History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s16.t2.11

v1.c6.s16.t2.11

There are about 45 verses in the work, the 7th and last chapter being almost entirely in verse. As the mss. are corrupt and full of gaps, it is often difficult to find out whether a particular passage is prose or verse. In several verses the words ‘Manur abravīd’ occur and in one place ‘tan manor anuśāsanam’. The latter closely agrees with Manu. Several verses are common to Manu and Uśanas. The verse ‘gurutalpe bhagaḥ kāryaḥ’ (Manu 9. 237) occurs in the ms. So also the verse ‘yena yena cidaṅgena’ occurs in both.²⁰² The words of Manu (V. 78) ‘bāle deśāntarasthe’ are expressly quoted with the words ‘Manur-āha’. There are many other verses which, though not cited expressly as from a particular author, are found in other ancient works. For example, the verse ‘āpaḥ śuddhā bhūmigatāḥ’ is Manu 5. 128 and Baud. Dh. S. I. 5. 57. The half verse ‘kāruhastaḥ śucir nityam’ is Manu 5. 126 and Baud. Dh. S. I. 5. 48. The verse ‘yadekarātreṇa karoti pāpam’ occurs in Āp. Dh. S. (I. 9. 27. 11) and Baud. Dh. S. II. 1. 42. The verse ‘tryaham prātas tryaham naktam’ is Manu XI. 211. It is a remarkable fact that some of the verses in this dharmasūtra agree closely with the verses in the Uśanas-smṛti in verse, published by Jivananda, e. g. the verse ‘dattvā tu Vedānatyartham’ occurs on p. 525 and the verse ‘nimantritastu yo vipro adhvānaṁ saṁprapadyate’ on p. 527. Even the prose passages bear a close resemblance to the versified smṛti on many points, e. g. the prose passages about the duration of the satisfaction of the Manes by the offerings of the flesh of various animals occur almost in the same words in the versified smṛti of Uśanas (Jivananda, part I, p. 522).