History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s21.16.4

v1.c6.s21.16.4

is read differently in the Garuḍa (daśa dvādaśa varṇā- nām tathā pañcadaśaiva ca । trimśad dināni ca tathā bhavati preta-sūtakam ). It must therefore be said that the Garuḍapurāṇa represents an intermediate stage of readings between Viś. and the Mit. As the Garuḍapurāṇa was a popular work read by and recited for the benefit of slightly educated or illiterate people, it often introduces changes to suit their understanding. For example, the Mit. (I. 296 ) reads ( as also Viś. ) ‘sūryaḥ somo mahīputraḥ somaputro bṛhaspatiḥ ’, while Garuḍa reads ( chap. 101. 2 ) ‘sūryaḥ somo *maṅgalaś* ca *budhaś* caiva bṛhaspatiḥ,’ thus substituting the well-known words Maṅgala and Budha for mahīputra and somaputra. The verse ‘kṛtāgnikāryo bhuñjīta’ (I. 31 in the Mit. ) is placed by Viś. after ‘ekadeśam – upādhyāya,’ while the Mit. places it three verses earlier. The Garuḍapurāṇa here agrees with the Mit. In some cases Garuḍa strikes an independent path. For example, in Yāj. I. 11 Viś. reads ‘māse’to jātakarama ca,’ the Mit. reads ‘māsyete jātakarama ca’ while Garuḍa ( chap. 93. 11 ) gives the easy reading ‘prasave jātakarama ca’. Mit. reads (Yāj. I. 76 b) ‘tyajan dāpyastṛtīyāṁśam--adravyo bharaṇaṁ striyāḥ’; Viś. omits the whole verse, while Garuḍa omits I. 76a (of Mit.) and reads the other half as ‘śuddhām tyajaṁstṛtīyāṁśam dadyādābharaṇaṁ striyāḥ’ (95. 23b). Verses I. 91-92 of the Mit. on the offspring of mixed marriages are differently read by Viś. ( I. 90-91 ), while the Garuḍa ( 96.