History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s59.11

v1.c6.s59.11

There is another Halāyudha, author of a famous work called Brāhmaṇa-sarvasva printed at Benares in saṁvat 1935. But this was not available to me and hence I used a Ms. of it in the Deccan College collection (No. 9 of A 1883-84). He gives some account of himself and his family in the introductory verses. He belonged to the Vātsya gotra and was a son of Dhanañjaya who is described as *dharmādhyakṣa* (judge). Lakṣmaṇasena, the king of Bengal, gave him dharmādhikāra (i. e. made him judge).⁶⁶⁸ He had two elder brothers⁶⁶⁹ Paśupati and Īśāna of whom the former composed Śrāddha-kṛtya-paddhati and Pākayajña-paddhati and the latter the Dvijāhnika-paddhati. He tells us in the Brāhmaṇasarvasva that he composed Mīmāṁsāsarvasva, Vaiṣṇavasarvasva, Śaivasarvasva, Paṇḍitasarvasva.⁶⁷⁰ Unfortunately no Ms. of any of these works has so far been discovered. The chief object⁶⁷¹ of the Brāhmaṇasarvasva is to explain the meaning of the *mantras* used by Brāhmaṇas in daily observances from the brushing of the teeth to going to sleep and in the *saṁskāras* on birth, marriage, death etc. He wrote for the Vājasaneya Kāṇva Śākhā and acknowledges⁶⁷² his debt to Uvaṭa who wrote a bhāṣya on the Vājasaneya Saṁhitā in Avanti while Bhoja ruled the earth (mahīṁ Bhoje praśāsati). In some introductory verses and the several colophons of the sections of the Brāhmaṇa-sarvasva Halāyudha styles himself *āvasathika*, *mahādharmādhyakṣa* or simply *dharmādhyakṣa*, *dharmādhikārin* and his brother Paśupati also is styled *āvasathika*. It is very difficult to say what is the exact meaning of this last word. It probably means one who regularly performs all the *gṛhya* rites.⁶⁷³ Vide Tri. cat. of Madras Govt. Mss. for 1919-1922, pp. 5165 for a ms. of Paṇḍita-sarvasva which deals with the usages of varṇas and āśramas, tithi, śuddhi, the time for śrāddha, jyotiḥśāstra, marriage, gifts, prāyaścitta, pratiṣṭhā &c. But whether it is Halāyudha's work it is difficult to say from the extracts given.