History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s16.t2.13

v1.c6.s16.t2.13

The Auśanasa-dharmasūtra contains several passages in prose which are the same as some verses in Manu.²⁰³ The sūtra quotes in one place the divergent views of Vasiṣṭha,²⁰⁴ Hārīta, Śaunaka, and Gautama on the question whether a Brāhmaṇa could marry a śūdra woman. The view of Vasiṣṭha (as quoted in the ms.) is that a Brāhmaṇa could take to wife girls of all the four castes, but in the printed text of Vasiṣṭha (I. 24) a Brāhmaṇa is allowed to marry girls of the three higher castes only. It is possible that the ancient reading of Vasiṣṭha's text was ‘catasraḥ’ (as quoted in the Auśanasa) which was changed into ‘tisraḥ’. The passage reminds us of Manu III. 16 (Śūdrāvedī patatyatreḥ), but the views ascribed to Śaunaka and Gautama in the ms. differ from those ascribed to them in Manu. In another passage Vasiṣṭha's views seem to be quoted.²⁰⁵