Indian Epigraphy c13.21

c13.21

Since the Mahābhārata and the Purāṇas, both of which are regarded as Dharmaśāstra, are ascribed to the authorship of the sage Vyāsa, it is interesting to note that some of the imprecatory and benedictory stanzas generally quoted in the copper-plate grants have been traced to the said sources and also that some of these charters specifically mention Vyāsa as the author of the verses. Thus some records introduce a few of the stanzas with the words Vyāsa-gītāmś=c=ātra ślokān=udāharanti,⁴ while others have uktam ca bhagavatā paramarṣiṇā Vedavyāsena.⁵ The Mahābhārata is particularly mentioned in another group of early charters in which we have uktam ca Mahābhārate bhagavatā Vedavyāsena Vyāsena⁶ or more fully uktaṃ ca Mahābhārate śata-sāhasryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ param-arṣiṇā Parāśara-sutena Vedavyāsena Vyāsena.¹ As will be seen below, some of the stanzas are found in the Mahābhārata and the Purāṇas. The fact that all the stanzas specifically attributed to the Mahābhārata cannot be traced in the present texts of the work may be due to the confusion of the scribes or to the loss of the version that contained the verses. The second alternative is not improbable since some verses assigned to the Mahābhārata by Hemādri in the thirteenth century cannot be traced in the available versions.