A History of Sanskrit Literature c12.39

c12.39

Another work of the Sūtra type, and belonging to the Vedic period, is the Dharma Çāstra of VASISHTHA. It has survived only in inferior MSS., and without the preserving influence of a commentary. It contains thirty chapters (*adhyāyas*), of which the last five appear to consist for the most part of late additions. Many of the Sūtras, not only here, but even in the older portions, are hopelessly corrupt. The prose aphorisms of the work are intermingled with verse, the archaic *trishṭubh* metre being frequently employed instead of the later *çlokas* of Manu and others. The contents, which bear the Dharma Sūtra stamp, produce the impression of antiquity in various respects. Thus here, as in the Dharma Sūtra of Āpastamba, only six forms of marriage are recognised, instead of the orthodox eight. Kumārila states that in his time Vasishṭha's law-book, while acknowledged to have general authority, was studied by followers of the *Rigveda* only. That he meant the present work and no other, is proved by the quotations from it which he gives, and which are found in the published text. As Vasishṭha, in citing Vedic Saṃhitās and Sūtras, shows a predilection for works belonging to the North of India, it is to be inferred that he or his school belonged to that part. Vasishṭha gives a quotation from Gautama which appears to refer to a passage in the extant text of the latter. His various quotations from Manu are derived, not from the later famous law-book, but evidently from a legal Sūtra related to our Manu. On the other hand, the extant text of Manu contains a quotation from Vasishṭha which actually occurs in the published edition of the latter. Hence Vasishṭha's work must be later than that of Gautama, and earlier than that of Manu. It is further probable that the original part of the Sūtra of a school connected with the *Rigveda* and belonging to the North dates from a period some centuries before our era.