The Valmiki Ramayana Critical Edition (Volume- 2)

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About the Book The Ramayana of Valmiki is the most important Adikavya, one of the two great National Epies of great National importance & significance. The Critical Edition of two Epics was a desideratum and was considered to be sine qua non for all historical and textual studies, pertaining to them. The project of the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata was, therefore, undertaken and successfully completed by the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune (1919 to 1966). Similarly, the project of the Critical Edition of the Valmiki-Ramayana was undertaken and successfully completed by the Oriental Institute, Baroda (1951 to 1975) and was published in seven volumes namely Bala, Ayodhya, Aranya, Kiskindhä, Sundara, Yaldha and Unara, edited by profound scholars such as-Prof. G.H. Bhatt (Bala), Dr. P. L. Vaidya (Ayodhya and Yuddha 1.Shri P. C. Diwanji (Aranya), Prof. D. R. Mankad (Kişkindha), Prof. G. C. Jhala (Sundara) & Dr. U. P. Shah (Uttara).

The Second Volume of the Critical Edition of the Valmiki Ramayana Ayodhyäkända edited by Dr. P. L. Vaidya was first published in 1962. As it was prescribed as a text for students in the Sanskrit, Pali & Prakrit, Faculty of Arts, The M. S. University of Baroda, Vadodara, its bare-text (Sargas 1-49) was also published in 1976. The volumes of the Critical Edition of the Valmiki - Ramayana have always been in great demand. Most of them are fast going out of stock. As there is great demand from the scholarly world for their copies, we have an ambitious project of reprinting most of them. The modern method of reprinting by scanning has made the work of reprinting such books more easy and quick.

The First Volume was already reprinted in 2001 and we are glad to present to the world of scholars, this reprinted Second Volume-Ayodhyäkända of Valmiki - Ramayana.

Foreword The Ramayana of Valmiki is the most important Adikävya, one of the two great National Epics of great national importance & significance. The Critical Edition of the two Epics was a desideratum and was considered to be sine qua non for all historical and textual studies, pertaining to them. The project of the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata was, therefore, undertaken and successfully completed by the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune (1919 to 1966). Similarly, the project of the Critical Edition of the Valmiki-Ramayana was undertaken & successfully completed by the Oriental Institute, Baroda (1951 to 1975) and was published in seven volumes namely-Bala, Ayodhya, Aranya, Kişkindhä, Sundara, Yuddha and Uttara, edited by profound scholars such as-Prof. G.H. Bhatt (Bala), Dr. P.L. Vaidya (Ayodhya & Yuddha), Shri P.C. Diwanji, (Aranya). Prof. D.R. Mankad (Kişkindha), Prof. G.C. Jhala (Sundara) & Dr. U.P. Shah (Uttara).

Preface It gives me great pleasure in placing before the world of scholars the Second Volume of the Critical Edition of the Valmiki-Ramayana comprising the Ayodhyäkända edited by Dr. P. L. Vaidya, M.A. (Cal.), D.Litt. (Paris), the General Editor of the Mahabharata. The Balakanda was completed in 1960 and the first Fascicule of the Ayodhyäkända containing the first forty Sargas was published last year. It is gratifying to note that both of them were very favourably received by competent authorities in India and abroad. The reviews in the Press, both Indian and foreign, were also equally favourable.

Introduction This Critical Edition of the Ayodhyäkända of Valmiki's Rāmāyana is based on 29 MSS., selected from out of 43 MSS, fully collated for this purpose. These MSS. are written in Särada or Kaśmiri, Newäri or Nepali, Maithili, Bengali, Devanagari, Telugu, Grantha and Malayalam scripts. There are some MSS. in Nandinagari and Uriya scripts. but they hardly differ from Southern and Bengali versions respectively, and hence not utilized for the preparation of the Critical Apparatus. Some of these MSS. are dated while some do not record their dates, but all of them have been selected as best representatives of different scripts and different parts of this Bhāratavarşa, such as Kaśmira, Nepal, Mithila, Bengal, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Western India, Anadhradeśa, Tamilnad and Kerala. The dates of these MSS. further, range from 1020 A.D. to 1860 A.D. In fact, it is now well-nigh impossible to come across a MS. of the Ramayana older than 1020 A.D. Some of these MSS. are accompanied by commentaries, normally representing texts which their authors considered best, but occasionally offering different readings. Some of these commentators seem to have consulted several MSS. to fix up the best Text according to them, recording readings as well as order of the Sargas, and criticising views of their predecessors. Further, some very ancient commentaries, not accompanied by text, have also been utilized in the constiution of the Text and its Critical Apparatus. I thus feel that the Ramayana Department of the Oriental Institute of Shri Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, has spared no pains to obtain for me MS. material needed for the preparation of a Critical Edition of the second great epic of India.