Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c7.56

c7.56

As regards Vas.'s relation with other teachers of law, quotations from Yama, Prajāpati, Hārīta, Gautama and Manu are found in Vas. The quotations from the three first mentioned authors are not present in the Smṛtis ascribed to them. The quotation from Gaut. in 4, 36, seems to refer to Gaut. 14, 44. Particularly interesting are the numerous quotations from M. (cf. §5), which so far as they are not references merely to the mythical M. are manifestly derived from a work which was in substance related to our M. but was yet composed like the Dharmaśūtras in a mixture of prose and verses, partly Triṣṭubh. On the other hand our M. 8, 140 contains a quotation from Vas. which actually occurs in our Vas. 2, 51. Accordingly our Vas. is older than M. but later than Gaut., yet one should always ascribe a high antiquity to a Vedic school which was connected with the Ṛgveda and apparently belonged to Northern India, and so our work may be placed several centuries before Christ.