Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c7.54

c7.54

According to Govindasvāmin and even according to Kumārila (8. century) the Dharmaśāstra of Vas. was studied only by the followers of the Rgveda, but was however, recognised on all hands¹. That these notices do not relate to the other Smṛtis ascribed to Vas. may be proved by the ancient quotations from the Vas. which can be traced only in this work. In this Smṛti Vas. has been specially quoted or referred to three times as authority, and in some way or other the whole reminds one of the Vasiṣṭha known to us from the Rgveda which also corroborates its connection with the Rgveda. As Vas. evinces a leaning towards the works of northern India in his quotations of Vedic Saṃhitās and Sūtras, this part of India is probably his birth place or the land of origin of his school. This could hardly have been concluded from the designation holy land he gives to the modern North-Western Provinces, because this theory of holy land was a common property in the Brahmanical tradition and is found also elsewhere, e. g. in Baudh. and M.