From Manuscript to Book: A Bengali Witness to the Transmission of the Śivasaṃhitā

The current paper reports on the state of the search and acquisition of manuscript material of the Śivasaṃhitā, as part of the preparation of a new critical edition. Particular emphasis will be placed on a curious find which, although something of a disappointment, also presents interesting information. Among the two entries in the New Catalogus Catalogorum that potentially referred to a Sanskrit commentary on the Śivasaṃhitā, only one could be traced. It is preserved in the collection of the Ganganath Jha Campus in Prayagraj, numbered 30345. On inspection, the item turned out not to be a Sanskrit commentary, but a Bengali rendering of the text, mixing translation with interpretation. Its text stands in close relation to the 1886 editio princeps, which is accompanied by a very similar Bengali translation.

Although not immediately useful for editorial purposes, the manuscript still deserves attention as a witness to the transition from manuscript to book. By placing it alongside two Hindi translations and early English versions, this paper seeks to shed light on this critical phase in the history of the Śivasaṃhitā.