THE BASIC MATERIALS I. Skandasvami-Bhasya on Rgveda The materials which were available in connection with Skandsvarun's Commentary on the Rgveda may be described here, towards therr clear view, in two parts, the first of these comprising the First Astaka or the Suktas 1-121 of the Mandala I and the second the Sukras 57 61 of the Mandla V and the Sultas 29-74, alongwith the Mantras 1-6 of the Sukta 75, of the Mandala VI The basic materials available for the first of the said two parts were as under - A. Previously Published editions (1) सान्व Sambasıva Sastri's edition in two parts published by the Government of Travancore in the Trandrum Sanskrit Series as the Volumes XCVI and CXV in the years 1929 and 1935, respectively The Part I contains the First Adhyaya of the First Asiaka and the Part II its Second Adhyaya This represents the Longer Version of the work and is based on two Malayalam palm leaf manuscripts belonging to the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras These three manuscripts have been mentioned by the Editor as करन and ग The first two of these manuscripts, namcly, and represent the Longer Version of the text and have been mainly used towards editing and constituting it The third one, e which belongs to the Shorter Version has been utilized as an additional aid in so far it could lend itself for such use As there were plenty of lacunae m the manuscripts, the Editor has sought to fill in these facunare with his own conjectural readings which in many places do not seem quite sunted to the context His Preface just indicates the three manuscripts in question without recording the necessary details about them Still, the edition, even though it lacks in many respects in meeting the rigd requirements of standardized critical text-editing, is quite tolerable as the poineer attempt C Kunhan Raja's edition published as the No 8 of the Madras Unnersity Sanskrut Series in the year 1935 It contains the portion from I, 1, I to J, 56, 1 and 1, 62, 1 to 1, 121, 15 comprising the first Aştaku The first two Adhjajas, i e I, 1, 1 to I, 32, 15 belong to the Shorter Version and the remaining six Adhyayas represent the Longer Version of the text This edition, as the Editor states in his Introduction, was based on two palm leaf manuscripts One of these which was in the Grantha script had been secured from one, named Krishnaswami Aryar of Tanjavur and the other which was in the Malayalam script belonged to some Nambuunpad of North Kerala The Grantha manuscript was not a continuous work It contained two parts The first part which belonged to the Shorter Version began with I, 1, 1 and went on to the end of the Second Adhyaya of the First Aşaka, i e 1, 32, 15 and, then, abruptly broke off Thereafter, the codex started with J, 32, 9 and continued to the end of the First Aştaka, i e I, 121, 15, according to the Longer Version of the commentary It seems that thus codex or, may be, its ultimate original had been copied out from two different manuscripts, the first of these, up to 1, 32, 15, contammg the Shorter Version and the second, from 1, 32, 9 onwards, the Longer version
