Handwritten archival mark "1" in a box at the top right of the page.

PREFATORY.

Before introducing the reader to the most abstruse and technical contents of this philosophical work, I take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to the owners of the manuscripts which have been made the main bases of this edition of the Tantrasāra, appearing for the first time as volume XVII of the Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies.

In all, there were three manuscript copies used in preparation of this work for the Press. The first of these, belonging to Rājānaka Sodarshana of Srinagar, consisted of 72 leaves of Kashmiri paper written in Shāradā an ancient script used in Kashmir characters, and of this a copy was made in this office. It is a transcript of another older manuscript and bears 1903 anno Vikrami Vikram Era, 1846 CE as the date of its transcription. As regards omissions and mistakes, it is, however, not free from blemishes.

The second manuscript copy, with which the above was collated, belongs to the collection of books bearing on the Shaiva philosophy in general, which one Rīvatī Raman of Southern India got copied during his visit to Kashmir for the acquisition of rare manuscripts. On his death here in Kashmir, these books fell into the hands of his servants, and from one of them I bought this manuscript copy of the Tantrasāra for my personal use. It is in Devanāgiri the standard script for Sanskrit characters and consists of 48 leaves of old Kashmiri paper. Three more leaves which this manuscript seems to have contained are lost. It is generally incorrect and full of omissions.

The third and the most useful manuscript copy of the Tantrasāra was the one presented to me at Agra in 1912 A. D. A brief history of its acquisition would not be out of place. It is as old as 1527 A. D., corresponding to the Laukika a traditional Kashmiri dating system era 4603, and consists of 79 leaves.