain-Neubauer, Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting, fig. 7; Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, III, 132]   Chandigarh E.114

  23. f.23 Indra brings food to Sītā; text on verso from 3.57 + numeral 23 (episode absent from CE text, only at 3 App.I.12 [≈ vulgate 3.57/Lahore 63])  Lahore E.115

    [illustrated at Aijazuddin, Pahari paintings, Nurpur 2 (xiii)]

  24. f.24 Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa meet dying Jaṭāyus; text on verso: 3.59.2, 64.36 (actually CE 3.59.1-3ab, 63.9a+10b, 19, 64.36 with N/NW readings)  Chandigarh E.101

    [illustrated at Jain-Neubauer, Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting, figs. 8 (recto) + 10 (verso)]

  25. f.25 Rāma kills Kabandha; text on verso from 3.71 + folio no. 25  Lahore E.95

    [illustrated at Aijazuddin, Pahari paintings, Nurpur 2 (xiv)]

  26. f.26 Kabandha resumes his true form and ascends to heaven; text on verso from 3.73 + numeral 26) [illustrated at Aijazuddin, Pahari paintings, Nurpur 2 (xv)]  Lahore E.94

  27. ?? R. + L. watch Śabarī's immolation [illustrated at Goswamy 1968, fig. 16 (detail); Archer, Indian paintings from the Punjab Hills, Nurpur 17 (i); Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, III, 169]

    Chandigarh (E. 91)

Kiṣkindhākāṇḍa

Sequential listing of known folios (numbers that are only inferred are enclosed in square brackets), together with brief identifications of the text where possible (full transcriptions in Appendix II), locations of paintings and their accession numbers.

  1. f.1 Sugrīva's fear on first seeing R. + L., folio 1, 17 x 27.2 / 20.5 x 30.8 cm.; text on verso is selective sequence from VR CE 4.2.1-25 with NE vv.ll.  Habighorst (Losty 2018) no. 3

  2. f.4 R. pledges alliance with Sugrīva, folio 4, 17 x 26,7 / 20.7 x 30.7 cm.; text on verso is selective sequence from VR CE 4.4 and 4.6 with NE vv.ll.  Rietberg REF 24

  3. f.6 R. + L. converse with Hanumān and Sugrīva, folio 6, 16.8 x 27 / 20.5 x 30.8 cm. continuous text on verso is CE 4.8.11-14, with 156* [NE] for 14cd and other vv.ll.  Habighorst (Losty 2018) no. 4

  4. ? Vālin killing Dundubhi, c.1710, 26.5 x 16 cm. [R. Raj Kumar Tandan, Indian Miniature Painting, 16th through 19th centuries (Bangalore: Natesan, 1982), 96-97 – “Marichi-putra-vadha is the last illustration from the Kiskinda [sic] Kanda section of a Ramayana”.]  Tandan 1982: 96-97, fig. 77 + pl. XXXVIII

  5. ? Rāma kicks Dundubhi, 20.2 x 30.6 cm.  Philadelphia 2004-149-29

    (Mason, Intimate Worlds, 90 (no. 30) states in a footnote that the text on the verso is from sarga 11 of the Kiṣkindhākāṇḍa [ref. is to Princeton trans. of CE].)

  6. ? SugrIva challenges Vālin (in cave + Kiṣkindhā) as R. + L. + Hanumān hide behind trees, 16.4 x 26.8 / 20.7 x 31 cm.; text on verso 4.259*part, 12.14-15 (incl. N inserts)

    [also ill. at Jain-Neubauer, Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting, fig. 11]  Cleveland 1973.103

  7. f.11 first combat between Vālin and Sugrīva, Nurpur/Mankot, 20.5 x 30.5 cm. (numbered 11 and 5 lines of devanāgarī on verso; from private collection, USA) Sotheby’s 25.10.17: 90

  8. f.15 R. shoots Vālin from behind trees, 16.8 x 26.7 / 20.6 x 30.8 cm., folio 15; VR text on verso selective sequence from CE 4.16.13-26 (Seitz gift)  Rietberg 2018.1240

  9. [f.16] dying Vālin reproaches R., Mankot, 16.6 x 26.5 / 20 x 30.5 cm., VR text on verso

    [illustrated at Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, IV, 51]

    Goenka coll. (Goswamy 1999, pp. 234-235, no. 178)

  10. f.17 R., L., Hanumān and Sugrīva mourn death of Vālin, 16.8 x 26.8 / 20.5 x 31.1 cm., folio 17; 11 ll. of devanāgarī text on verso corresponding to (parts of) CE 4.22 (Terence McInerney, Divine Pleasures, 176, no, 62).

    Kronos cat. 62 [promised to Met. Mus., N.Y.]

  11. f.18 Tārā, mourning Vālin's death, addresses Aṅgada; folio 18 (?), 16.7 x 26.5 / 21 x 31 cm.; on verso selection of verses from CE 4.23 and 21 (NE version) + colophon: ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkindhākāṇḍe tārāvākyam || (ex Ehrenfeld coll. [cf. Daniel J. Ehnbom, Indian Miniatures: the Ehrenfeld collection (New York, Hudson Hills, 1985), pp. 208-209, no. 102])

    [Mason, Intimate Worlds, 92-93 (no. 31) notes “Under the inscription the number 18 is written in a different hand.”]  Philadelphia 2004-149-30

  12. f.19 Vālin's funeral procession, 20.3 x 31.1 cm.; Robert Skelton in Steven Hooper (ed.), Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection, 3 vols (New Haven/London, Yale University Press in association with University of East Anglia, Norwich, 1997), II, p. 267, no. 190 – “The reverse bears the folio number 19 and six lines of Sanskrit text followed by a caption in red”  Sainsbury Centre, UEA, Norwich: UEA 543

  13. [f.20] Vālin’s cremation, c. 1695, 20.3 x 30.7 cm.; on verso CE 4.24.30, 32, 39-41 + colophon (end illegible) [whole verso washed out and faded]  San Diego 1990.1065

    [ex Binney collection, from Sotheby's sale 11.7.1973, lot 282]

  14. f.29 Hanumān warns SugrIva and Tārā as L. enters the cave entrance to Kiṣkindhā, folio 29, 20.5 x 31.2 cm.; on verso selective sequence from CE 4.618*, 30.40-41 and 31.20-21 [ex C.L. Bharany, ex Edwin Binney 3rd coll.]  San Diego 1990.1063

  15. f.30 L. arrives to warn Sugrīva, folio 30, 15.4 x 26 / 20.2 x 30.8 cm.; on verso selective sequence from CE 4.32.1-2 and 648* 1-16  Rietberg RVI 2101

    [ex Baron Bachofen von Echt and Horst Metzger collections; illustrated at Britschgi and Fischer, Rama und Sita, 120-21, no. 45; Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, III, 91]

  16. [f.31] L. arrives at Sugrīva's palace (illustrated at Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, IV, 93)   private coll.

  17. [f.32] L. meets Tārā, SugrIva + Hanumān, 20.3 x 30.8 cm.  LACMA M.73.50

    [also illustrated at Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, III, 95]

  18. f.33 L. and Sugrīva carried in palanquin to R., 15.9 x 26 cm.; folio 33; on verso CE 4.37.3cd-4ef, 12cd-13cd, 693*5-6  Met. Mus. 1978.540.1

  19. [f.34] reconciliation of R. and Sugrīva [illustrated at Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, IV, 98]  private coll.

  20. f.35 Sugrīva shows R. + L. search parties setting out, 16.2 x 26.7 / 20 x 30.5 cm.; folio 35;

    on verso one unique(?) śloka, 4.39.10,15ab + 749* + 750*, 39.17-18, 40.1, 793*, 40.2cd,5ab,44cd, 844*1, 43.2,5cd,7,11, 41.1ab,2-3,4cd, 42.1cd-2ab,3cd, 44.1

    [ill. at Amy G. Poster, Realms of heroism: Indian paintings at the Brooklyn Museum (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1994) 288-9, no. 241; Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, IV, 112]  Brooklyn 85.220.1

  21. f.36 Sugrīva before R. + L., 20.3 x 30.8 cm., folio 36; on verso CE 4.44.2 and 998*1, 4-6, 9, 12, 16-18  Met. Mus. 1976.16

    [Seymour Fund, ex Seitz coll.; also ill. at Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, IV, 26; Forrest McGill (ed.) The Rama Epic: hero, heroine, ally, foe [catalogue of exhibition, 21 October 2016–15 January 2017] (San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2016), 174-5, no. 86]

  22. f.37 Sugrīva's vānara army searches for Sītā, attrib. to one of sons of Devīdāsa, 16.1 x 26.9 / 20.2 x 31 cm., folio 37; Skt text in devanāgarī on verso  J & K Mittal Mus. 76.223

    [ill. at Jain-Neubauer 1981, fig. 13; Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, IV, 115]

  23. [f.40] Hanumān and party approach Svayaṃprabhā, 16.5 x 27 / 20.5 x 30.0 cm.; VR text in neat devanāgarī on verso  Goenka coll. (Goswamy 1999: 234-7, no. 178)

  24. f.41 vānaras close eyes as instructed by Svayaṃprabhā, 16.2 x 26.8 / 19.8 x 31 cm., folio 41; on verso selective sequence from CE 1086*1-9, 1095*, 1096*13-14, 52.8-9 (all as NE)  Rietberg REF 25

    [ill. at Britschgi and Fischer, Rama und Sita,126-27, no. 48; ex Archer coll., cf. Archer, Visions of Courtly India, 122-23, no. 65]

  25. [f.42] Svayaṃprabhā leads vānaras from cave, 16.5 x 27 / 20.5 x 31 cm.; VR text in neat devanāgarī on verso  Goenka coll. (Goswamy 1999: 234-7, no. 180)

  26. f.43 vānaras meet Sampāti, Guler/Mankot (Seitz gift), 16.2 x 26.7 / 20.3 x 30.7, folio 43; text on verso corresponding to CE 4.52.17-21ab + parts of sargas 55-56.3cd (all as NE) [ill. at Britschgi and Fischer, Rama und Sita, 128-29, no. 49; Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, IV, 131]  Rietberg 2005.86

  27. f.44 Sampāti tells vānaras he has seen Sītā, 16 x 26.7 / 20 x 30.5 cm., folio 44; on verso selective sequence corresponding to CE 4.56.4cd–57.32  Rietberg REF 26

    [ = Britschgi and Fischer, Rama und Sita, 130-31, no. 50; ex Archer coll., cf. Archer Visions of Courtly India, 124-25, no. 66]

  28. f.45 vānaras learn of Sītā's location from Saṃpāti, 15.8 x 26.9 / 19.9 x 31 cm., folio 45

    (ex Khosrovani-Diba collection; b+w ill. on William H. Wolff, Inc., advert at Oriental Art 20.2 (1974): 130)  Sotheby's 19.10.16: lot 27

  29. f.46 Saṃpāti's wings regrow, 16.5 x 26.6 / 20.4 x 30.8 cm., folio 46; text on verso selective sequence from 4.59, 61, 62, 58 and App.I.24, all with N/NE vv.ll. + colophon: ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkindhākāṇḍe saṃpātiputrasupārśvasmaraṇaṃ ||  Ehrenfeld coll.

    [Spink & Son, Painting for the Royal Courts of India, to be exhibited for sale by Spink & Son Ltd. at 5, 6 & 7 King Street, St. James, London SWI, April 7-April 23 1976, pp. 38-39 no. 163; Ehnbom, Ehrenfeld collection, pp. 208-209, no. 103]

  30. f.47 Supārśva offers to carry vānaras to Laṅkā, 20.8 x 32 cm., folio 47; text on verso selection from 4 App.I.24 (ex Binney collection, ex Bharany)  San Diego 1990.1064

  31. f.48 Saṃpāti announces Sītā's sorrows to vānaras, 16.7 x 28 / 20.7 x 31.3 cm., folio 48; text on verso from VR CE 4.62 and App.I.24 + colophon: ity arṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkiṃdhākāṃḍe sītāpravṛttisaṃpātigamanaṃ || (ex Herbert Härtel coll.) Habighorst (Losty, Habighorst collection) no. 5

  32. [? f.49] conference between the monkeys and the bear king, 6½” x 11” [= 16.5 x 28 cm] [far l. two crowned vānaras (one white [= ? Sugrīva] + Hanumān) face towards centre ṛkṣa king Jāmbavān (dark brown), behind them two pale and two dark vānaras, all seated on fawn/pink rocks at edge of ocean]

    (see Pratapaditya Pal, The flute and the brush: Indian paintings from the William Theo Brown and Paul Wonner Collection: an exhibition (Newport Beach, Newport Harbor Art Museum, 1976) no. 4; also ill. at Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, IV, 141)   Brown and Wonner collection

Sundarakāṇḍa

Sequential listing of known folios and accession numbers in the Museum Rietberg, Zürich, together with brief identifications of the text (full transcriptions of the text on these versos have been published in John Brockington, “Illustrated Rāmāyaṇa manuscripts”, in Mitrasampradānam: a collection of papers in honour of Yaroslav Vassilkov (Saint Petersburg: MAE RAS, 2018), 204-221, esp. 215-219). All colophons are in red.

  1. f.2 deliberations beside ocean, 17.5 x 26.5 / 20 x 30.5 cm.; text on verso: 4.1338*3-4 (NE ins. after 4.64.31), 1342*2 (NE ins. after 64.33ab), 4.64.33cd, 64.34 (as most N mss), 65.28cd, 65.33ab, ending with numeral 2, followed by caption/colophon ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe suṃdarakāṃḍe aṃgadaṃ prati jāṃvavadvākyam || (“so in the venerable Rāmāyaṇa, in the Sundarakāṇḍā, Jāmbavān's speech to Aṅgada”)  RVI 846

    [illustrated at Jain-Neubauer, Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting, fig. 14; Britschgi and Fischer, Rama und Sita, 51; Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, IV, 143]

  2. f.3 Hanumān climbs mt. Mahendra, 17.5 x 26.5 / 22 x 31 cm.; text on verso: 4.1389*8-9 (N ins. after 66.19), 4.1401*7-10 (N ins. after 66.30; ll. 9-10 corrupt), ending with numeral 3, followed by caption/colophon ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe suṃdarakāṇḍe vānarāṇāṃ parvatārohaṇam || (“ . . . the climbing of the mountain by the vānaras”)

    [illustrated at Jain-Neubauer, Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting, fig. 15; Britschgi and Fischer, Rama und Sita, 52; Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, IV, 147; McGill, Rama Epic, 177, no. 88]  RVI 847

  3. f.4 Hanumān evades Surasā, 17.5 x 26.5 / 21.5 x 30.5 cm.; text on verso: 5.1.157, 134, 135cd, 136a+d, 143cd, 149.cd [n.b. similarity of 145cd, 146cd, 147cd, 148cd], 151, 152, 97, 116, 55* (ins. of Ñ2 B D6 after 116ab), 118ab, 120cd, ending with numeral 4, followed by caption/colophon ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe suṃdarakāṃḍe hanūmato samudralaṃgherne [sic] surasāsamāgamaḥ || (“. . . Hanumān's encounter with Surasā in leaping the ocean”) [illustrated at Jain-Neubauer, Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting, fig. 17; Rāma u. Sītā 53]

    RVI 842

  4. f.24 Hanumān saved from Indrajit by Brahmā, 17.5 x 27 / 22 x 31 cm.; text on verso: 5.1018*4-6 (ins. of some N after 46.34/35ab), 46.35cd, 1019* (NE subst. for 36ab), 46.36cd v.l., ending with numeral 24, followed by caption/colophon ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe suṃdarakāṃḍe vrahmagamanaṃ hanumadvaṃdhanam || (“. . . Brahmā's arrival and Hanumān's binding”)  RVI 848

    [illustrated at Jain-Neubauer, Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting, fig. 18; Britschgi and Fischer, Rama und Sita, 59; Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, V, 121]

  5. f.33 Hanumān prepares return, 17.5 x 26 / 21.5 x 30.5 cm.; text on verso: 5.1114*2-3, 5.54.9,14-17, followed by caption/colophon ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe suṃdarakāṃḍe siṃdhulaṃghanārtham ariṣṭaparvatārohaṇam || 33 || (“. . . the ascent of Mt Ariṣta in order to leap the ocean”)  RVI 841

    [illustrated at Britschgi and Fischer, Rama und Sita, 61; Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, V, 135]

  6. f.34 Hanumān's leap, 19.5 x 26.5 / 22 x 30.5 cm.; text on verso: 5.54.18, 55.1-7 [+ variants], followed by caption/colophon ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe suṃdarakāṃḍe ākāśe hanumadāgamanam || 34 || (“. . . Hanumān's return through the air”)  RVI 840

    [illustrated at Jain-Neubauer, Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting, fig. 16; Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, V, 10-11, p. 139; McGill, Rama Epic, p. 182, no. 93]

  7. f.38 vānaras fight in madhuvana, 17.5 x 26 / 21.5 x 30.5 cm.; text on verso: 5.1298*, 60.14-26 [+ variants], 59.22, followed by caption/colophon ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe suṃdarakāṃḍe dadhimukhādivānarāṇāṃ parasparayuddhaṃ || 38 || (“. . . the fight among themselves by the vānaras headed by Dadhimukha”)  RVI 845

    [illustrated at Jain-Neubauer, Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting, fig. 19; Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, V, 155; John Guy and Jorrit Britschgi, Wonder of the Age: master painters of India, 1100-1900 [catalogue of exhibition at Metropolitian Museum, Sept 2011 – Jan 2012] (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011), p. 148 fig. 19.

  8. f.39 Dadhimukha reports to Sugrīva, Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa, 17 x 25.5 / 22 x 30 cm.; text on verso: 5.61.1, 2, 1305*1-2, 61.3-4 (with NE vv.ll.), 1307*, 1308*, 61.7ab, 1312*, 61.8, 1311*, 61.9, 1314*, 1315*, 61.10ab, 61.11-12, 21cd, 1318*1-2, 61.22ab, 25c+f, 26 [sideways in r. margin from early in verse], 1323*, 61.27, followed by caption/ colophon [on new line] ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe suṃdarakāṇḍe madhuvanavidhaṃśanaṃ dadhimukhasugrīvalakṣmaṇavākyaṃ || 39 || (“ . . . the wrecking of the Madhuvana <and> the speeches of Dadhimukha, Sugrīva and Lakṣmaṇa”)   RVI 844

    [illustrated at Jain-Naubauer, Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting, fig. 12; Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, V, 157]

  9. f.41 (?) Hanumān gives Sītā's jewel to Rāma, 17 x 25.5 / 22 x 30 cm.; text on verso: 5.62.36a-38b, 1350*, 62.38c-40d [omits colophon to 5.62 and 5.63.1], 63.2a-4b [63.2d not properly legible]; then is scrawled: miśa vidyādhara kī kaḍe dī murta (cf. miśra vidyārdha kā kaḍe dī murta scrawled in top margin of preceding folio, RVI 844v); f. no. = 41(?) in r.t margin and deleted in l.t margin, but 45 in lower margin

    [illustrated at Jain-Neubauer, Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting, fig. 20; Taha-Hussein Okada, Ramayana illustré, V, 159]   Rietberg RVI 843

Appendix II

Mankot Rāmāyaṇa versos — transcriptions

My thanks to all those whose assistance facilitated the production of these transcriptions: Daniel Ehnbom (for Ehrenfeld collection items), John Guy and Alison Clark (Metropolitan Museum, New York), Jerry Losty (for Habighorst collection items), Caroline Widmer (Museum Rietberg, Zürich), Cory Woodall (San Diego Museum of Art)

folio 1 (Habighorst 3 [Losty, Habighorst collection])

śrīrāye[sic]ṇakikiṃdhyācitra ||ṇḍe

|| śrīgaṇeśāya namaḥ || tau tu dṛṣṭvā mahātmānau bhrātarau rāmalakṣmaṇau | sugrīvaḥ paramodvignaḥ sarvair anucaraiḥ saha || tataḥ śākhāmṛgaḥ sarve plavamānā mahāvalāḥ | vabhaṃjuḥ <pāda> [supra lin., sec. man.] pāṃs tatra puṣpitāṃś ca vanadrumān || śikharāc chikharaṃ gatvā suparṇānilavegitāḥ | malayasyottare śṛṅge sugrīvas tu sthito bhavat || tataḥ sugrīvasacivāḥ sarve teṣu samāśritāḥ | saṃgamya kapimukhyena sthitāḥ prāṃjalayas tadā | tataḥ śubhataraṃ vākyaṃ hanūmaṃtam uvāca ha || vālipraṇihitān etau śaṃke haṃ puruṣottamau | vahumitrāś ca rājānaḥ chidreṣu praharaṃti ca || tad imau prākṛteneva tvayā jñeyau plavaṃgama | mamaivābhimukhaṃ sthitvā pṛcha tvaṃ haripuṃgava | prayojanaṃ praveśasya vanasyāsya dhanurdharau ||

ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkiṃdhākāṃḍe śrīrāmaṃ dṛṣṭvā sugrīvodvegaḥ ||

i.e. 4.2.1ab + 4cd (start of kāṇḍa in N recension; this sequence as NE), 10, 78* 7-8, 12, 18cd, 20abc + 21d (as NE), 23ab, 25 — with vv.ll. mostly as in NE [in sequence but not continuous]

folio 4 (Rietberg REF 24)

tam agniṃ dīpyamānaṃ tu cakratus tau pradakṣiṇam | sugrīvo rāghavaś caive vayasyatvam upāgatau | anyonyam abhipaśyantau ne tṛptim upajagmatuḥ |idaṃ tathyaṃ mama vacaḥ śṛṇu rāghavasattama | anumānena jānāmi maithilī sa na saṃśayaḥ | hrīyamānā mayā dṛṣṭā tadā krūreṇa rakṣasā | krośaṃtī rāma rāmeti karuṇaṃ lakśmaṇeti ca | uttarīyaṃ tayā kṣiptaṃ śubhāny ābharaṇāni ca | yāny asmābhir gṛhītāni tāni tiṣṭhaṃti rāghava | ānayiṣyāmy ahaṃ tāni tvam abhijñātum arhasi | ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkiṃdhākāṃḍe śrīrāmasugrīva amuṃvādaḥ ||

i.e. 4.4.16, 17cd, 6.6ab, 7, 8ab, 9cd, 10 (with NE vv.ll. throughout) [in sequence but not continuous]

folio 6 (Habighorst 4 [Losty, Habighorst collection])

tato rāmaṃ sthitaṃ dṛṣṭvā lakṣmaṇaṃ ca mahāvalam | sugrīvaḥ sarvataś cakṣur vane lolam apātayat | sa dadarśa tataḥ śālam avidūre harīśvaraḥ | supuṣpam īśatparṇāḍhyaṃ bhramarair upaśobhitam | tasyaikām parṇavahulāṃ śākhāṃ bhaṃktvā supuṣpitām | śālasyastīryya sugrīvo niṣasāda sarāghavaḥ | tāv āsīnau tato dṛṣṭvā hanumān api lakṣmaṇam | śākhāṃ caṃdanavṛkṣasya samākṣipya nyaveśayat |

ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkiṃdhākāṃḍe śrīrāmalakṣmaṇayoḥ sākhāsanadānaṃ ||

i.e. 4.8.11-14 with 156* (NE) for 14cd and other vv.ll. also as NE [continuous text]

folio 10 (Cleveland 1973.103)

evam uktas tu sugrīvo rāmeṇa ripughātinā | gacchāmītyavravīd dhṛṣṭaḥ prayātās te tha satvaram | kiṣkiṃdhyāṃ tvaritaṃ gatvā deśe pādapasaṃkule | vṛkṣair ātmānaṃ āvṛtya tetiṣṭhan gahane vane | atha rāmo vravīt tatra sugrīvaṃ priyavādinam | kuru nādaṃ guhādvāri sthitvā tvam akutobhayaḥ | vālinaṃ cāhūya yathā tiṣṭhate ta guhāmukhāt | tam ahaṃ nihaniṣyāmi śareṇāśanivarcasā | evam ukte tu vacane kākutsthenāmitaujasā | nādaḥ snigdho tha gaṃbhīro mahān āsīt tadā divi | mālā ca kāṃcanī divyā nānāratnavibhūṣitā | divaḥ sugrīvamūrddhānam abhito nipapāta ha | sā ca pitrā sutasnehād ādityenā divaukasā | vālino mālayā tulyā sutasnehād vinirmitā | tato nadan mahānādaṃ vāliṃ sa samāhvayat | sugrīvo gāḍhasaṃvīto nādair bhiṃdann ivāṃvaram ||

ity ārṣe rāmāyane kiṣkindhākāṃḍe vālīsamāhvānaṃ ||

i.e. 4.259*17-18 (insert of Ñ2 V B1-3 D3.7 after 4.12.13; 18 post. as Ñ2 V1 D7), 12.14 (ab as Ñ2 V B D7, d as Ñ2 V2 B1.2.4 D7), 262*1-6 (N insert after 12.14; all as Ñ2 V1.2 B D3.7, except new v.l. tiṣṭhate ta for niṣpatet sa in 3 post.), 264* 1-2,5-6 (insert of Ñ2 V1.2 B D3.7 continuing from 262*), 12.15 (abc as Ñ2 V1.2 B D7) [effectively continuous text]

folio 15 (Rietberg 2018.1240)

sa dadarśa tato dūrāt sugrīvaṃ hemamālinam | tasya cābhimukhaṃ cāpi yayau yoddhum atitvaran | uvāca cātitāmrākṣaḥ sugrīvaṃ roṣamūrchitaḥ | eṣa muṣṭir mayā vaddhas tvadvadhārthaṃ samudyataḥ | tataḥ saṃdhāya rāmeṇa śaram āśīviṣopamam | nihato hṛdaye vālī hemamālī mahāvalaḥ ||

ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkiṃdhākāṃḍe vālisugrīvasamāgamaḥ ||

i.e. 4.16.13ab, 328*, 331*1-2, 18ab, 25ab, 26a in new variant followed by post. pāda of standard epithets (°mālinam in 13b is unique v.l.; folio no. 15 in l. margin; another no. (84?) in later hand at bottom) [in sequence but not continuous]

folio 17 (Kronos cat. 62)

taṃ bhāryā rāmamuktena śareṇa bhṛśatāḍitaṃ | tārā śuśrāva bhartāraṃ patitaṃ vālinaṃ tadā | niṣpapāta tadā tasmād rudatī girigahvarāt | aśrudhārāvilamukhī sātha tārā tapasvinī | krośaṃtī nyapatad bhūmau patiśokena vihvalā | tato mohaṃ gatasyāṃke śīrṣam āropya vālinaḥ | mumoca sahasā vāṣpaṃ śokena mahatāvṛtā || tāṃ tathā paritapyaṃtīm tārāṃ śokasamākulām | vānaryyo vividhair vākyair hetumadbhir adarśayan | vīkṣyamāṇas tu maṃdāsuḥ sarvato ṃgadam ucchvasan | vālī sugrīvam abhito dadarśānujam ātmanaḥ | taṃ prāptavijayaṃ vālī sugrīvaṃ plavageśvaraḥ | ābhāṣyāvyaktayā vācā sasneham idam avravīt | pratipadyasva cādyaiva rājyam eṣāṃ vanaukasām | mām apyadyaivagachaṃtaṃ viddhi vaivasvatakṣayaṃ | eṣa tārātmajaḥ śrīmān aṃgadaḥ kanakāṃgadaḥ | rākṣasānāṃ vadhe teṣāṃ agrayodhī bhaviśyati | suśeṇaduhitā ceyam arthasūkṣmaniniścayā | yad eṣā sādhv iti śrūyāt tat karttavyam asaṃśayam | rāghavasyāpi te kāryaṃ karttavyaṃ prākpracodanāt | ityevam uktaḥ sugrivaṃ ramāṃ prāṃjalir avravīt | pratigṛṇīṣva me putram aṃgadaṃ kanakāṃgadaṃ | imām aiṃdrīṃ śukhāṃ mālāṃ lakṣṃaṇaḥ pratipadyatāṃ | svayaṃ vā tvaṃ mahābāho sugrivāya prayaccha vā | tam avravīt tato rāmo duḥkhārttaṃ vālinaṃ prabhuḥ | gaccha lokān maheṃdrasya śastrapūto manoramān | ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkiṃdhākāṃḍe vālivākyaṃ ||

i.e. 4.19.3 (as Ñ2 V B D7), 4cd (tasmād in c as many mss; d as Ñ2 V B D1.7), two unidentified ślokas, App.I.11.42-43 (insert of Ñ2 V B D7 after 4.20.13; 43 as Ñ2), 4.22.1-2 (1c as Ñ2 V B D2.4.7.13, 1d as Ñ2 V B D7, 2b as NE+, 2c as D3.7.9.11 G3), 5 (ab as V B D3.7.11), 11 (all as Ñ2 V B D7), 15ab (b as most N), 4 App.I.13.1,12,17-20, (insert of Ś1 Ñ2 V B D1-4.7.11-13 after 4.22.16; 20 post. as Ñ2 V B D7)

folio 18 (Philadelphia 2004-149-30; ex Ehrenfeld coll. [Ehnbom, Ehrenfeld collection, 208-9 + 255, no. 102])

vivarttamānaṃ taṃ dṛṣṭvā dharaṇyāṃ patitaṃ patim | uvāca tārā vikruśya putram aṃgadam aṃganā | apratīto pi satataṃ nīyamānaṃ yamakṣayam | abhivādaya rājānaṃ pitaraṃ putra mānadam | evam uktaḥ samutthāya jagrāha caraṇau pituḥ | bhujābhyāṃ pīnavṛttābhyām aṃgado ham iti vruvan | taṃ dṛṣṭvā rudatī tārā vālinaṃ vākyam avravīt | abhivādayamānaṃ tvam aṃgadaṃ tvaṃ yathā purā | āyuṣmān bhava putreti kimarthaṃ nābhibhāṣase | tām ārttāṃ patitāṃ dṛṣṭvā cyutām iva vihāyasaḥ | tārām āśvāsayām āsa hanūman kapisattama | satkṛtya vālinaṃ vīram aṃgadaḥ sthāpyatām it | rājye hy asmin kapīnāṃ tu niścayaḥ paramaḥ sthitaḥ | sā tasya vacanaṃ śrutvā bharttur vyasanakarṣitā | avravīd uttaraṃ tārā hanūmaṃtam avasthitam| na cāhaṃ harirājyasya prabhavāmy aṃgadasya ca | pitṛvyas tasya vīraśya sarvakāryeṣv anantaraḥ | na hy eṣā vuddhir āstheyā hanūmann aṃgadaṃ prati||

ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkindhākāṇḍe tārāvākyam ||

i.e. 4.479* (N subst. for 4.23.21ab), 23.21cd (v.l. in c of Ñ1 D7), 480* (N subst. for 23ab), 23cd, 24ab, 481* (NE ins. after 24), 25 (with NE v.l. in c), 21.1 (with NE vv.ll.), 456* (NE subst. for 21.11, as Ñ2 B3 D7 in l.2 pr.), 21.12 (b as NE), 14-15b (as NE in 14bc); for colophon/caption cf. sarga name in most N tārāvilāpaḥ and in Ñ1 D1 tārāvākyaṃ [in sequence, since NE mss read 4.21 after 4.23, but not continuous]

folio no. illegible (± 20) (San Diego 1990.1065)

x x ne girinadyās tu vivikte jalasaṃvṛtte | citāṃ cakruḥ suvahavo vānarā vālivallabhāḥ | tatas tu x x x x x vikātalaśayyinam | āropyaṃke x x x x vilalāpa suduḥkhitā | evaṃ vilapatīṃ tārāṃ x x x x x x x tām | utthāpayaṃti sma tadā x naryaḥ śokakarśitāḥ | sugrīveṇa tataḥ sārddham aṃgadaḥ pitaraṃ x x x x x ropa x m āsa kraṃdamāno muhur muhuḥ | tato gniṃ vidhivad datvā so pasavyaṃ cakāra ha | x taraṃ dīrgham adhvā x x x x vyākuleṃdriyaḥ || ity arṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkiṃdhā x x (some words supra lin.) vāli (then c. 10 illegible syllables) ||

i.e. 4.24.30 (NE v.l. in d), 32, 39-41 (NE v.l. in 40d) [x = illegible syllable]

folio 29 (San Diego 1990.1063)

tena śabdena mahatā tārayā vivodhitaḥ | sugrīvaḥ sacivaiḥ sārddhaṃ maṃtrārthaṃ sabhu[sic]pāviśat | atha prasādya sugrīvaṃ vacanaṃ mārutātmajaḥ | uvāca maṃtripravaro yathā śakraṃ vṛhaspatiḥ | satyasaṃdhau mahotsāhau bhrātarau rāmalakṣmaṇau | upakāre ca varśe[sic for tte]te rājan rājyasya dāyakau | tayor eko dhanuṣpāṇir dvāri tiṣṭhati lakṣmaṇaḥ | tasmād bhītā vepamānā nādaṃ kurvaṃti vānarāḥ | na sa kṣamaḥ kopayituṃ prasādyaś ca punaḥ punaḥ | pūrvopakāraṃ smaratā kṛtajñena viśeṣataḥ | tasya mūrddhnā praṇamya tvaṃ saputraḥ saha maṃtribhiḥ | rājan tiṣṭhasva samaye patyau bhāryeva tadvaṣā |

ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkindhākāṇḍe sugrīvaṃ prati hanumadvākyaṃ ||

i.e. 4.618* 1-2 and 14-15 (618* N subst. for 4.30.36-39, with NE vv.ll. throughout), 30.40ab (NE v.l. in a), 620* (N subst. for 40cd, NE v.l.), 30.41 (NE vv.ll. in c + d), 31.20-21 (NE vv.ll. in 20b and 21bcd); for colophon/caption cf. name of sarga 31 in most N mss: hanumadvākyaṃ [in sequence but not continuous]

folio 30 (Rietberg RVI 2101)

tato roṣaparītātmā lakṣmaṇaḥ paravirahā | praviveśa guhāṃ ghorāṃ kiśkindhyāṃ rāmaśāsanāt | dvārasthā harayas tatra mahākāyā mahāvalāḥ | te sarve lakṣmaṇaṃ dṛṣṭvā trastāḥ prāṃjalayaḥ sthitāḥ | atha taṃ svagṛhaṃ vīraṃ praviṣṭaṃ puruṣarṣabham | sugrīvo lakṣmaṇaṃ tatra niṣīdeti avravīd vacaḥ | taṃ lakṣmaṇo viniśvasya maṃtraruddha ivoragaḥ | bhrātur vacanasaṃruddha idaṃ vacanam avravīt | na sakyam akṛtārthena dūtena haripuṃgava | pratigṛhītuṃ satkāraṃ bhoktuṃ saṃveṣṭum eva ca | atha vākyam idaṃ śrutvā bhayād ākulitendriyaḥ | praṇamya lakṣmaṇaṃ rājā sugrīva idam avravīt | samāsato vayaṃ bhṛtyā rāmasyākliṣṭakarmaṇaḥ | sarvam pratikariṣyāmi yad rāmasya cikīrṣitam | arghapātre ca vidhivad gṛhīte lakṣmaṇa tvayā | niṣanne cāsane divye tato vakṣye tava priyam || ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkiṃdhākāṃḍe sugrīvavijñaptiḥ ||

i.e. 4.32.1-2 (with NE readings), 648*1-6 and 11-16 (648* = NE v.l. for 33.1-6; maṃtra in maṃtraruddha at 648* 3 post. is unique reading) [in sequence but not continuous]

folio 32 (LACMA M.73.50)

te tu tena muhūrttena vānarāḥ śīghracāriṇaḥ | kiṣkiṃdhyāṃ samanuprāptā sugrīvo yatra vānaraḥ | te gṛhītvāuṣadhīr divyā phalamūlaṃ ca vānarāḥ | taṃ pratigrāhayām āsur vacanaṃ cedaṃ avruvan | sarve ye ca gatāḥ śailān samudrāṃś ca vanāni ca | pṛthivyāṃ vānarāḥ sarve śāsanād upayāṃti te || lakṣmaṇas tu tato vīraḥ sugrīvaṃ plavageśvaram | abravīt prasṛtaṃ vākyaṃ tvarayan madhuraṃ tadā | prāptās te harayo vīra ye gatās tava śāsanāt | gaṃtum arhasi taṃ draṣṭuṃ rāghavaṃ priyakāriṇaṃ | ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkiṃdhākāṃḍe lakṣmaṇavākyaṃ ||

i.e. 4.36.34-36 (34b as V1 B1-3 D5.8-10; 34c as Ñ B4 D7; 35ab as most N; 36a as Ñ2 B1-3 D7; 36a(fin.)-b as Ś1 Ñ2 B1-2 D7.12), 37.3 (ab as Ñ2 B D7; c as V3 B1-3 D1.3.4.11 M1; d as Ñ2 V B D7), 686* (insert of Ñ2 V B D7 after 3cd) [in sequence but not continuous]

folio 33 (Met. Mus. 1978.540.1)

avravīt prasṛtaṃ vākyaṃ suprītyā saṃpraharśayan | yadi prayāṇam adyaiva tava lakṣmaṇa rocate | tathā bhavatu gachāmaḥ stheyām tvacchāsane mayā | śuklaiś ca vālavyajanair dhūyamānaiḥ samaṃtataḥ | niryayau prāpya sugrīvo rājyaśriyam anuttamām | ṛkṣāṇāṃ ca sahasrāṇi golāṃgūlaśatāni ca | vānarāś ca susaṃnaddhās tasya jagmuḥ purassarāḥ ||

ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkiṃdhākāṃḍe sugrīvayātrā ||

i.e. 4.37.3c-f (c as V3 B1-3 D1.3.4.11 M1; new v.l. suprītyā for sugrīvaṃ in d; new v.l. prayāṇam in e [but cf. pramāṇam in D3.11], f as Ś1 Ñ1 D1-4.11-13), 37.4ef (e as Ñ2 V1 B1.3 D7.11), 37.12cd + 13cd, 693* 5-6 (693* is subst. for 37.14c/15-16 in Ñ2 V B1.3.4 D7.11) [in sequence and nearly continuous; n.b. overlap of 37.3cd with previous verso]

folio 35 (Brooklyn 85.220.1)

taṃ niṣantaṃ kṣititale sacivaiḥ saha vānaraṃ | sugrīvam avravīd rāmaḥ praṇayāt kopavarjitaḥ | jñāyatāṃ saumya vaidehī yadi jīvati vā na vā | sa ca deśo mahāprājña yasmin vasati rāvaṇaḥ | evam uktas tu sugrīvo rāmeṇa snehasaṃyutam | vinataṃ nāma yūtheśaṃ samāhūya vaco vravīt | vṛtaḥ koṭisahasreṇa vānarāṇāṃ tarasvinām | mṛgayasva diśaṃ pūrvāṃ saśailavanakānanām | tatra sītāṃ ca vaidehīṃ nilayaṃ rāvaṇasya ca | mārgadhvaṃ vanadurgeṣu nadīsu ca guhāsu ca | atha prasthāpya sa harīn diśaṃ pūrvaṃ harīśvaraḥ | aparān preṣayāmāsa vānarān dakṣiṇāṃ diśaṃ | avravīd girisaṃkāśaṃ hanūmaṃtam avasthitam | pitāmahasutaṃ caiva jāṃvavaṃtaṃ mahākapim | aṃgadapramukhān sarvān harīn kapigaṇeśvaraḥ | gatiṃ viditvā vaidehyāḥ saṃnivarttitum arhatha | māsād ūrddhvaṃ na vastavyaṃ vasan vadhyo bhaven mama | viśeṣeṇa tu sugrīvo hanūmaṃtam uvāca ha | na bhūmāv aṃtarikṣe vā pātāle vāsurālaye | apsu vā gatibhaṃgaṃ te paśyāmi haripuṃgava | tad yathā dṛśyate sītā tathā tvaṃ karttum arhasi | tataḥ kāryasamādhānam avasaktaṃ hanūmati | viditvā sa mahāvuddhis ciṃtayāmāsa rāghavaḥ | dadau cāsya tadā prītaḥ svanāmāṃkābhicihnitaṃ | aṃgulīyam abhijñānaṃ rājaputryāḥ paraṃtapaḥ | tataḥ prasthāpya sugrīvo hanūmanpramukhān kapīn | athāhūya mahātejāḥ suṣeṇaṃ nāma yūthapaṃ | tārāyāḥ pitaraṃ rājaśvasuraṃ bhīmavikramam | avravīt prāṃjalir vākyam abhipūjya praṇamya ca | sāhāyyaṃ kuru rāmasya kṛtyesmin samupasthite | adhigamya diśaṃ saumya paścimāṃ vāruṇīṃ prabho | vīraṃ śatabaliṃ nāma vānaraṃ vānararṣabhaḥ | uvāca rājā rājānaṃ sarvavānarasaṃmatam | vaivasvatasutaiḥ sārddhaṃ mṛgayasvottarāṃ diśam | tad ugraṃ śāsanaṃ bharttur vijñāya hariyūthapāḥ (supra lin. puṃgavāḥ) | śalabhā iva saṃchādya dyāṃ pṛthvīṃ ca pratasthire | ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkiṃdhākāṃḍe sītanveṣaṇe dikṣu vānarapreṣaṇaṃ ||

i.e. one unique(?) śloka, 4.39.10, 15ab (b as Ñ1 V1.2 B1-3 D7.11) + 749* (subst. for 15cd in Ñ1 D1.2.4.12.13) + 750* (subst for 15cd in Ñ2 V1.2 B1-3 D3.7.11), 39.17-18(17c as Ñ2 V1.2 B1-3 D7.11), 40.1(b + d as Ñ2 V B1-3 D3.7.11), 793* (insert of Ñ2 V B3 D7.11 after 1), 40.2cd, 5ab(a as Ñ2 D7, b as Ñ2 V B1-3 D7-11), 40.44cd, 844*1, 4.43.2(b as Ñ2 V1.2 B1-3 D7, c as Ś1 Ñ V1.2 B1-3 D1-4.7.12.13), 43.5cd(c as Ś1 Ñ V1.2 B D1.2.7.12.13, d as Ś1 Ñ V1.2 B2.4 D1-3.7.12.13), 7(unique v.l. in ab, c as Ñ2 V1.2 B D7), 11(ab as Ñ2 V1.2 B1-3 D7), 41.1ab(b as Ś1 Ñ V B D1-4.7.11-13), 2-3(3b as Ñ2 V2.3 B D1-7), 4cd(c as Ñ2 V1 D7), 42.1cd-2ab(2a as Ñ2 V B D7.11), 3cd(d as Ñ2 V B D7), 44.1(b as B1-3, correction as CE text, d as V2 B2.3 D7.11) [in colophon sītanveṣaṇe for sītānveṣaṇe]

folio 36 (Met. Mus. 1976.16)

rāmaḥ praśravaṇe tasmin nyavasat sahalakṣmaṇaḥ | pratīkṣamānaṃs taṃ māsaṃ sītādhigamane kṛtaṃ | gateṣu vānareṃdreṣu rāmaḥ sugrīvam avravīt | pṛthivīmaṃḍalaṃ sarvaṃ kathaṃ tu gatavān asi || (line filler) evam uktas tu rāmeṇa sugrīvaḥ plavagādhipaḥ | uvāca śrūyatāṃ rāma yathā dṛṣṭaṃ mayā purā | mahiṣo nāma tejasvī duṃdubheḥ pūrvajaḥ smṛtaḥ | kiṣkiṃdhyādvāram āgatya samāhvayati vālinam | (line filler) sa niḥkrāmitavān vālī caturbhiḥ vānaraiḥ saha | tato javena kākutstha nirgato haṃ bhayāturaḥ | anusāryamāṇas tenāhaṃ dṛṣṭavān sarvato mahīṃ | ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkiṃdhākāṃḍe sugrīvarāmavākyaṃ ||

i.e. 4.44.2 (v.l. as in V B), 45.1ab/998*1, 998*4-6, 9 (v.l. as in D7), 12, 16-18 (v.l. as Ñ2 D7 in 17 and as Ñ2 V2 D7 in 18) [in sequence but not continuous]

folio 41 (Rietberg REF 25)

evam ukte śubhe vākye tāpasyā dharmasaṃhite | hanūmān kapiśārdūlaḥ pratyuvāca svayaṃga[sic]bhām | arthinaḥ sma prayachārye jalaṃ jalajalocane | mriyamāṇān hirāhārān saṃjīvayitum arhasi | sā tu teśāṃ vacaḥ śrutvā tāpasī dharmacāriṇī | ādāya phalamūlāni vidhinopajahāra ha |te bhakṣayitvā tat sarvaṃ pītvā ca vimalaṃ jalam | hanumān kapiśārdūlaḥ pratyuvāca punar vacaḥ | bhavatyā gṛhītāḥ sma sarva eva vanaukasaḥ | kṛtam ātithyam asmākaṃ śramaś cāyaṃ gato mahān | vilaṃ praviśya sahasā sītāvicayakāraṇāt | na ca paśyāma niḥkrāmaṃ vilād asmāt sumadhyame | iti vruvāṇāṃs tān sarvān sarvabhūtahite ratā | uvāca paramaprītā vilād uttāraṇechayā | nimīlayata netrāṇi sarve vānarayūthapāḥ | na hi niḥkramituṃ śakyaṃ cakṣuṣī hy amimīlite | tatas te harayaḥ sarve sukumārataraiḥ karaiḥ | samaṃ nyamīlayaṃś cakṣur vinirgamanakāṃkṣiṇaḥ | ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkiṃdhākāṃḍe vānaranetranimīlanaṃ ||

i.e. 4.1086* 1-9 (N insert after 50.17; for ll.1-2 cf. 4.52.1ab + 1095*), 1095* (NE subst. for 52.1cd), 1096* 1-2 and 13-14 (NE insert after 52.1), 1103* (N insert after 52.4), one line not found (uvāca paramaprītā vilād uttāraṇechayā), 52.8-9ab (with N/NE vv.ll.), 1106* (NE subst. for 52.9cd) [in sequence but not continuous]

folio 43 (Rietberg 2005.86)

tataḥ puṣpātibhārārttāl latāśatasamāvṛtān | dṛṣṭvā vasaṃtikān vṛkṣān vabhūvur bhayaviklavāḥ | te vasaṃtam anuprāptaṃ pratipadya parasparaṃ | naṣṭasaṃdeśakālārthā niṣedur vasudhātale | yuvarājo ṃgado nāma tato vacanam avravīt | tasmin kāle vyatīte tu sugrīveṇa svayaṃ kṛte | prāyo(over erasure)paveśanaṃ yuktaṃ sarveṣāṃ no vanaukasām | upaviṣṭās tu te sarve tasmi prāyo dharātale | harayo gṛdhrarājas tu taṃ deśaṃ samupasthitaḥ | saṃpātir nāma nāmnātu dīrghajīvī dvijottamaḥ | jaṭāyuṣo grajo bhrātā prakhyātavalapauruṣaḥ |kaṃdarād abhiniḥkramya sa viṃdhyasya mahāgireḥ | upaviṣṭān harīn (erasure) dṛṣṭvā gī(sic, for prī)to vacanam avravīt | vanecarāṇāṃ khādisye vānarāṇāṃ mṛtaṃ mṛtaṃ | tasya tad vacanaṃ śrutvā gṛdhrarājasya dāruṇam | aṃgadaḥ paramāyasto hanūmaṃtam uvāca ha | upakāraṃ prakurvaṃti sādhavaḥ sajjane yathā | dhanyaṇ sa gṛdhrādhipatir jaṭāyuḥ paravīrahā | yo rāghavārthe nihato rāvaṇena parākramāt | etachrutvā tu vacanam aṃgadasya mukhāc cyutam | avravīd vacanaṃ gṛdhras tīkṣṇatuṃḍo durāsadaḥ | pūrvajo haṃ yavīyān me haṭāyur haripuṃgavāḥ | hataḥ kena kutah kutra kasmād vā prāyam āsyate | sūryāṃśudagdhapakṣo ham asamartho visarpaṇe | iheyam asmā giryagrād bhavadbhir avatāranaṃ | sarvathā prāyaṃ āsīnān yadi no bhakṣayiṣyati | kṛtakṛtya bhaviśāmaḥ sarve (erasure: (?) ka ?la/ha ??ya ki ?maḥ/kaḥ) siddhim ito gatāḥ | etāṃ vuddhiṃ tadā kṛtvā sarve vānarapuṃgavāḥ | tato vatārayām āsur giriśṛṅgāt khagottamam ||

ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkiṃdhākāṃḍe vānarasaṃpātisamāgamaḥ ||

i.e. 4.52.17-18, 19cd, 21, 55.1-3, 5ab, 6, 1162* 2-4 (N insert after 55.15), 55.16, 1167* 1-2 (N insert after 55.18ab), 55.21ab, variant of 1168*, 56.3-4ab, 1175*1 (NE subst. for 4cd), all with N/NE vv.ll. except NW v.l. in 52.17a (52.17-18 omitted by all NE except Ñ1) and unique v.l. in 1167* 2 [in sequence but not continuous]

folio 44 (Rietberg REF 26)

avatārya tataś cainam aṃgado vākyam avravīt | rājā sarvasya likasya kṣatriyāṇāṃ mahārathaḥ | rāmo dāśarathiḥ śrīmān praviṣṭo daṃḍakaṃ vanam | tasya bhāryā janasthānād rāvaṇena kṛtvā balāt | rāmasya ca pitur mitraṃ jaṭāyur nāma dharmikaḥ | dadarśa nīyamānāṃ ca rākṣasena sa maithilīm | rāvaṇaṃ virathaṃ kṛtvā mokṣayitvā ca maithilīṃ | pariśrāṃtaś ca vṛddhaś ca rāvaṇena tato hataḥ | satkṛtaś cāpi rāmeṇa gataḥ svargaṃ na saṃśayaḥ | evaṃ rāmaprayuktā smo mārgamāṇās tatas tataḥ | vaidehīṃ nādhigachāmo niśi sūryaprabhām iva | te sma prāyam upaviṣṭāḥ sugrīvabhayamohitāḥ | asmadīyaiḥ śarīrais tvam kuru kāryaṃ yathāsukham | ity uktaḥ karuṇaṃ vākyaṃ vānarais tyaktajīvitaiḥ | savāṣpaṃ vānarān gṛdhraḥ pratyuvāca mahāmatiḥ | na bhayaṃ kapivīrāṇāṃ vidyate matsakāśataḥ | yuṣmān samupasarppāmi pravṛtyarthe yavīyasaḥ | tad etad upalabhyaṃ me tasya vīrasya naidhanam | evam ukte jaṭāyos tu bhrātrā tatvārthadarśinā | yuvarājo ṃgado bhūyaḥ provāca vacanaṃ hariḥ | ācakṣva yadi jānāsi bhavanaṃ tasya rakṣasaḥ | tato vravīn mahātejāḥ saṃpātir gṛdhrasattamaḥ | ito dvīpaṃ samudrasya samagre śatayojane | tasmin laṃkāpurī ramyā nirmitā viśvakarmaṇā | tasyāṃ vasati vaidehī dīnā kauśeyavāsinī | upāyo dṛśyatāṃ kaścit laṃghane lavaṇāṃbhasaḥ | abhigamya ca vaidehīṃ samṛddhārthā bhaviṣyatha | ātmānaṃ nītam ichāmi bhavadbhir varuṇālayam | pradāsyāmy udakaṃ bhrātuḥ svargatasya mahātmanaḥ |

ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkiṃdhākāṃḍe vānarasaṃpātisaṃvādaḥ ||

i.e. 4.1175* 2 (NE subst. for 4.56.4), 56.7, 8ef, 9-10, 11cd, 15, 1189* (N insert after 56.18), 57.1, 1193*3 and 5-6 (NE ins. after 57.7), 1195* 1-2 (N subst. for 57.8), 57.9cd, 11ab, 20-21ab, 31-32, all with N/NE vv.ll. [in sequence but not continuous]

folio 46 (Ehrenfeld coll. [Ehnbom, Ehrenfeld collection, 208-9, no. 103])

pratyānīya punaś cāpi pratyāropya kṛtodakam | upaviṣṭaṃ giritaṭe parivāryyopatasthire | tato ṃgadam upāsīnaṃ niśamya haribhir vṛtam | janitapratyayo harṣāt saṃpātiḥ punar avravīt | asya viṃdhyasya śikhare purāsmi patitaḥ kṣitau | dāhaduḥkhaparītāṃgo nirdagdhaḥ sūryaraśmibhiḥ | ṛṣir niśākaro nāma tasminn ugratapo bhavat | upetya cāśramadvāri vṛkṣamūlam upāśritaḥ | māṃ tu vāṣpamukhaṃ dṛṣṭvā maharṣiḥ karuṇānvitaḥ | atha dhyātvā muhūrttaṃ māṃ bhagavān idam avravīt | pakṣau tu te pakṣipate punar anyau bhaviṣyataḥ | purāṇeṣu mahat kṛtyam tvayā kāryaṃ śrutaṃ maya | rājā daśaratho nāma kaścid ikṣvākunaṃdanaḥ | tasya putro mahātejā rāmo nāma bhaviṣyati | eṣyaṃti anveṣakās tasyā rāmadūtāḥ plavaṃgamāḥ | ākhyāya rāmamahiṣī tebhyas te janakātmajā | ihasthas tvaṃ tu lokānām idaṃ kāryaṃ kariṣyasi | etaiś cānyaiś ca vahubhir vākyair ddharmārthasaṃhitaiḥ | māṃ praśasyābhyanujñāpya praviveśāśramaṃ muniḥ | deśakālapratīkṣo smi hṛdi kṛtvā muner vacaḥ | bhakṣair vahuvidhais tais taiḥ putro mām iha puṣyati | sa kadācit kṣudhārttasya mamāhārābhikāṃkṣiṇaḥ | gatasūrye hani prāpto putro nirāmiṣaḥ | sa mayā vuddhabhāvena kopāc ca paribhartsitaḥ | anumānya yathātathyam idam vacanam avravīt | sa ca me rakṣasāṃ rājā rāvaṇaḥ prativodhitaḥ | haran dāśarather bhāryāṃ rāmasya janakātmajām | eṣa kālātyayas tāta iti vākyavidāṃ varaḥ | etam artham samagraṃ me supārśvaḥ pratyavedayat | so haṃ vṛddhaḥ kapiśreṣṭha na ca śaktaḥ parākrame | laṃkāṃ netuṃ na śaknomi svayaṃ tvāṃ plavagottama | asau mamātmajaḥ śrīmān supārśvo nāmadheyataḥ | eṣa netuṃ samarthas tvāṃ laṃkāṃ rāvaṇapālitām | ity uktvā patageṃdras tu supārśvaṃ manasāsmarat ||

ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkindhākāṇḍe saṃpātiputrasupārśvasmaraṇaṃ ||

i.e. 4.1209* (N subst. for 4.57.34ab), 59.1cd (c as V2.3 B1.2.4 D7, d as most NE), 2 (as NE), 4 (vv.ll. as NE), 8cd (d as Ś1 D2.7.13), 13ab (a as Ñ2 V1 B4 D7), 1259*2 (N insert after 61.1ab), 61.1cd, 2ab (a as NE), 3ab (a as D4.6.7.13/NE, b as NE) 4, 6ab (as NE/N), 11 (d as N),13cd (d as some N+S), 62.1 (b+d as N), 3cd, 1269* (N insert after 62.5, unique v.l. in pr., post. as NE), 58.10 (b as Ś1 D3.12, d as NE), 11ab (a as NE), 12cd (c as NE), 20cd (as NE), 21ab, 22cd-23ab (22c as NE+), App.I.24.31-35 (insert after 62.12; 31 as V1.2 B D7, 32 as V3 D7, 33+34 as V B D7, 35 pr. as V B2-4 D7, uniquely supārśvaṃ for svaputraṃ in 35 post. [n.b. NE mss read 4.58 after 4.62.7; i.e. a selection of relevant verses in NE sequence].

folio 47 (San Diego 1990.1064)

tatra sapātiputras tu supārśvaḥ sahasā gataḥ | uvāca pitaraṃ vākyaṃ āhūtas tāta kiṃ tv aham | atha putrasya saṃpātiḥ kathayām āsa vistaram | kathayitvā ca gamanaṃ laṃkāṃ praty abhyanodayat | etad arthaṃ pituḥ śrutvā supārśvo ṃgadam avravīt | tyajyatāṃ manasaś ciṃtā tariṣyāmi (m erased) mahārṇavam | kśipraṃ āroha me pṛṣṭhaṃ śīghrago haṃ mahāvalaḥ | kṛtam etāvad asmākaṃ yat pravṛttir niveditā | divyavikramasaṃpannā vahavaḥ saṃti vānarāḥ | utpādya hi maheṃdraṃ ye gṛdhra gacheyur aṃvaram | viśrāmya tvaṃ mahābuddhe saha pitrā paraṃtapa | kṛtā hi gamane vuddhir mayā rāvaṇasaṃnidhau | ity ārṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkiṃdhākāṃḍe aṃgadasupārśvavākyaṃ ||

i.e. 4 App.I.24 41-46 (v.l. of V B D7 in 42, v.l. of V B etc. in 43, vv.ll. in 45 and 46), subst. of V B D3.4.7.11 for l.51, 55-57 (v.l. of V B D3.4.7.11 in 55, vv.ll. in 56 and 57), subst. of V B D7 for l.58, 59-60 (vv.ll. in 59, v.l. of D7 in 60) [basically sequential with minor omissions]

folio 48 (Habighorst 5 [Losty, Habighorst collection])

evaṃ kathayatas tasya patagasya mahātmanaḥ | utpetatus tadā pakṣau samakṣaṃ vanacāriṇām | sa dṛṣṭvā svatanuṃ pakṣair udgatais taruṇachadaiḥ | praharṣam atulaṃ lebhe saputraḥ sumahāvalaḥ | yuvarājoṃgadaś caiva jāṃbavān ṛkṣapārthivaḥ | hanumān krathanaś caiva paraṃ harṣaṃ upāgatāḥ | ūcuś ca rāme māhātmyaṃ mahāvīryaṃ ca lakṣmaṇe | tayoḥ prabhāvāt saṃpātir apakṣaḥ pakṣavān abhūt | tataḥ prahṛṣṭaḥ saṃpātir vānarāṃś cedam avravīt | samutthitāv imau pakṣe sarve paśyaṃtu vānarāḥ | ity uktvā vānarān sarvāv saṃpātiḥ khacareśvaraḥ | utpapāta gireḥ śṛṃgāj jijñāsann ātmano gatim| tatas te vānarāḥ sarve vismayotphullalocanāḥ | parvatāgram avaikṣaṃta saṃpātir yatra viṣṭhitaḥ | śikharasthas tu saṃpātiḥ punas tān idam avravīt | himavaṃtaṃ gamiṣyāmi śaṃkaraśvaśuraṃ girim | yatra me dayitā bhāryā tanayaś ca kṛtālayaḥ | viśālaśikharaḥ prāṃśur malayasyāvidūrataḥ | vānarā gamyatām eṣa dakṣiṇasyottaro giriḥ | yaḥ śakto yojanaśataṃ nirālaṃvamaparvatam | kramituṃ vānaraḥ śūraḥ sarvaiḥ sa viniyujyatām | evam uktvā tu saṃpātis tān āmaṃtrya prlavaṃgamān | jagāmākāśam āviśya suparṇa iva vegitaḥ ||

ity arṣe rāmāyaṇe kiṣkiṃdhākāṃḍe sītāpravṛttisaṃpātigamanaṃ ||

i.e. 4.62.8-9 (N/NE vv.ll. in 8ab and 9d, as Ñ2 D7 in 9a), 1272* 1,4-6,9 (insert of most NE after 62.9), 1273*, 62.13 (NE v.l. in d), 1276* 1-3 (but not 4-6; N insert after 62.13), App.I.24 11-16, 1277* 1-2 (N insert after 62.14 [omitted here] with NE v.l. in 2 post.) [basically sequential with minor omissions]; with caption cf. sarga name in D1.3.4 saṃpātigamanaṃ; n.b. sarga 62 ends the kāṇḍa in the N recension.

References

1 Jain-Neubauer, Jutta, The Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari miniature painting, L.D. series 80 (Ahmedabad, L.D. Institute of Indology, 1981)Google Scholar; Goswamy, B. N. and Fischer, Eberhard: Pahari Masters: court painters of northern India, Artibus Asiae Supplementum XXXVIII (Zürich, Artibus Asiae, 1992), pp. 213214Google Scholar.

2 Goswamy and Fischer in Milo C. Beach, Eberhard Fischer, B. N. Goswamy (eds), Masters of Indian Painting, 2 vols, Supplementum XLVIII, (Zürich, Artibus Asiae Publishers, 2002), pp. 656–657, n.4.

3 Mary Brockington and John Brockington, “Mānaku's Siege of Laṅkā series: words and picture”, Artibus Asiae 73.1 (2013), pp. 231–258.

4 Dalip Singh's reign and his patronage of painting are assessed in Roy C. Craven, Jr., “The Reign of Raja Dalip Singh (1695–1741) and the Siege of Lanka Series of Guler”, in Ramayana Pahari Paintings, (ed.) Roy C. Craven (Bombay, Marg Publications, 1990), pp. 2–22. This first paragraph, laying out the background to the main body of this article, draws on the brief treatment in a previous article of mine, “Illustrated Rāmāyaṇa manuscripts”, in Mitrasampradānam: a collection of papers in honour of Yaroslav Vassilkov (Saint Petersburg: MAE RAS, 2018), pp. 209–11.

5 The abbreviations used throughout this article for recensions and manuscripts are those of the Critical Edition (The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki, critical edition by G. H. Bhatt and U. P. Shah, 7 vols (Baroda, Oriental Institute, 1960–1975). I am not attempting to comment on the artistic aspects of the paintings on the rectos, solely on textual matters relating to the versos, except where identification of the verbal text has implications for the visual text—that is, the identification of the episode shown in the painting—or an identification is clearly incorrect.

6 B. N. Goswamy has suggested that some drawings, usually included within the Bhāgavata Purāṇa series which Mānaku produced around 1740, in fact form a separate Rāmāyaṇa series (Goswamy, B. N., Manaku of Guler: the life and work of another great Indian painter from a small hill state, Artibus Asiae Supplementum 52 (Zürich: Artibus Asiae Publishers, 2017), pp. 494499Google Scholar. If so, these 15 drawings were evidently based on Kālidāsa's Raghuvaṃśa or a derivative.

7 Jain-Neubauer, Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting, pp. 29–36.

8 cf. Aijazuddin, F. S., Pahari paintings and Sikh portraits in the Lahore Museum (Londo,: Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1977), pp. 6972Google Scholar—assigning these paintings to Nurpur—and Jain-Neubauer Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting.

9 Jain-Neubauer Rāmāyaṇa in Pahari painting, pp. 29–36 and 1, “Three different recensions of the text have come down to us. They have had their origins in the north-western, eastern and southern regions of India. These texts, although showing considerable differences in style, language and contents, have been edited as one standard critical edition of the Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki”.

10 I have had to rely solely on Jain-Neubauer's identifications of the text (and transcribing her one illustration of a verso), since my repeated attempts to contact the Lahore and Chandigarh Museums have met with no response. See Appendix I for a sequential listing of the folios, together with Jain-Neubauer's identifications of the verso text and their locations plus accession numbers.

11 The second of these is numbered as folio 14 and Aijazuddin, commenting on E.99, notes their relationship: “The folio of the preceding scene in which Rāma and his family are fêted by the Dandakaranya rishis, was formerly in the Lahore Museum (E.90). It is now in the Chandigarh Museum, and has been reproduced in Goswamy (1968), fig. 17”. (Aijazuddin, Pahari paintings, p. 71).

12 Opinions on the date differ between “the early 1970s” (Losty, J. P., A mystical realm of love: Pahari paintings from the Eva and Konrad Seitz Collection (London, Francesca Galloway, 2017), p. 102Google Scholar and the more precise “Another group of ‘small’ Ramayana paintings of a very similar format came to light in 1976” (Goswamy and Fischer in Beach, Fischer and Goswamy, Masters of Indian painting, p. 656 fn.4).

13 Goswamy, B. N., Painted visions: the Goenka collection of Indian paintings (New Delhi, Lalit Kala Akademi, 1999), pp. 234237Google Scholar; Britschgi, Jorrit and Fischer, Eberhard, Rama und Sita: Das Ramayana in der Malerei Indiens (Zürich, Museum Rietberg, 2008), p. 14Google Scholar.

14 The largest single group consists of the 6 folios in the Rietberg Museum, Zürich, 2 of which were formerly in the Archer collection, cf. Archer, W. G., Visions of Courtly India: The Archer Collection of Pahari Miniatures, Introduction and Catalogue (London and New York, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1976), pp. 122125, nos 65-66Google Scholar. Others are held in the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum, Hyderabad, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the San Diego Museum of Art (Edwin Binney 3rd Collection), the Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia, Norwich, and now or formerly in the Ehrenfeld, Goenka, Habighorst and Kronos collections. See Appendix I for a sequential listing of all folios known to me, along with details of the text on their versos and their locations plus accession numbers, and Appendix II for transcriptions of the text on the versos accessible to me.

15 Losty, J. P., Indian Paintings from the Ludwig Habighorst collection (London, Francesca Galloway, 2018), pp. 1819Google Scholar.

16 Mason, Darielle, Intimate Worlds: Indian Paintings from the Alvin O. Bellak Collection, (Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2001), p. 90, no. 30Google Scholar.

17 The number on f. 17, depicting Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa, Hanumān and Sugrīva mourning the death of Vālin, was misread as 27 by McInerney: McInerney, Terence, Divine Pleasures: Painting from India's Rajput Courts—the Kronos Collections (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016), p. 176, no. 62Google Scholar, who notes 11 lines of text on the verso corresponding to some of CE 4.22 “eleven lines of Sanskrit text written in devanagari script (for an English translation, which as written does not completely conform with the critical edition, see Goldman, (ed.) 1994, pp. 100–102”. With regard to f.18 Darielle Mason, Intimate Worlds, pp. 92–93 (no. 31), notes “Under the inscription the number 18 is written in a different hand”. I am grateful to Dr Mason for clearing up my misapprehensions about this folio.

18 The text on the verso makes clear that Hanumān is warning Sugrīva and Tārā about the imminent arrival of Lakṣmaṇa to express Rāma's anger at the lack of action.

19 The group “was bought by a Swiss carpet-dealer in Afghanistan around 1970 where it might have turned up quite some time earlier” (Goswamy, B. N. and Fischer, Eberhard, Pahari Masters: court painters of northern India, Artibus Asiae Supplementum XXXVIII (Zürich, Artibus Asiae Publishers, 1992), p. 214Google Scholar. I am most grateful to Jorrit Britschgi for providing digital photographs of the versos of these folios; for a fuller description of the paintings on the rectos see Goswamy 1981. Transcriptions of the text on these versos have already been published—Brockington, “Illustrated Rāmāyaṇa manuscripts”, pp. 204–221, at 215-219.

20 Goswamy, B. N., “Leaves from an Early Pahari Ramayana Series: Notes on a Group of Nine Paintings in the Rietberg Museum, Zurich”, Artibus Asiae 43 (1981), pp. 153-164, at 155CrossRefGoogle Scholar – “the Rietberg paintings all relate to a later Kanda, the Sundara. One says this with a slight reservation, however, for the first two paintings here belong to the tail-end of an event described in the preceding Kanda, the Kishkindha. … … One of two explanations is possible: either, that the version of the Ramayana used by the painter, or the Pundit who inscribed the verses, was different from the one now in standard use, there being minor variations in the arrangement of the different kandas; or, that the scribe made an error in identifying the kanda.

21 Brockington and Brockington, Mānaku's Siege of Laṅkā series, p. 234.

22 On this verso and the next (RVI 843) there is scrawled what seems to be an ownership note (miśra vidyārdha kā kaḍe dī murta scrawled in the top margin of RVI 844v following an erasure, miśa vidyādhara kā kaḍe dī murta following the caption on RVI 843), as was first noted by Goswamy (Goswamy, Nine paintings in the Rietberg, pp. 163-164).

23 This is a further illustration of the limitations of the designations for these recensions, since clearly the place where the scribe was writing is basically the same as that of the production of the paintings.

24 There is an effectively identical addition in the top margin of folio 39 (RVI 844). A possible sign that the text on this folio was completed in haste is that the final pāda of CE 5.63.2 is not properly legible, since the reading found in manuscripts Ñ2 V B D6 seems to have been written over or under the reading of the CE text.

25 Out of these forty folios, only the first eight are finished paintings, four more are part finished, and the rest are just drawings. The largest number (19) is in the Chhatrapati Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai, with 12 in the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, and others in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, the British Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Rietberg Museum and the Howard Hodgkin collection.

26 Brockington and Brockington, Mānaku's Siege of Laṅkā series.