History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s7.30

v1.c6.s7.30

About the home and personal history of Āpastamba little is known. Āpastamba is not an ancient name. It does not occur in the Vedic texts. It occurs in the *gaṇa* "Bidādi" in Pāṇini IV. 1. 104. He speaks of himself as belonging to later ages (*avara*). Vide Āpastamba¹⁰¹ I. 2. 5. 4. and II. 6. 13. 9. In the *tarpaṇa* he is generally mentioned after Bodhāyana and before Satyāṣāḍha Hiraṇyakeśin (vide note 68a above). Therefore according to tradition his school was elder or more authoritative than that of Hiraṇyakeśin. In one place Āpastamba refers to a peculiar śrāddha usage of the *udīcyas* (II. 7. 17. 17).¹⁰² Āpastamba must be supposed to have embodied in his work the usages of his own country. If he specially mentions the usages of a particular locality, it would follow that he did not hail from that locality. But the exact meaning of "Udīcya" is doubtful. Haradatta quotes a verse of the grammarians, according to which the country north of the Śarāvatī was called "Udīcya". According to the Mahārṇava quoted in the commentary on the caraṇavyūha the Āpastambīyas were to be found to the south of the Narmadā, in the south-east, that is, in Āndhra and the territory about the mouth of the Godāvarī. Therefore it is natural to suppose that Āpastamba's school had its origin in the south and probably in Āndhra. The Pallavas made land grants to Āpastambīyas. Vide I. A. vol. V. page 155.