BORI CE --- clarification regarding Critical Apparatus

[Damodara Dasa]

|| Hare Krishna ||

Adaraniya Vidvaj-janas,

Pranam.

Recently I was going through the critical apparatus notes of BORI's CE of Mahabharata. 

It is mentioned that a total of 1259 manuscripts have been used; that is a generic information.

The main thing mentioned there is that manuscript numbers used is taken at parva level. This information I have understood. For instance, sabha-parvan's critical apparatus says that it uses 30 representative manuscripts for construction. 

So what I understand is that a total of 30 manuscripts were actually used for comparison and creating critical apparatus for each verse. However, the fact remains that each of the 30 manuscript is representing a group of manuscripts meaning that a total of much more than 30 manuscripts were used for constructing sabha parvan. Have I understood it rightly?

Now, although whereabouts of each representative manuscript is given in the critical apparatus notes in the beginning of each parvan (in this case sabha parvan), I am not able to find any information about how many manuscripts each representative manuscript is representing. This leaves me confused about the actual total number of manuscripts for each parvan (in this case sabha parvan). 

I would be glad if vidvaj-janas can help me understand this and arrive to a total number of manuscripts that were used for each parvan (in this case sabha parvan). 

NOTE:

Total number of manuscript = RM1*n1 + RM2*n2 + RM3*n3 + ...

RM = representative manuscript

n = number of manuscript RM represents

Thank you.

Hari Guru Vaisnava das,

damodara das

[Shreevatsa R]

If there were 1259 manuscripts total and 30 representative manuscripts, then doesn't it follow that each "representative manuscript" represents 1259/30 ≈ 42 manuscripts on average? Are you looking for a distribution?

The number of representative manuscripts used also seems to vary by parvan, as here Sukthankar says:

> The entire Mahābhārata stands now collated from a minimum of ten manuscripts; many parvans have been completely collated from twenty manuscripts; some from thirty; a few from as many as forty; while the first two adhyāyas of the Ādi, which have special importance for the critical constitution of the text of the entire epic, were collated from no less than sixty manuscripts.

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[Damodara Dasa]

On Thu, Feb 26, 2026 at 11:01 AM Shreevatsa R <shree...@gmail.com> wrote:

The number of representative manuscripts used also seems to vary by parvan, as here Sukthankar says:

> The entire Mahābhārata stands now collated from a minimum of ten manuscripts; many parvans have been completely collated from twenty manuscripts; some from thirty; a few from as many as forty; while the first two adhyāyas of the Ādi, which have special importance for the critical constitution of the text of the entire epic, were collated from no less than sixty manuscripts.

Yes, certainly. I already mentioned that.

"The main thing mentioned there is that manuscript numbers used is taken at parva level."

If there were 1259 manuscripts total and 30 representative manuscripts, then doesn't it follow that each "representative manuscript" represents 1259/30 ≈ 42 manuscripts on average? Are you looking for a distribution?

No. It doesn't follow that pattern. 

Also, 30 representative manuscripts are for Sabha Parvan not entire Mahabharata. The total of 1259 manuscripts mentioned is the aggregate of total manuscripts used for each parvan.

T1+T2+....T18 = 1250 manuscripts

For Sabha Parvan:

T2 = RMn1 + RMn2 + ..... RMn30

where

RMn1 = number of manuscripts belonging to group 1

RMn2 = number of manuscripts belonging to group 2

.....

RMn30 = number of manuscripts belonging to group 30

Here is the list of representative manuscript for each group as mentioned in the critical apparatus.

 

LIST OF REPRESENTATIVE MANUSCRIPTS USED FOR CREATING CRITICAL EDITION OF THE SABHA PARVA

=============================================

 

I. Northern Recension (N)

(a) North-western Group

·  Kāśmīri Version (Ś)

o    Ś1 = Poona, Bombay Govt. Collection (deposited at the BORI), No. 159 of 1875-76 (The Śāradā Codex).

·  Devanāgarī Group allied to the Kāśmīri Version (K)

o    K1 = Poona, Bombay Govt. Collection (deposited at the BORI), No. 56 of 1882-83.

o    K2 = Poona, Bombay Govt. Collection (deposited at the BORI), No. 192 of Viśrāmbāg II.

o    K3 = Adyar Library, No. xxxv $\beta$ 131.

o    K4 = Poona, Bombay Govt. Collection (deposited at the BORI), No. 29 of A 1879-80.

(b) North-eastern Group

·  Nepālī Version (Ñ)

o    Ñ1 = Nepal Darbar Library, No. I 1635.

---

·  Maithilī Version (V)

o    V1 = Nepal Darbar Library, No. I 1559.

·  Bengalī Version (B)

o    B1 = Dacca, University Library, No. 971.

o    B2 = Dacca, University Library, No. 1093.

o    B3 = Calcutta, Sāhitya Pariṣhad Library, No. 76.

o    B4 = Śantiniketan, Viśvabhāratī Library, No. 65.

o    B5 = Śantiniketan, Viśvabhāratī Library, No. 273.

o    B6 = Dacca, University Library, No. 592.

·  Devanāgarī Versions other than K (D)

o    Devanāgarī Version of Nīlakaṇṭha (DN) "the Vulgate"

§  DN1 = Poona, Bombay Govt. Collection (deposited at the BORI), No. 511 of Viśrāmbāg I.

§  DN2 = Poona, Bombay Govt. Collection (deposited at the BORI), No. 235 of 1895-1902.

o    Other Devanāgarī Versions

§  D1 = Poona, Bombay Govt. Collection (deposited at the BORI), No. 167 of 1884-87.

§  D2 = Poona, Bombay Govt. Collection (deposited at the BORI), No. 74 of 1902-1907.

§  D3 = Poona, Bombay Govt. Collection (deposited at the BORI), No. 469 of Viśrāmbāg I.

§  D4 = Poona, Bombay Govt. Collection (deposited at the BORI), No. 210 of 1887-91.

§  D5 = Poona, Bombay Govt. Collection (deposited at the BORI), No. 510 of Viśrāmbāg I.

§  D6 = Baroda, Oriental Institute Library, No. 827.

II. Southern Recension (S)

·  Telugu Version (T)

o    T1 = Melkote, Yadugiri Yatirāj Math Library (without number).

·  Grantha Version (G)

o    G1 = Pudukkotta State Library, No. 319.

o    G2 = Melkote, Yadugiri Yatirāj Math Library (without number).

o    G3 = Melkote, Yadugiri Yatirāj Math Library (without number).

o    G4 = Kadathur, Coimbatore District, in private possession.

o    G5 = Tanjore, Saraswathi Mahal Library, No. 11824.

o    G6 = Tanjore, Saraswathi Mahal Library, No. 11851 and 11839.

·  Malayāḷam Version (M)

o    M1 = Cochin State Library, No. 1.

o    M2 = Malabar, Poomulli Mana Library, No. 298.