A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s1.34.1

c19.s1.34.1

In legal literature (*Dharmaśāstra*), the earliest work that calls for notice after the Sūtras mentioned above is the *Bālakrīḍā*, Viśvarūpa’s commentary on *Yājñavalkya-smṛti*. The author, who was also called Sureśvara, was a pupil of Śankara. Another writer of fairly early date was Bhāruci who commented on the *Viṣṇu Dharmasūtras* and *Manusmṛti*; the first work is lost and the second was only recently recovered in a fragmentary form. Perhaps the greatest name in this sphere is that of Vijñāneśvara who adorned the court of Chālukya Vikramāditya VI; his *Mitākṣarā*, a commentary on *Yājñavalkya*, is an important treatise on law based on many earlier writings and it has found acceptance in the whole of South India and large parts of the North. The work was commented on more than once by subsequent writers; Colebrooke, who translated into English the section on inheritance, gave it currency in British Indian courts. Another work ascribed to Vijñāneśvara is the *Aśauca-daśaka* or *Daśaślokī*, ten terse verses treating of pollution consequent on death. A pupil of this great author, Nārāyaṇa by name, compiled an independent digest on civil law called *Vyavahāraśiromaṇi* which has survived only in part. The Śilāhāra ruler of Konkan, Aparārka or Aparāditya I, already mentioned as a writer on Nyāya, wrote an extensive commentary on *Yājñavalkya* early in the twelfth century; even more than the *Mitākṣarā*, it is more an independent digest than a commentary hugging its text.