History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s6.6

v1.c6.s6.6

The Dharmasūtra of Baudhāyana is somewhat loose in structure and is not concise. Govindasvāmin remarks (on I. 2. 19.) that Baudhāyana does not aim at brevity.⁷⁰ Several subjects are treated of in two places and often without any logical connection with what precedes or follows. Rules of inheritance (dāya-bhāga) occur in the midst of rules about prāyaścitta (in II. 2.); rules about holidays (anadhyāya) occur immediately after the eight forms of marriage and the condemnation of the sale of a daughter (I. 11). Rules about *snātaka* occur in two places (I. 3 and II. 3. 10 ff.). Baudhāyana quotes at least 90 verses introduced by the words "athāpyudāharanti," more than 80 being from the first two praśnas alone. There are over two hundred other verses, about 80 of which occur in the first two praśnas and about ten are Vedic. Some of the verses even in the first two praśnas do not appear to be quotations e. g. I. 1. 16, II. 2. 1, II. 3. 50, II. 3. 52-54 and 56. A verse quoted is in the Vaṁśastha metre (IV. 3. 14); there are two verses in the Upajāti metre taken as a quotation (II. 3.18). There are some prose quotations introduced with the words "athāpyudāharanti" (e. g. II. 4. 5 and II. 6. 30 which refers to the *asura* Kapila, son of Prahlāda). The language of the Baud. Dh. S. is archaic and often departs from the Pāṇinean standard. Baudhāyana employs such un-Pāṇinean forms as "gṛhya" (for gṛhītvā in II. 5. 1), pūjya (II. 9. 5.), "adhigacchānaḥ" (in II. 9. 9.), ānayitvā (III. 3. 6), "punatha" (in III. 6. 5, probably a quotation), "tebhiḥ" (for taiḥ in III. 2. 16, a quotation). In several places Baudhāyana states opposite views and then gives his own opinion on the point, e. g. Baud. I. 5. 105-109 (about impurity on birth); II. 1. 49-51.