History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s23.8.2

v1.c6.s23.8.2

Medhātithi somewhat inaccurately summarises the the introductory words (in prose) of Nārada (vide note 269 above). Medhātithi frequently quotes Nārada particularly from the sections on ṛṇādāna (vide on Manu 8. 47, 155, 149) and dāyabhāga (on Manu 8, 28, 29, and 207, 209, and 143). On Manu 8, 349 he quotes Nārada on partnership (verse 10), on 8. 216 he quotes Nārada (vetanasya-anapākarma verse 5). In some cases Medhātithi cites Nārada's verses without naming him e. g. on Manu 9. 76 he quotes the well-known verse ‘naṣṭe mṛte pravrajite &c.’ (Nārada on marital relation, verse 97) as ‘smṛtyantara’. It was shown above (p. 172) that the vyavahāra section of the Agnipurāṇa dates from about 900 A. D. Chap. 253 of the Agnipurāṇa contains thirty verses of the extant Nāradasmṛti, viz. Agni 253. 1b--9a= Nārada (vyavahāra-mātṛkā chap. I. 8–15); Agni 253. 9b--12=Nārada (vyavahāra-mātṛkā chap. I. 26-29a); Agni 253. 13--30 are the verses defining the eighteen titles from ṛṇādāna to prakīrṇaka contained in Nārada and occur in the same order in both. The readings preserved in the Agnipurāṇa deserve some discussion. Agni (253. 3-4) reads ‘dharmaś ca vyavahāraś ca ... uttaraḥ pūrvasādhakaḥ’, while Nārada has ‘pūrvabādhakaḥ’. Agni reads ‘caritraṁ saṁgrahe pūṁsāṁ rājājñāyāṁ tu sādhanam’ (253. 5), while Nārada has ‘caritraṁ pustakaraṇe rājājñāyāṁ tu śāsanam’. Agni (253. 15) reads ‘dattvā dravyaṁ ca samyag-yaḥ’, while Nārada (dattāpradānika 1) reads ‘dattvā dravyamasamyag-yaḥ’. The Agni (253.