History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c90.164.4

v7.c90.164.4

Therefore, it must be held that they were not recognized as Upapurāṇas at the time when the verses about Upapurāṇas were interpolated in the Matsya and were not so recognized till at least the 8th or 9th century A D The Viṣṇudharma is opposed to what is stated by all writers from the Gṛhya and Dharmasūtras, by Manu (III. 128–186), by Matsya, Kūrma and other Purāṇas about the qualifications of the brāhmaṇas to be invited at a śrāddha dinner (vide H. of Dh. vol IV pp. 384–387). It expressly says that squint-eyed, hunch-backed, impotent, poor and diseased brāhmaṇas should be mixed up at a śrāddha along with those who are deeply versed in the Veda.¹⁴⁰⁹ This does not bespeak an early date On p. 138 Prof Hazra refers to several nibandhakāras as quoting from Viṣṇudharma such as Gadādhara up to Ballālasena, Aparārka and Kṛtyakalpataru. These do not carry the date beyond 1000 A. D and besides an examination of quotations in only one work (Aparārka) will show that the Viṣṇudharma was an hotch-potch bringing together passages from several sources (vide note).¹⁴¹⁰ Prof. Hazra himself holds that the original Viṣṇudharma was appropriated and recast by Bhāgavatas and that many verses quoted from Viṣṇudharma by Raghunandana, Govindānanda and the Madanapārijāta do not occur in the present work (pp. 154-155).