Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c7.60

c7.60

The canonical works of the Katha school whose original home was in the Punjab and Kashmir may be reckoned among the oldest remains of Indian literature. Of course our work in its present form, even excepting the Viṣṇuite interpolations, contains a series of passages of modern character, such as the mention of the seven days of the week including the designation of the Thursday as jaiva (78, 1-7), the passages about widow-burning (25, 14 and 20, 39), about books pustakas (18, 44 and 23, 56), about places of pilgrimage in all parts of India (85, 1-52), about Trimūrti (30, 7), the vague definition of the limits of the Aryan land 84, 4 (Āryāvarta), etc. Even though most of the passages of this sort may be readily rejected as later interpolations yet the age of the redaction of our work as it is now existing, still remains doubtful to some extent.¹ The juridical sections seem to belong to its oldest part specially the duties of the king in Adhy. 3 and the penal law in Adhy. 5 and also the law of inheritance along with the doctrine of mixed castes in 15-18, while the laws of debt and legal proceedings in 6-14 appear to be less ancient. The Adhy. 19- 96 deal with sacrifices to the manes, impurity, laws about women, the sacraments, the study of the Veda, sins and the penances for them including the doctrine of hell and the transmigration of the soul, the duties of the Gṛhastha and the Snātaka, the Śrāddha, charitable gifts and the duties of the Vānaprasthas and the ascetics. The language shows few archaisms but is also almost completely free from corrupt readings, because the text was probably commented upon carefully already at an early period. There are no references to older teachers of law and also Vi. in his turn is not quoted by other Smṛtis. In subject matter, next to its relations with M. those with Y. are most remarkable. The Viṣṇuite revision of our work can by no means be assigned to a period earlier than the third century A. D. if the Greek designation of the Thursday is ascribed to the reviser