Report on the Mackenzie Manuscripts, 



313 



\, "Fifth Report of Progress made in the Examination of the 

 Mackenzie MSS., with an Abstract Account of the JVorks examin- 

 ed.— By the Rev. William Taylor, Member of the Madras Liie- 

 vary Society, ^-c. 



A.~TAMIL. 



a. Palm-leaf Manuscripts. 



1. Cdsl-Cdndam, or the soction of the Scdnda purdna which relates 

 to Benares. 



No. 9— Countermark 51. 



This is a large manuscript, though forming only a part of the Scanda 

 purana. It is written in the kind of Tamil verse termed Fn-utfamf 

 a difiiv-ult kind of measure. Its translation in(o this metre is ascribed 

 popularly to Adi-vira Pandhjan, which is the case with several other 

 works, too numerous to be probable; except possibly as regards patro- 

 nage of the different authors. But the ascertained fact, that the Col- 

 lege at Madura was founded with a special vi^w to the transfusion of 

 Sanscrit works into Tamil, and for the spread of the Hindu religion in 

 the extreme south, may account for many deiiications or ascriptions 

 of works to one king. There a reference iu this poem to the pas- 

 sage of the Vindhya mountains hy Agastya, extravagantly hyperbolized, 

 but the greater portion relates to the river, and tirt' has oi- ^ools, to 

 shrines, and to the legends of individual devotees at Benares. The 

 Cdndam or book is divided into one hundred Adhydyas, or subdivisions. 

 A specification of the contents of these adhydyas, with a brief occasion- 

 al explanation may suffice as regards this document. 



1. Nareda's inspection of the Vindhya mountain. Nareda taunted 

 the Vindhya mountain with being inferior to Maha-meru in size, and 

 also inasmuch as the sun turns round Meru in its course. The Vind- 

 hya mountain, feeling itself insulted, elevated its summit even to the 

 skies. 



2. The celestials visit to Bralimas' world. As the Vindhya moun- 

 tain had obscured the light of the sun, the celestials went and com- 

 plained against it to Brahma, who referred them to Agastija, 



