1839.] 



Report on the Maclen-::e Manuscripts. 



333 



The Hari-vilakam is mystical poetry, of a kind needing no special 

 abstract. 



Agastya nyanam, is, I am persuaded, a literary forgery, the work of 

 some Uttra Saiva devotee, ascribing his own composition to Agastya, 

 In the work of creation the order of the rrimiirti is Sica, Brahma, 

 F«»7mu ; in the manner of the modern Uttra i^aivas of the Peninsula. 

 Very strong and pointed condemnation is given of the f^edas, as well as 

 of the Ramayana, Bharatam, and in short all Vaiah-yiava books, or 

 those that are consonant to the more universally received Hindu sys- 

 tem. The writer professes to give an account of his own birth as 

 being Agastya, and mentions some of his works. Some moral sentences 

 are mingled up with the other matter. I am not sure that it is not a 

 forgery of the days of Robert de Nobili under an UUra Saiva veil ; but, 

 at all events the name of Agastya is a nom de guerre, to serve some 

 special purpose. The Hari-vilakam is a little injured by insects, the 

 rest of the book is in very good order, and complete. 



See Des. Cat. vol. i. p. 228, art. liii. 



35. Sivapracasica, a work on austerity, or self-control, No. 130. 

 — Countermark 57. 



This poem is of the kind treating of the tatva system or different 

 parts, properties and regulation, both of the material, and immaterial, 

 portions of the human body. The allegorical description of the body, 

 as a city ; having gates, and a resident within, or the soul, is contained 

 herein. The same allegory is found in the Bhagavatam, ascribed to 

 iVaret/a ; and also in other distinct productions, of which the present 

 is one. The body is divided into five elements, and five qualities of 

 the mind are specified; to the varied union, or combination of which 

 elements, certain operations, both corporeal and mental, are ascribed. 

 Absolute renunciation of all earthly attachments, that to father or mo- 

 ther being included, is taught. Severe penance, and personal subjuga- 

 tion are enjoined. The worship of Vishnu is to be rejected ; and the 

 system of ^z'ya alone ought to be observed. The work bears the name 

 of the author Sivapracasica (one having the splendour of Siva), and the 

 contents are sufficient to indicate his having been a Pandar am {or as- 

 cetic) of the Saiva-ordei: There is a monasterium of that class at Ma- 

 dura, another at Mailapur, and others in different places. 



Note.— The MS. is complete, and only a little injured, at present 



