GENERAL INTRODUCTION, PART II.
ELABORATED BY THE EDITOR, IN LARGE PART FROM WHITNEY'S MATERIAL
General Premises
⌊Contents of this Part.—While Part I. contains much that might be presented in a preface, the contents of Part II. are more strictly appropriate for an introduction. The contents of Part I. are briefly rehearsed at p. lxiii; and the contents of both Parts, I. and II., are given with more detail and in synoptic form at pages x—xv, which see. As was the case with the ten text-critical elements of the commentary in Part I., the subject-matter of Part II. also may be put under ten headings as follows:
- Description of the manuscripts.
- Their opening stanza.
- Whitney's Collation-Book.
- Repeated verses in the mss.
- Refrains and the like in the mss.
- Accentuation-marks in the mss.
- Orthographic method of Berlin text.
- Metrical form of the Atharvan sarhhita.
- Divisions of the text.
- Its extent and structure.⌋
⌊Authorship of this Part.—While Part I. is wholly from the hand of the editor. Part II. is elaborated in large measure from material left by Whitney. Chapters 2 and 3, however, although written by the editor, are incorporated into this Part, because the most fit place for them is here, just after chapter 1. In the rewritten portions of the other chapters, it has not been attempted thoroughly to separate the author's part from the editor's; but paragraphs which are entirely by the editor are enclosed in ell-brackets, ⌊ ⌋. The whole matter has been carefully stated by me in the preface, at pages xxix-xxx, and these the reader is requested to consult.⌋
1. Description of the Manuscripts used by Whitney
⌊The brief designations of his manuscripts (sigla codicum).—The sigla O. and L. seem to be arbitrary. It is helpful to note that Whitney apparently intended that all the rest should be suggestive. Thus B., P., R., T., and D. are the initials respectively of Berlin, Paris, Roth, Tanjore, and Deccan; small p. of course means pada-text; and small s. means saṁhitā-text; and K. was the first letter of Bikaner not previously employed as
cix
