History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.205

v4.c63.205

Yāj. II. 84-94, Nār. IV. 69-75 and 135-146, Bṛ., Kāt. 249-312, Śukra II. 291-318, IV. 172-182 and several digests devote great attention to documents. A few salient points only will be brought out here. Nār. (IV. 70-71) eulogises documents by saying that if the Creator had not created writing which is like an excellent eye, the world would have come to grief and that a document is an indubitable means of apprehending the time, the place, the object, the material, the extent and the duration of a transaction. Bṛ. (q. in V. P. p. 141) says that, since⁴³⁵ people begin to entertain doubts (about a transaction) even in six months (from an occurrence or transaction) the Creator therefore created in the hoary past letters which are recorded on writing material (*patra*). The Lalitavistara (about 2nd or 3rd century A. D.) mentions 64 scripts which were known to the Buddha, among which the first is Brāhmī (10th chap. p. 143). Nār., Bṛ., and Śukra probably try to explain why the alphabet current in their days was called Brāhmī (it was created by Brahmā). Śukra II. 297, IV. 5. 172 are similar verses. The texts divide documents in different ways. Viṣṇu⁴³⁶ Dh. S.