EAP810/1/1/41

Title in original script: பஞ்ச சூத்திரம்- 500

The manuscript containing 57 palm leaves is constituted of a text, written in verses, numbered from 1 to 56, and of a blank palm leaf. Very infested by fungus, the leaves are extremely dark and some of them are broken, but the reading is not affected.

The text is incomplete. It deals with philosophy, religion and esotericism, by approaching many subjects, such as history of Akattiyar (carittiram), literature of Pañcatantiram (sk. Pañcatantra), explanation of the sacred chanting Namaśivaya (añceḻuttu), description of a good behavior (nalnaṭattai), explanation of the colours of letters (eḻuttukaḷiṉ niṟam), of the five states of the matter (pañca nilai), and of stars (naṭcatiram). It explains methods to meditate (tiyāṉam) according to Tēvi, Viṣṇu or Ruttiraṉ (sk. Rudra). It provides information on magic: details of curse (cāpa varalāṟu) and how to get rid of it (cāpa nivartti). It evokes the caste system (cāti). Lastly, it mentioned some medicinal herbs (mūlikai), and some medicinal preparations such as Kēcari tailam, Aiṅkōḷa tailam and Tampaṉam, as well as some collyrium (mai) used in magic: pātāḷa mai (to visualise underground things), pūta mai (to visualise the demons), urumāṟṟa mai (to transform the physical appearance of a person to another) and kecari mai (to fly or to float in air). Some other topics are also evoked such as pañca paṭci and kōṇu paṭci, but they have not been identified.

Size of the manuscript 21,7cm x 3,0cm. The text is numbered from 1 to 56 in Tamil and Arabic. It contains an additional blank leaf. The manuscript is very damaged by fugus and all the leaves are very dark and fragile. Some leaves are broken but there is no probleme for the reading of the text.