History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s23.30

v1.c6.s23.30

The Vyavahāramātṛkā of Jīmūtavāhana and the Parāśara-Mādhavīya (vol. III, part I, p. 203) quote a verse from Nārada, the latter half of which is the same as the latter half of a verse in the Vikramorvaśīya.³⁶⁷ The doctrine attributed to Nārada is found in Yāj. (II. 20) and the Viṣṇudharmasūtra, (6. 22) but not in the same words. Unfortunately the date of Kālidāsa is far from being universally accepted, but the fourth or first half of the 5th century is often accepted as the probable date. There is further difficulty in the fact that the text of the Vikramorvaśīya has been largely tampered with. If the verse is a genuine part of the drama, it seems natural to suppose that Kālidāsa turns a well-known legal maxim to a somewhat humerous use. It is hard to suppose that Nārada would borrow the words of a dramatist for setting forth a legal maxim. This would push back the date of Nārada far beyond the 5th century. Nārada in two places uses the word "dīnāra", once in the sense of a golden ornament and again as a coin or unit of value also called "suvarṇa." In this last case he says that "dīnāra is equal to 48 Kārṣāpaṇas or twelve dhānakas." Jolly (R. u, S. p. 23) thinks that Indian *dīnāras* can scarcely be older than the 2nd century A. D., although in the times of the Indo-Scythian kings coins of the weight of dīnāra occur. Therefore Jolly is of opinion that Nārada is later than 300 A. D. Winternitz (History of Indian Literature, vol. II. p. 216 n. 4) follows him in this assumption that all Sanskrit works in which the word *dināra* occurs must be later than the 2nd or 3rd century A. D. It may be that the golden dīnāras most numerously found in India belong to the 2nd and 3rd centuries A. D. But as Keith points out (J. R. A. S. 1915 p. 504) Jolly's assumption is wrong and the introduction of *dīnāras* into India need not be later than the beginning of the Christian era. Golden *dīnāras* were first coined in Rome in 207 B.C. and the oldest Indian pieces corresponding in weight to the Roman Denarius were struck by Indo-Scythian kings who reigned from the first century B. C. (W. B. p. 44). Therefore there is nothing to prevent us from holding that Nārada flourished in the first centuries of the Christian era, i. e. between 100 and 300 A. D. Mr. Jayasval assigns him to the 4th century A. D. and after the Mṛcchakaṭika. Most scholars would not be prepared to assign to the Mṛcchakaṭika so early a date as the 3rd century A. D. Besides Mr. Jayasval builds his theory on very slender foundations. Because the drama employs the word nāṇaka and Nārada speaks of dīnāra only, no chronological conclusion as to the priority of the one to the other can be drawn. After both words became current in the language, one author, though later, may employ one word, while another, though earlier, may employ the other.