History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s14.50

v1.c6.s14.50

It is extremely doubtful whether the Kauṭilīya knew the extant text of the Mahābhārata. Most of the stories used as illustrations in the Kauṭilīya occur in the Mahābhārata (e. g. Aila, Duryodhana, Haihaya Arjuna, Vātāpi, Agastya, Ambariṣa, Suyātra i. e. Nala). But in some cases there is slight divergence between the two works, e. g. Janamejaya is said to have perished through having attacked Brāhmaṇas in anger, while the Mahābhārata (XII. 150) gives a different version; Kauṭilya says (IV. 8) that Māṇḍavya, though not a thief, declared himself to be a thief while the Mahābhārata (I. 107. 9) says that he spoke nothing; Kauṭilya mentions Jayatsena as the opponent of Nala (VIII. 3) in gambling, while the Mahābhārata gives his name as Puṣkara; the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa do not know that a Jāmdagnya ruled long as a king.¹⁸³ Kauṭilya seems to have known the Purāṇas. He says (III. 7) that *sūta* and *māgadha* of the Purāṇas are quite different¹⁸⁴ from members of the mixed castes called sūta and māgadha and includes Purāṇa (I. 5) among the subjects of royal study grouped under the head of *itihāsa*.