History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s16.t4.1

v1.c6.s16.t4.1

Baudhāyana (Dh. S. I. 11. 20) cites a verse which contains the view of Kaśyapa that a woman who is bought cannot be a *patnī* and that she is not authorised to take part in religious (daiva) rites or rites for the Manes.²¹¹ This verse is ascribed to Kātyāyana in the Smṛticandrikā (I. p. 87). The Vanaparva quotes *gāthās* of Kāśyapa on forbearance (29. 35-40). Whether Kaśyapa and Kāśyapa are two different writers of dharmasūtras it is rather difficult to say. Probably they are identical. It appears that the dharmasūtra of Kāśyapa comprised all the usual topics of dharmasūtras, such as daily duties, śrāddha, āśauca, prāyaścitta. This sūtra has been quoted by all eminent writers from Viśvarūpa downwards. Viśvarūpa quotes Kāśyapa (in prose) on the prāyaścitta for contact with caṇḍālas²¹² and for killing a cow when the sinner is a Brāhmaṇa or a member of another caste.²¹³ The Mit. (on Yāj. III. 23) quotes a prose passage from Kāśyapa on freedom from impurity on death.²¹⁴