Bhagavad Gita: Old Manuscripts Collections

Pictures of the oldest surviving manuscripts of Bhagavad Gita that can be found in different museums and libraries around the world are presented here. The copies are from 15th Century CE onwards.

World’s Largest Bhagavad Gita at ISKCON Temple, Delhi.

Largest Bhagvad Gita

It weighs 800kg, 2m x 2.8m, has gems embedded on the cover.

The book was printed in Milan, Italy, on YUPO synthetic paper, which is untearable and waterproof and can easily last 300-400 years.

It is comprised of 670 pages & It includes all 700 Sanskrit verses, 18 full-page color illustrations, and the commentary of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON.

15th Century

The Digital Version of Pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 32, 79

This is the Oldest manuscript of the Bhagavad Gita, dated to 1492, original currently kept in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

Text of original inscribed on 83 palm leaves, both recto and verso. Images and English translation provided by the Gita Society and Dr. Ramananda Prasad. Second leaf contains table of contents with the names of the adhyāyas. Also includes a poem entitled "Gītāmāhātmya".

It is written in Newari Script and Sanskrit Language.

https://archive.org/details/oldest-srimad-bhagavad-gita-1492/page/1/mode/2up

16th Century

This is a photograph of a 2-D palm lead manuscript page produced in the 16th century and discovered in Kerala. The manuscript, Sanskrit, Malayalam script, Kerala.

Source: Wikimedia commons

17th Century

A Shrimad Bhagavad Gita dating back to the 17th century, written with a grain of rice - Punjab University AC Joshi Library is a treasure house of rare documents which are being preserved through digitisation.

18th Century

18th_century_Bhagavad_Gita_and_bhasya,_Sanskrit,_Kannada_script,_Karnataka

This is a photograph of a 2-D manuscript page produced in the 18th century Karnataka. It is in Kannada script. Source: Wikimedia Commons

18th Century

1785 CE (18th century)

Cover page of early Gita translations.

Charles Wilkins (1785)

source: wikipedia

18th Century

1787 CE (18th century)

Cover page of early Gita translations.

Parraud re-translation of Wilkins (1787)

source: wikipedia

18th Century

18^th century

18^th century manuscript of Bhagvad Gita at The British Library.

https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/bhagavad-gita-or-8837

18th Century

Late 18th or Early 19th century

The above image shows the opening pages of chapter 3 (verses 1-2 only, verse 3 partial) of the Bhagavad Gita in Gurmukhi script. This is a photograph of a 2-D manuscript page produced in late 18th or early 19th century. The entire Bhagavad Gita manuscript in Gurmukhi script was digitized by the Punjab University (Chandigarh, India) under the eGangotri-Vaidika Bharara initiative,

Source: Wikimedia commons

18th Century

18th century

Bhagvad Gita in Grantha Script (of South India) copied before the 18th-century.

Picture of a leaf from a palm leaf manuscript book, held together by a thin rope (seen going down in the photo).

Source: wikimedia commons

19th Century

1824 CE (19^th Century)

Manuscript of Bhagvad Gita at The British Library- 1824

https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/bhagavad-gita-or-13758

19th Century

1849 CE (19^th Century)

Cover page of early Gita translations.

Wesleyan Mission Press (1849).

source: wikipedia

19th Century

(19^th Century)

An illustrated manuscript of Srimad Bhagavad Gita translated by Abul Fazl Faizi

This Urdu manuscript of an illustrated Bhagavad Gita, is a 19th century copy of the original 16th century manuscript.

This present manuscript is translated by Abul Fazl and Faizi, sons of Shaikh Mubarak, who influenced Akbar’s (1556-1605) The Mughal emperors, literary and philosophical taste.

(Source:National Heritage Board, Singapore)

19th Century

(19th Century)

A Rajasthani manuscript of the Gita, now in the National Museum at Delhi.

It is has a range of illustrations. The opening folio, begins with an image of Ganesha in one corner at the top, and Dhritarashtra in conversation with Sanjay in the other. Straightaway, however, even from the way the text is written, apart from the style of the illustrations, one can see that

It has folk strain. ‘Shri Ganesaye namah’, is how the deity’s name is spelt instead of usual ‘Ganesha’.

Then follow renderings in Hindi verse, with an occasional input from the Rajasthani dialect, of the Sanskrit verses. Thus, the first verse uttered by the old king: “dharam-kheta kuru-khet mein jure judh key saaj”, and so on. The diction is simple, but the text does not seem to miss anything. It has great illustrations.

The text is by Harivallabh; the scripting was done by Guru Bhavani Das for a princess of Chawand — a tributary of the great Mewar state, and the painter — chitara in local terms — was Dungaji. No date is mentioned but clearly, judging from the style, it is a 19th century work.

19th Century

1800_CE_manuscript_copy,_2nd_century_BCE_Bhagavad_Gita,_Schoyen_Collection_Norway

1800 CE (19th Century)

The above photo is of a manuscript copied on paper c. 1800 CE, and is now in Oslo, Norway. It is written in classical Sanskrit on paper, Devanagari script.Source: Wikimedia Commons

19th Century

BHAGAVAD-GITA-Arjuna-and-Krishna-from-an-Indian-manuscript-of-the-Bhagavad-Gita-Manuscript-page-1824.

(19th Century)
BHAGAVAD-GITA-Arjuna-and-Krishna-from-an-Indian-manuscript-of-the-Bhagavad-Gita-Manuscript-page-1824.
Credit-British-Library--Granger-All-Rights-Reserved
The Granger Collection LTD

20th Century

1910 CE (20th Century)

Bhagvad Gita : Photograph of a 2-D manuscript page produced and discovered in 1910.

Image shows the last part of verse 4.6, all of famous verses 4.7 to 4.10, and the initial part of verse 4.11. The language is Sanskrit, the script is Devanagari.

Source: Wikimedia Commons