The History of Indian Literature c8.308.4

c8.308.4

Still the connection set forth in the Sáma-Sútras of Láṭyáyana and Dráhyáyana, as well as in the corresponding passage of the Kátíya-Sútra between the Vrátyas and the *magadhadeśíya brahmabandhu*,¹²⁶ and the hatred with which the Magadhas are elsewhere (see Roth, p. 38) spoken of in the Atharva-Saṃhitá, both lead us to interpret the *mágadha* of the Vrátya book as an heretical teacher. For the passages, also, which we are more immediately discussing, this interpretation vies with the one already given; and it seems, in particular, to be favoured by the express direction in v. 22, that "the *mágadha*, the harlot, the gambler, and the eunuch" must neither be Śúdras nor Brahmans,—an injunction which would be entirely superfluous for the *mágadha* at least, supposing him to represent a mixed caste, but which is quite appropriate if the word signifies "a native of the country Magadha." If we adopt this latter interpretation, it follows that heretical (*i.e.*, Buddhist) opinions must have existed in Magadha at the time of the composition of this thirtieth *adhyáya*. Meanwhile, however, the question which of these two interpretations is the better one remains, of course, unsolved.—The mention of the *nakshatradarśa*, "star-gazer," in v. 10, and of the *gaṇaka*, "calculator," in v. 20, permits us, at all events, to conclude that astronomical, *i.e.*, astrological, science was then actively pursued.