History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s63.4

v1.c6.s63.4

From these two works a brief account of the personal history of Govindarāja can be extracted. The colophons at the end of the Manuṭīkā describe Govindarāja as the son of bhaṭṭa Mādhava. The first verse⁷⁰⁷ of the Smṛtimañjarī and one at the end (though somewhat corrupt) give the information that he was the son of Mādhava and grand-son of Nārāyaṇa and appears to have lived on the holy banks of the Ganges.⁷⁰⁸ Those who like Sarvadhikari identify Govindarāja with Govindacandra, prince of Benares, are therefore entirely wrong since he was a Brāhmaṇa and not a Kṣatriya. The first verse⁷⁰⁹ of his Manuṭīkā contains an obeisance to god (or Śiva) and states that he had received the śāstra of Manu in an unbroken tradition of teacher and pupil and that he had examined previous commentaries of Manu.