Introduction to Âpastamba

xxx:1 Aufrecht, Catalogus Catalogorum, p. 400. xxx:2 Max Müller, Hist. Anc. Sansk. Lit., pp. 40-42. Weber, Literaturgeschichte, pp. 206-208. Though I fully subscribe to the opinion, held by the most illustrious Sanskritists, that, in general, the existing Purânas are not identical with the works designated by that title in Vedic works, still I cannot believe that they are altogether independent of the latter. Nor can I agree to the assertion that the Purânas known to us, one and all, are not older than the tenth or eleventh century A.D. That is inadmissible, because Bêrûnî (India, I, 131) enumerates them as canonical books. And his frequent quotations from them prove that in 1030 A. D. they did not differ materially from those known to us (see Indian Antiquary, 19, 382 seqq.). Another important fact bearing on this point may be mentioned here, viz. that the poet Bâna, who wrote shortly after 600 A.D., in the Srîhatshakarita, orders his Paurânika to recite the Pavanaprokta-purâna, i.e. the Vâyu-purâna (Harshakarita, p. 61, Calcutta ed.). Dr. Hall, the discoverer of the life of Harsha, read in his copy Yavanaprokta-purâna, a title which, as he remarks, might suggest the idea that Bâna knew the Greek epic poetry. But a comparison of the excellent Ahmadâbâd and Benares Devanâgarî MSS. and of the Kasmîr Sâradâ copies shows that the correct reading is the one given above. The earlier history of the Purânas, which as yet is a mystery, will only be cleared up when a real history of the orthodox Hindu sects, especially of the Sivites and Vishnuites, has been written. It will, then, probably become apparent that the origin of these sects reaches back far beyond the rise of Buddhism and Jainism. It will also be proved p. xxxi that the orthodox sects used Purânas as text books for popular readings, the Purânapâthana of our days, and that some, at least, of the now existing Purânas are the latest recensions of those mentioned in Vedic books.

xxxi:1 Vâyup., Adhy. .50, 208 seqq.; Matsyap., Adhy. 123, 96 seqq.; Vishnup. II, 8. 86-89; H. H. Wilson, Vishnup., vol. ii, pp. 263-268 (ed. Hall). xxxi:2 Âp. Dh. II, 9, 23,4-5. xxxii:1 An abbreviated version of the same verses, ascribed to the Paurânikas, occurs in Saṅkarâkârya's Comm. on the Khândogya Up., p. 336 (Bibl. Ind.). xxxii:2 Weber, Ind. Stud. I, 1-24. xxxiii:1 Karanavyûhabhâshya, fol. 15a, 1- 4 seqq.:-- xxxv:1 See Bhâû Dâgî, Journ. Bombay Br. Roy. As. Soc. X, 40. Regarding the Maitrâyanîyas in Gugarât, of whom the Karanavyûha speaks, compare my Report on the Search for Sanskrit MSS., 1879-80, p. 3. xxxvi:1 Colebrooke, Essays, II, p. 264, ver. 24 (Madras ed.). xxxvi:2 See Hultzsch, South Indian Inscriptions, vol. i, p. 31 seqq., and Indian Antiquary, vol. xx, p. 414 seqq. xxxvi:3 Âpastambha may be a mistake for Âpastamba. But the form with the aspirate occurs also in the earlier Pallava grant and in Devapâla's commentary on the Kathaka Grihya-sûtra. xxxvi:4 Ind. Ant. V, 133. xxxvii:1 See Cunningham, Geography, p. 527 seqq.; Burnell, South Ind. Pal., p. 14, note 2. xxxvii:2 Aitareya-brâhmana VII, 18. xxxviii:1 Lassen, Ind. Alterthumskunde, I. 684, 2nd ed. xxxviii:2 Edict II, Epigraphia Indica, vol. ii, pp. 449-450, 466. xxxviii:3 Edict XIII, op. cit., pp. 462-465, 470-472. xxxviii:4 See also Indian Antiquary, Vol. xxiii, p. 246. xxxviii:5 Actes du 6ième Congrès Int. d. Orient., vol. iii, 2, 135 seqq., where, however, the beginning of the Maurya era is placed wrongly in the eighth year of Asoka.

xxxviii:5 Actes du 6ième Congrès Int. d. Orient., vol. iii, 2, 135 seqq., where, however, the beginning of the Maurya era is placed wrongly in the eighth year of Asoka. xxxix:1 Epigraphia Indica., vol. ii, p. 323 seqq. xxxix:2 See Burgess, Arch. Surv. Reports, West India, vol. iv, pp. 104-114 and vol. v, p. 75 seqq. xxxix:3 Op. cit., vol. v, p. 69 seqq. Its date probably falls between 150-140 B.C. xl:1 The name Âpastamba occurs only in the gana vidâdi, which belongs to Pânini IV, 1, 104, and the text of this gana is certain only for the times of the Kâsikâ, about 690 A.D. The Srauta-sûtra of Âpastamba is mentioned in the nearly contemporaneous commentary of Bhartrihari on the Mahâbhâshya, see Zeitschr. d. Deutschen Morg. Ges., vol. xxxvi, p. 654. xli:1 Hist. Anc. Sansk. Lit., p. 421 seq. xlii:1 This famous Vârttika has been interpreted in various ways; see Max Müller, Hist. Anc. Sansk. Lit., pp. 360-364; Goldstücker, Pânini, pp. 132-140; Weber, p. xliii Ind. Stud. V, 65-74; XIII, 443, 444. As regards the explanation of Kâtyâyana's and Patañgali's words, I side with Kaiyata and Professor Goldstücker. But I am unable to follow the latter in the inferences which he draws from the fact, that Kâtyâyana and Patañgali declare Yâgñavalkya and other sages to be as ancient as those whose Brâhmanas and Kalpas are designated by the plural of adjectives formed by the addition of the affix in to the names of the promulgators. Though Pânini asserts, IV, 3, 105, that only those Brâhmanas which are known by appellations like Bhâllavinah, Kaushîtakinah, &c, have been proclaimed by ancient sages, and though Kâtyâyana and the author of the Great Commentary add that this rule does not hold good in the case of the work called Yâgñavalkâni Brâhmanâni, it does not necessarily follow, as Professor Goldstücker thinks, that an extraordinarily long interval lies between Pânini and Kâtyâyana-so long a period that what Pânini considered to be recent had become ancient in Kâtyâyana's time. Professor Weber has rightly objected to this reasoning. The difference between the statements of the two grammarians may have been caused by different traditions prevailing in different schools, or by an oversight on the part of Pânini, which, as the scene of Yâgñavalkya's activity seems to have been Videha in eastern India, while Pânini belonged to the extreme north-west, is not at all improbable. As regards the two dates, I place, following, with Professor Max Müller, the native tradition, Kâtyâyana in the fourth century B.C., and Patañgali, with Professors Goldstücker, Kern, and Bhândarkar, between 178-140 B.C.

xliv:1 Wackernagel, Altindische Grammatik, vol. i, p. xxxiii. xliv:2 See Zeitschr. d. Deutschen Morg. Ges., vol. xl, p. 539 seq.; Epigraphia Indica, vol. i, p. 3. xlv:1 Many more may be collected from the other divisions of the body of Sûtras. See Winternitz, op. cit., p. 13 seqq.; Gurupûgâkaumudî, p. 34 seq. xlvi:1 See Deussen, Vedânta, p. 35. xlvi:2 Tantravârttika, pp. 138, 139, 142, 174,175, 179, Benares ed. xlvi:3 Âp. Dh. I, 1, 14, 8, 9-10; II, 6, 14, 10-13; II, 6, 15, I. xlvii:1 Âp. Dh., Introd., p. x. xlvii:2 Âpastambîya Dharma-sûtram, second edition, Part i, Bombay, 1892; Part ii, Bombay, 1894. xlvii:3 It seems not doubtful that Haradatta, the author of the Uggvalâ, is the same person who wrote the Anâkula Vritti on the Âpastambîya Grihya-sûtra, an explanation of the Âpastambîya Grihya-mantras (see Burnell, Ind. Ant. I, 6), and the Mitâksharâ Vritti on the Dharma-sûtra of Gautama. From the occurrence in the latter work of Tamil words, added in explanation of Sanskrit expressions, it follows that Haradatta was a native of the south of India. I am not in a position to decide if our author also wrote the Padamañgarî Vritti on the Kâsikâ of Vâmana and Gayâditya. This is Professor Aufrecht's opinion, Catalogus Catalogorum, p. 715 seq. See also my remarks in the Introd. to the second ed., p. viii.