History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c93.56

v7.c93.56

In Pāṇini's time there were mendicant ascetics (bhikṣus) who studied the 'Bhikṣusūtra of Pārāśarya' or 'the Bhikṣusūtra of Karmanda' and were designated 'Pārāśariṇaḥ' and 'Karmandinah'.¹⁹⁰¹ A *bhiksu* represents the order of *Sannyāsa*. Therefore, a Bhiksusūtra must have had as its subject sannyāsa, the time for it, the rules of the order, the final goal to be attained and so on. The Br. Up. (III. 5. 1 and IV. 4. 22) emphasizes that those who realize *brahma* give up all desires and practise begging. The Gautama-dharmasūtra¹⁹⁰² says the same thing. No trace is found of the Bhiksusūtra of Karmanda. But it is possible to say that the Bhiksusūtra propounded by Pārāśarya must have been somewhat like the extant Brahmasūtra or one of its predecessors. This would be the earliest reference to a sūtra by Pārāśarya on the sannyāsāśrama. The date of Pāṇini is not beyond dispute. But no modern scholar would place him after 300 B. C. The present writer would place him as early as at least 500 or 600 B. C. The result would be that the Bhiksusūtra of Pārāśarya named by Pāṇini would have to be placed at some time between 400 B. C. to 700 B. C. Further light is shed by Vārtika¹⁹⁰³ (1) on Pāṇini IV. 1. 97, from which it follows that Vyāsa's '*apatya*' (son) was called Vaiyāsaki, that is Śuka (according to the Mahābhāṣya). Bādarāyaṇa is formed from Badara which is a word in the Naḍādi-gaṇa (consisting of about 76 words), according to Pāṇini IV. 1. 99 (*Naḍādibhyaḥ phak*), Bādari being the son of Badara, Bādarāyaṇa being the grandson (or a remoter male descendant) of Badara. At some period Vyāsa and Bādarāyaṇa came to be confounded and Śuka, who was the son of Vyāsa according to the Vārtika and the Mahābhāṣya, came to be called Bādarāyaṇi (son of Bādarāyaṇa) as shown by the Bhāgavatapurāṇa (XII. 5. 8 where Śuka is said to be 'Bhagavān Bādarāyaṇiḥ'). It appears that from the 9th century A. D. Bādarāyaṇa came to be confounded with Vyāsa Pārāśarya.