History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s7.1

v1.c6.s7.1

This has been edited several times (*viz.* by Bühler in the Bombay Sanskrit series with large extracts from Haradatta's commentary called Ujjvalā and also at Kumbhakonam with the complete commentary of Haradatta and translated by Bühler with an introduction in S. B. E. vol. II). The Āpastambakalpasūtra of the Taittirīya Śākhā of the black Yajurveda is divided into 30 *praśnas*. According to Bühler, the first 24 praśnas contain the treatment of Śrauta sacrifices; the 25th contains *paribhāṣās*, pravarakhaṇḍa, and Hautraka prayers to be recited by Hotṛ priests; 26th and 27th *praśnas* constitute the Gṛhyasūtra, the 28th and 29th Dharmasūtra and the 30th *praśna* is the Śulvasūtra. Bühler seems to be slightly inaccurate here. According to Cauṇḍappa, who commented on the Āpastambīya sūtras in the 14th century, the Āpastambīyamantrapāṭha forms the 25th and 26th praśnas of the Kalpasūtra and the Gṛhyasūtra forms 27th praśna.⁸⁰ The Śrauta-sūtra of Āpastamba was edited by Dr. Garbe in the B. I. series; the Gṛhya and Mantrapāṭha were edited by Dr. Winternitz. The Gṛhya with the commentary of Sudarśanārya has been edited in the Mysore Govt. Oriental series by Pandit Mahadeva Sastri (in 1893). It is divided into eight paṭalas and 23 khaṇḍas. According to the Caraṇavyūha, Āpastamba (or "bha" as written in many southern mss.) is one of the five subdivisions of the Khāṇḍikīya school of the Taittirīyaśākhā of the Black Yajurveda. Whether the author of the Āpastambīya Śrauta, Gṛhya and Dharma sūtras is the same is difficult to determine. One sūtra in the Āpastambadharma (II. 2. 5. 17) is the same as Ap. Śrauta (III. 17. 8 and VIII. 4. 6). Oldenberg (S. B. E. vol. 30, p. XXXII) does not subscribe to Bühler's view (S. B. E. Vol. II, pp. XIII-XIV) that the authors of the Ap. Śrauta and Dharma were identical and gives it as his own view that another person of the same school might have imitated the style of the author of the Śrauta. Whatever may be said of the identity of the authorship of the Śrauta and Dharma sūtras, the Gṛhya and Dharma seem to be very closely related and both seem to be the compositions of the same author. The Ap. Gṛhya sūtra, as compared with the Āśvalāyana-gṛhya or Gobhilagṛhya, is extremely brief and leaves out many rules that are given in other Gṛhya works. For example, about the choice of a girl Ap. gṛhya gives only a single rule (I. 3. 19⁸¹). While it is the Dharmasūtra that tells us that the bride must not be *sagotra* nor *sapiṇḍa* (Āp. Dh. S. II. 5. 11. 15-16). The Ap. Gṛhya is silent about the forms of marriage, about holidays, about the duties of *brahmacārins* and such other subjects which are generally treated of in other Gṛhyasūtras. These subjects are dealt with in the Ap. Dh. S. and there are several places where the Dharmasūtra presupposes the existence of the Gṛhya and refers to it. Compare Āp. Dh. S. II. 1, 1. 10-11⁸² with Ap. Gr. S. III. 7 (particularly sūtras 1, 17, 23). Vide note 54 above. Some sūtras are identical in the Gṛhya and Dharma, e. g. Āp. Dh. S. I. 1. 2. 38 and Gṛhya IV. 11. 15-16 (about the staff of Brahmacārin); Ap. Dh. S. II. 4. 8. 7 and Gṛhya V. 13. 19. In some cases the Gṛhya-sūtra itself seems to refer to the teachings of the Dharmasūtra, e. g. Gṛhya 8. 21. 1 and Dharma II. 7. 16. 6-7. All these facts make it highly probable, if not certain, that the Gṛhya and Dharma sūtras were composed by the same author and that the details of certain topics were purposely omitted in the Gṛhya to avoid repetition. The Smṛticandrikā (III. p. 458) distinctly asserts that the author of the Dhārmasūtra and the Gṛhyasūtra was the same.