History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.t2.753.4

v4.c63.t2.753.4

116-136 on 'the date and time of the Bhārata war', in which he takes into account only the material available in the Epic itself and bases his conclusions on the principle of following the voice of the majority. He furnishes a useful table in an appendix that shows at a glance some of the important astronomical passages of the Mahābhārata with their interpretations given by the commentators Arjunamiśra and Nīlakaṇṭha and by Mr. Karandikar and himself and finally gives his opinion that the traditional view of the date (3101 B. C.) is approximately correct. It appears that he had not, when he wrote the article, the work of Dr. Daftari before him nor Prof. Sen-Gupta's devastating criticism of it. It will be apparent from the above that the attempts to settle the exact date of the Mahābhārata war on the strength of the astronomical materials contained therein are dismal failures. Hardly any two scholars agree on the exact dates so arrived at, which range from 1193 B. C. to 3101 B. C. and even beyond. There are many reasons for this disappointing result. In the first place, several of the criteria mentioned in the epic are hopelessly inconsistent, as will be made clear a little below by a few examples. Further, several scholars assume that the epic was composed within a short time (about three years according to Ādiparva, 62, 52, cr. ed. chap. 56. 32) after the war. Many (including my humble self) cannot subscribe to this view.