History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s10.4.1

v1.c6.s10.4.1

In determining the age of the Viṣṇudharmasūtra one is confronted with a difficult problem. Some of the chapters undoubtedly contain material which is comparatively old and on a level with the ancient Dharmasūtras of Gautama and Āpastamba. Such are the chapters about rājadharma and punishments (3 and 5), the rules about twelve sons and the mixed castes (15-16), funeral rites and mourning (21 and 22). But there are very large portions of the work that bear a clear impress of a later date. The Viṣṇudharmasūtra and the Manusmṛti have at least 160 identical verses. But this is not all. There are hundreds of sūtras which are merely the prose equivalents of verses from the Manusmṛti. For example, Viṣṇu 2. 3 and Manu 2. 16, Viṣṇu 3. 4 and 6 and Manu 7. 69-70, Viṣṇu 3. 7-10 and Manu 7. 115, Viṣṇu 3. 11-15 and Manu 7. 116-117, Viṣṇu 4. 1-13 and Manu 8. 132-137, Viṣṇu 5. 4-7, and Manu 9. 237, Viṣṇu 20. 1-21, and Manu I. 67-73, Viṣṇu 51. 7-10 and Manu 4. 209-212, Viṣṇu 59. 21-25 and Manu 3. 70, Viṣṇu 62. 224 and Manu 2. 59, Viṣṇu 71. 48-52 and Manu 4. 80, and Viṣṇu 96. 14-17 and Manu 6. 46 agree almost word for word. The verses that are identical in both are found in all the chapters of the Manusmṛti from the second to the last, the largest number (about 47) occurring in the 5th and chapters eleven, two, and three respectively contributing 25, 24, and 19 verses.