History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.t2.268

v4.c63.t2.268

¹⁴⁵¹ The word 'bandhu' is a very ancient one and has been used in various senses throughout the ages. In Ṛg. I. 113. 2 Night and Dawn (Uṣas) are called *samānabandhū* (bound together or having a common relative). In Ṛg. I. 154. 5 (*urukramasya sa hi bandhur-itthā*) the word appears to be used in the sense of 'friend'. In Ṛg. I. 164. 33 'nābhi' and 'bandhu' are employed one after another. The sage Vasiṣṭha tells Aśvins (Ṛg. VII. 72. 2) that their mutual friendship is ancestral and their relation is common (*yuvorhi naḥ sakhyā pitryāṇi samāno bandhuruta tasya vittam*). Vide also Ṛg. V. 73. 4, VIII. 21. 4, VIII. 100. 6, IX. 14. 2 In the Atharvaveda V. 11. 11 Atharvan is said to be the bandhu of the gods and Varuṇa is said to be both the friend (*sakhā*) and *bandhu* (relative) of the sage. In Atharvaveda VI. 15. 2 and VI. 54. 3 the same half verse occurs, 'whoever *(Continued from the last page)* whether our relative or not attacks us' *sabandhuścasabandhuśca yosmānabhidāsati*). In the Vāj. S. IV. 22 (*asme ramasvāsme te bandhuḥ*) ' the poet prays that the god may find delight in them and find in them his bandhu. Among sūtras Gaut. IV. 3 and Vārāhagṛhya 9 speak of pitṛbandhus and mātṛbandhus (persons related through the father and mother). In Yāj. the word *bandhu* or *bāndhava* occurs many times and has at least three senses viz. relative in general (in I. 82, 108, 113, 116, 220; II. 144, 280; III. 11, 239), agnate (II. 294), cognate (II. 135, 149, 264). Manu IX. 158 and XII. 79 employ the word bandhu in the sense of relative in general. The Āp. Dh. S. I. 7. 21. 8 and II. 5. 11. 16 and Gaut. 14. 18 employ the word '*yonisambandha*' for persons connected through a female. On the other hand Pāṇini V. 3. 23 (ṛto vidyāyonisambandhebhyaḥ) appears to employ the word in a general sense viz. 'blood relation' (whether paternal or maternal). Another word frequently used from Vedic times is 'jñāti' which generally means 'agnate' or 'relative'. Vide Ṛg. X. 66. 14, X. 117. 9. In the Atharvaveda IV. 5. 6 a man desirous of a clandestine intercourse with a woman prays '*svapantvasyai jñātayaḥ svaptvayam-abhito janaḥ*'. In I. 1. 35 Pāṇini appears to use the word jñāti in the sense of agnates 'स्वमज्ञातिधनाख्यायाम्'. In Gaut. II. 43, Āp. Dh. S. I. 3. 10. 3 'jñāti' occurs and is explained by Haradatta as agnatic relations. In Manu III. 31 (*jñātibhyo draviṇam dattvā*) jñāti appears to mean paternal relations. In Manu III. 264, IV. 179, Yāj. II. 149 jñāti is distinguished from bāndhava or bandhu and so means 'agnates'. Two other words are '*sajāta*' and '*sanābhi*'. The first occurs in the Tai. S. I. 6. 2. 1 and I. 6. 10. 1 (*ugrohaṁ sajāteṣu bhūyāsam*) and in the Atharvaveda I. 9. 3, III. 8. 2, VI. 5. 2 and means 'agnates or kinsmen'. The word sanābhi occurs in Ṛg. IX. 89. 4 and means also the same thing as 'jñāti' in Āp. Gṛ. VII. 20. 18, Manu V. 72, Bṛ. (S. B. E. 33 p. 310 verse 11), but in the Nirukta IV. 21 and in Kāt. (q. by Aparārka pp. 669-670) the word *sanābhi* is used in a wider sense (as including paternal and maternal relations). The Amarakośa gives sapiṇḍa as a synonym of sanābhi. नाभ्या संबद्धा गर्भा जायन्ते इत्याहुरेतस्मादेव ज्ञातीन् सनाभय इत्याचक्षते सबन्धव इति च। निरुक्त IV. 21. क्षीरस्वामी (on अमरकोश) explains समानो नाभिमूलमेषां ते सनाभयः and relies on पाणिनि VI. 3. 85.