History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s18.21.1

v1.c6.s18.21.1

First the external evidence may be taken up. The bhāṣya of Medhātithi is the earliest extant commentary on the Manusmṛti and was composed about 900 A. D. as will be shown later on (sec. 36). The text commented upon by Medhātithi was the same (barring a few various readings) as the one we now possess. Therefore long before 900 A. D. the Manusmṛti was the same as now. Viśvarūpa in his commentary on Yāj. quotes over two hundred verses of the Manusmṛti either wholly or in part from all the twelve chapters beginning with the very first verse. The text that Viśvarūpa had before him was the same as the present Manusmṛti and the verses were arranged in the same order as at present. Viśvarūpa quotes eight verses (Manu XI. 108–115) from Manu (on Yāj. III. 262). Śaṅkarācārya in his Vedāntsūtra-bhāṣya quotes the Manusmṛti very frequently. For example, he quotes Manu I. 5 and 21 (on V. S. I. 3. 28), I. 27 (on V. S. IV. 2. 6), II. 87 (on V. S. III. 4. 38), X. 4 and 126 (on V. S. I. 3. 36), XII. 91 and 105-6 (on V. S. II. 1 and 11). In his bhāṣya on the Bṛ. U. he quotes Manu dozens of times and calls the Manusmṛti²⁷⁴ ‘Mānavam’ (on Bṛ. U. I. 4. 17). He looks upon the Manusmṛti as one of the authorities on which the author of the Vedāntasūtra relies.²⁷⁵ The Tantravārtika of Kumārila stands in a special relation to the Manusmṛti. *Vide JBBRAS for 1925 pp. 98–100.* He places Manu at the head of all smṛtis, even higher than the dharma-sūtra of Gautama.