History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s10.4.4

v1.c6.s10.4.4

Jolly thinks that Yājñavalkya borrows from Viṣṇu the whole of the anatomical section (vide S. B. E. vol. VII, p. XX). With great respect I differ from this opinion. There is nothing to show that the anatomical details were first given to the world by Viṣṇu. They must have first been embodied in works on medicine such as those of Caraka and Suśruta¹¹¹ and were probably copied by Dharmasūtra writers. But if there is any borrowing between Viṣṇu and Yājñavalkya I think from the character of the Viṣṇudharmasūtra that it is the sūtra that must be regarded as borrowing from Yājñavalkya. There are several matters in the extant Viṣṇudharmasūtra which are wanting in Yājñavalkya and which induce one to place the extant sūtra later than Yājñavalkya, viz. the name ‘Jaiva’ for Thursday (Vi. 78. 5), the long list of tīrthas (Vi. chap. 85) which include Śrīparvata and the five rivers of the south called southern Pañcanada, the importance of the conjunction of the moon and Jupiter on a full moon day (Vi. 49. 9-10), the vague definition of Āryāvarta¹¹² (Vi. 84. 4). The verse in Viṣṇu 54. 33 (about half prāyaścitta for boys and old men) is ascribed to Aṅgiras by the Mitākṣarā (on Yāj. III. 243).