History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s25.31

v1.c6.s25.31

The question is:—what is the date of this Kātyāyanasmṛti (Karmapradīpa) and whether it is the work of Kātyāyana the great jurist. The Mit. (on Yāj. I. 254) quotes a verse as Kātyāyana's which occurs in Jivananda's text (p. 624 verse 20); similarly the Mit. quotes two verses as Kātyāyana's (on Yāj. III. 247) which have a place in the Karmapradīpa (Jivananda p. 634 verses 4-5). Scores of verses cited as Kātyāyana's by Aparārka (on ācāra and prāyaścitta) are found in the Karmapradīpa. For example, *vide* Aparārka p. 43 (three verses) and Karmapradīpa (p. 605, 1110-12), Aparārka p. 51 (three verses about samidh) and Karmapr. (p. 613, 8. 17-19), Aparārka p. 135 (four verses about bathing in rivers) and Karma. (p. 615, 10. 5-7 and 14), Aparārka p. 532 (four verses on śrāddha in which Kātyāyana himself is cited as an authority) and Karma. (p. 624, 16. 16-19), Aparārka p. 872 (six verses) and Karma. (21. 2-7 p. 632), Aparārka p. 1066 (three verses about an *agnihotrin* being guilty of mahāpātaka) and Karma. (23. 4-6 p. 634). The Smṛticandrikā also quotes profusely from Kātyāyana on *ācāra*, śrāddha etc. and cites from the Karmapradīpa by name passages which occur in Jivananda's edition. The above references show that in the eyes of the Mitākṣarā and Aparārka the Karmapradīpa was an authoritative work. Therefore it follows that it must have been composed centuries before the 11th century A. D. It is however remarkable that several quotations ascribed to Kātyāyana in the Mitākṣarā, Aparārka and other works are not found in the Karmapradīpa. For example, the Mitākṣarā (on Yāj. III. 242) cites Kātyāyana's verse about five varieties of lapses in conduct viz. mahāpātaka, atipātaka, pātaka, prāsaṅgika, upapātaka and on Yāj. III. 260 quotes a verse of Kātyāyana about what are atipātakas. These are not to be traced in the Karmapradīpa printed by Jivananda. Similarly Aparārka (pp. 94-95) quotes three verses of Kātyāyana that are very interesting but are not found in Jivananda's edition.⁴¹² Later works like the Nirṇayasindhu, the Saṁskāramayūkha, the Madanapārijāta quote numerous verses of Kātyāyana on upanayana, marriage and other saṁskāras which we vainly seek to find in the Karmapradīpa. Hence it follows that there was some large work of Kātyāyana of which the Karmapradīpa is either an abridgment or only a portion.