A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, so far as it illustrates the Primitive Religion of the Brahmans c8.s2.9

c8.s2.9

This would give us for the Rig-veda five Anukramaṇīs by Śaunaka, one by Kâtyâyana, and one by an unknown author. The Bṛihaddevatâ is a work of too large a compass to be called an Anukramaṇī, and it is even doubtful whether we possess this work in the same form in which Śaunaka left it. To judge from Dr. Kuhn’s extracts, the author of the Bṛihaddevatâ follows indeed the Śâkala-śâkhâ, but his text must have differed from that of our MSS. The author may have followed one of the subdivisions of the Śâkalas, the Śaiśira-śâkhâ, for instance, which we know was followed by Śaunaka. The division of the Sanhitâ which is adopted in the Bṛihaddevatâ, is that of Maṇḍalas, Anuvâkas, and Sūktas; but the other division into Ashṭakas is equally known, and even the Khilas are taken into account, whereas both Śaunaka and Kâtyâyana exclude these later hymns distinctly from their indices. Dr. Kuhn concludes from a passage in Shaḍguruśishya’s Commentary, to which we shall revert hereafter, that not Śaunaka, but Āśvalāyana, was the author of our Bṛihaddevatā. This conclusion, however, is not borne out by sufficient evidence, nor is the fact that Śaunaka is quoted by name in the work itself a sufficient argument against Śaunaka’s authorship. According to the line of argument adopted by Dr. Kuhn, it would be equally objectionable to ascribe the Bṛihaddevatā to Āśvalāyana; for in one passage, according to Dr. Kuhn’s own emendations, the name of Āśvalāyana also occurs in it. Other authorities which are quoted in this curious work are the Aitareyaka, the Kaushītakins, the Bhāllavi-brāhmaṇa, the Nidāna (nidānasanjnake granthe), Śākalas, Bāshkalas, Madhuka, Śvetaketu, Gālava, Gārgya, Rathītara, Rāthantarin, Śākaṭāyana, Śāṇḍilya, Romakāyana Sthavira, Kāthakya, Bhāgurin, Śākapūṇi, Bhārmyaśva Mudgala, Aurnavābha, Kraushṭukin, Mātrin, and Yāska. The last is most frequently mentioned, and the whole book is dedicated to him. To judge from the style of the Bṛihaddevatā, the work as we now possess it, though originally written by Śaunaka, seems to have been recast by a later writer.