History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s7.17

v1.c6.s7.17

The Āpastambadharmasūtra stands in a peculiar relation to the Pūrvamīmāṁsā. It is the only extant Dharmasūtra that contains many of the technical terms and doctrines of the Mīmāṁsā. He says (I. 1. 4. 8) 'a positive Vedic text is more cogent than an usage which merely leads to an inference (of its being based on a Vedic text now lost⁹⁰).' This refers to Jaimini's rule (I. 3. 3) "if there is a conflict between an express Vedic text and Smṛti, the latter is to be disregarded: but if there be no conflict an inference (may be made that the Smṛti is based upon some Śruti)". In another place Āpastamba says (I. 4. 12. 11) 'where an action is done on account of finding pleasure therefrom (i. e. from a worldly motive), there is no (inference of its being based on) Śāstra'. This is the same as Jaimini's teaching (IV. 1. 2)⁹¹. He speaks of the convention (*samaya*) of those who know Nyāya (i. e. Mīmāṁsā) that aṅgas (such as the Kalpasūtras are) cannot be designated the Vedas (which are the principal), which is clearly a reference to Pūrvamīmāṁsa (I. 3. 11-14)⁹² and he says that those who know Nyāya lay down that a mere *anuvāda* (affirming or reciting) of what is well-known to all is not a positive rule (a *vidhi*), which is similar to Jaimini's rule⁹³. The dictum of Āpastamba that the word "sale" (*kraya*) applied to a bride in some Vedic texts is merely figurative closely resembles Jaimini's⁹⁴ remarks on the same point. The remark of Āpastamba that the rules of *anadhyāya* only apply to Vedic study and not to the recital of *mantras* at sacrifices corresponds to a rule in Jaimini⁹⁵ almost in the same words. These examples show that in Āpastamba's day Mīmāṁsā doctrines had been far advanced and that works existed that dealt with Mīmāṁsā topics (Nyāyas). The correspondence in language with the Pūrvamīmāṁsāsūtra is so close that one is tempted to advance the view that Āpastamba knew the extant Mīmāṁsā-sūtra or an earlier version of it that contained almost the same expressions. It cannot be said that all these passages are later interpolations. They have all been explained by Haradatta and one of the sūtras referring to Mīmāṁsā topics occurs in so early a work as the commentary of Viśvarūpa (on Yāj. I. 7) who quotes "Brāhmaṇoktā vidhayaḥ" (Āp. I. 4. 12. 10). The last passage is quoted by Medhātithi also (on Manu II. 6).