Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s8.974

v2.c4.s8.974

All the references to Śvetaketu belong to the latest period of Vedic literature. It is, therefore, not surprising that the Āpastamba Dharma Sūtra⁹ should refer to him as an Avara, or person of later days, who still became a Ṛṣi by special merit. His date, however, must not be fixed too low, because the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa in which he plays so marked a part is certainly earlier than Pāṇini, and was apparently even in that grammarian's time believed to be an ancient work; hence 500 B.C. is probably rather too late than too early a period for Śvetaketu as a rough approximation to a date.¹⁰