History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c89.180

v7.c89.180

¹²⁴⁰ ये च न दोषाञ्जनयन्त्युत्पातास्तान्मृतुस्वभावकृतान्। ऋषिसुतकृताै श्लोकैर्विद्यादेतैः समासौक्तै ॥ वज्राशनिमहीकम्पसन्ध्यानिर्घातनि स्sub>वनाः । परिवेषरजोधूमरक्तार्कास्तमनोदया ॥ द्रुमेभ्योऽन्तरसस्नेहबह्रपुष्पफलोद्गमा । गोपक्ष्ममद्वृद्धिश्च शिवाय मधुमाधवे ॥ ॰॰॰ऋतुस्वभावजा ह्येते दृष्टा स्वर्तौ शुभप्रदाः । ऋतोरन्यत्र चोत्पाता दृष्टास्ते चातिदारुणाः ॥ बृहत्स 45 82-84 and 95 The occurrence of these twelve verses (45. 83-94) both in Br S. and Viṣṇudharmottara raises the important question of the chronological relation of the two works Varāhamihira expressly tells us that he took the twelve verses (45 83-94) from Ṛṣiputra or shortened them Therefore, he did not borrow from the Viṣṇudharmottara Ṛṣiputra has been often quoted by Varāha in his works (vide above p 593 and my paper in JBBRAS for 1948-49, vol 24-25, p 15) The अ सा pp 743-744 quotes the verses from बार्हस्पत्य, मत्स्यपुराण, विष्णुधर्मोत्तर and वराहसंहिता The twelve verses occur in मत्स्य 229. 14-25, विष्णुधर्मोत्तर II. 134 15-26 It must be stated that अ सा ( *Continued from last page* ) agrees most closely with बृहत्संहि., while in the मत्स्य the readings and the order of verses differ a good deal from the अ. सा. In my 'History of Sanskrit Poetics' (1951) pp. 64-70 I arrived for the Viṣṇudharmottara at a date between 500-600 A. D. on other evidence. In my opinion it is probable that the Viṣṇudharmottara borrows the verses from the Bṛhat-saṁhitā. If that be accepted, the Viṣṇudharmottara (at least the 2nd section of it) must be later than 600 A. D. It is possible to argue that the Purāṇa might have taken them from Ṛṣiputra. But the Purāṇa does not say so and in keeping with the assumed character of the Purāṇas as composed by the semi-divine Vyāsa at the beginning of Kaliyuga, the Purāṇas generally take care not to admit any borrowing from a merely human author. It should be noted that three of the verses quoted only from Yogayātrā of Varāha by अ. सा. p. 494 occur in विष्णुधर्मोत्तर II. 176. 9-11.