History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c45.2

v3.c45.2

Vaikhānasa appears to have been the ancient name for Vānaprastha. In the Anukramaṇī one hundred Vaikhānasas are said to have been the seers of Ṛg. IX. 66 and a Vāmra Vaikhānasa is the seer of Ṛg. X. 99. The Tai. Ā. I. 23 connects the word Vaikhānasa with the *nakhas* of Prajāpati (ye nakhās te vaikhānasāḥ).²¹¹⁵ It appears that in ancient times there was some work called Vaikhānasa śāstra which treated of the rules for forest hermits. Gaut. III. 2 uses the word Vaikhānasa for this āśrama. Baud. Dh. S. II. 6. 19 defines a vānaprastha²¹¹⁶ as one who follows the practices laid down in Vaikhānasa-śāstra. Vṛddha-Gautama (chap. VIII, p. 564) appears to suggest that Vaikhānasas and Pāñcarātrikas were two schools of Vaiṣṇavas, the former calling Viṣṇu by the appellations of Puruṣa, Acyuta and Aniruddha, while the Pāñcarātrikas spoke of Viṣṇu as having the four *mūrtis* or *vyūhas* viz. Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha.²¹¹⁷ The Par. M. vol. I, part 2, p. 139 after quoting Vas. Dh. S. 9. 11 (śrāmaṇakenāgnimādhaya) remarks that Śrāmaṇaka is Vaikhānasa-sūtra that propounds the duties of *tapasvins*. Kālidāsa in the Śākuntala speaks of the life led by the charming Śakuntalā in Kaṇva's hermitage as *vaikhānasa vrata*²¹¹⁸ (I. 27). Manu VI. 21 describes the Vānaprastha as abiding by the views (*mata*) of Vaikhānasa and Medhātithi explains that Vaikhānasa is a śāstra in which the duties of the forest hermit are expounded. The Mahā- bhārata²¹¹⁹ (Śānti 20. 6 and 26. 6) states that the view of the Vaikhānasa is that it is better to have no desire for amassing wealth than to hanker after wealth. Śaṅkarācārya on Vedāntasūtra III. 4. 20 speaks of the third āśrama as vaikhānasa and as indicated by the word *tapas* used in Chān. Up. II. 23. 1.