بحر الحيوت. / Baḥr al-ḥayāt.

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  • Produced: [India], [1718]
  • Archival and manuscript material

    • Where to find it

    Rare Book Collection (Wilson Library)

    Call Number
    PK3791 .A46 1718, superv'd
    Note
    In box.; Supervised use only
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    Call Number
    PK3791 .A46 1718, superv'd
    Status
    In-Library Use Only
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    Summary

    The text purports to be a Persian translation of an Arabic version of the Sanskrit Amṛtakuṇḍa ("The Pool of Nectar"), a text on hatha yoga. It is likely that the Arabic version was adapted by an anonymous translator from an earlier Persian text or several different texts on the topic. This adaptation was entitled Ḥawḍ al-ḥayāh and was subsequently translated into Persian in the 16th century by Muḥammad Ghaus̲ Gvāliyārī. See Ernst, Carl, The Islamization of Yoga in the Amrtakunda Translations, in JRAS, Series 3, 13:2 (2003), p. 199-226; Sakaki, Kazuyo, Yogico-tantric Traditions in the Ḥawḍ al-Ḥayāt, in Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 17 (2005), p. 135-156.

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    Other details

    Description:
    62 leaves : paper, illuminations ; 259 x 175 (195 x 108) mm, bound to 266 x 180 mm
    Variant Title:
    Alternate title from leaf 2a: Inbirita kunda.
    Published:
    Produced: [India], [1718]
    Language:
    Persian
    Cited In:
    Catalogue of Persian manuscripts in the library of the India Office ; 2002
    Binding Details:
    Half leather with gold stamping; red cloth. Rebound. Bookbinder's stamp in gold on page 3 of cover: ʻAlī Yūsuf.
    Notes:
    Manuscript codex.
    Title from leaf 2b, line 3.
    Physical description: 16 lines per page; written in nastaʻliq in black on indigenous laid paper. Keywords rubricated. Text framed in red, blue and gold, with outer blue border in margin. Paginated in Arabic script, 1-123; modern foliation in pencil. Damp stained around edges, particularly in lower margin. Mild insect damage which has been patched. In fair condition.
    Decoration: On leaf 1b, delicately illuminated headpiece in gold, blue, orange and other colors. 21 color minatures of good quality illustrating yogic postures. Miniature on leaf 9a somewhat damaged by water; remaining illuminations and miniatures in very good condition.
    Collation: Laid paper, fol. i (modern paper) + 62 + i (modern paper); 1-7⁸ + 8⁶; catchwords.
    Origin: 11 Rabi I 1130 (12 February 1718). Produced in India, probably Deccan.
    Incipit: حمد موفور و ثناى نامحصور حضرت صمدى را
    Persian.
    Local Notes:
    RBC PK3791 .A46 1718, superv'd c. 1: In box.; supervised use only.
    OCLC Number:
    45640522

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