DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52359#0036
xxxii visidvu.
and those referred to in LVI, the laws of Vishzzu name no
other work except the Purazzas, Itihasas, and Dharmamstras.
7. As the Vishzzuitic editor did not scruple to alter the im-
port of a certain number of passages, the modernisation of
the language of the whole work, which was probably as rich
in archaic forms and curious old terms as the KaVzaka
Grzhya-sutra and as the Dharma-sutra of Apastamba, may
be likewise attributed to him. As it is, the Vishzzu-sutra
agrees in style and expressions more closely with the
Smrz’tis of Mann and Yagmavalkya than with any other
work, and it is at least not inferior to the former work in
the preservation of archaic forms. Thus the code of Manu
has seven aorist forms1, while the Vishzzu-sutra contains six,
not including those occurring in Vedic Mantras which are
quoted by their Pratikas only. Of new words and meanings
of words the Vishzzu-sutra contains also a certain number ;
they have lately been communicated by me to Dr. von Bdht-
lingk for insertion in his new Dictionary.
All the points noticed render it necessary to assign a
comparatively recent date to the Vishzzuitic editor; and if
the introduction of the week of the Greeks into the ancient
Dharma-sutra has been justly attributed to him, he cannot
be placed earlier than the third or fourth century A. D.2
The lower limit must be put before the eleventh century,
in which the Vishzzu-sutra is quoted in the Mitakshara of
Vigmanewara. From that time downwards it is quoted in
nearly every law digest, and a particularly large number
of quotations occurs in Apararka’s Commentary on Yagma-
valkya, which was composed in the twelfth century3.
Nearly all those quotations, as far as they have been
examined, are actually found in the Vishzzu-sutra ; but the
whole text is vouched for only by Nandapazzzfita’s Com-
mentary, called Vaigmyanti, which was composed in the
1 Whitney, Indische Grammatik, § 826.
2 See Jacobi, Journal of the German Oriental Society. XXX, 306. The first
author with a known date, who shows an acquaintance with the week of the
Greeks, is Varahamihira (sixth century a. d.)
3 See Buhler, Kasmir Report, p. 52. The MSS. used are from the Dekhan
College, Puzza.
and those referred to in LVI, the laws of Vishzzu name no
other work except the Purazzas, Itihasas, and Dharmamstras.
7. As the Vishzzuitic editor did not scruple to alter the im-
port of a certain number of passages, the modernisation of
the language of the whole work, which was probably as rich
in archaic forms and curious old terms as the KaVzaka
Grzhya-sutra and as the Dharma-sutra of Apastamba, may
be likewise attributed to him. As it is, the Vishzzu-sutra
agrees in style and expressions more closely with the
Smrz’tis of Mann and Yagmavalkya than with any other
work, and it is at least not inferior to the former work in
the preservation of archaic forms. Thus the code of Manu
has seven aorist forms1, while the Vishzzu-sutra contains six,
not including those occurring in Vedic Mantras which are
quoted by their Pratikas only. Of new words and meanings
of words the Vishzzu-sutra contains also a certain number ;
they have lately been communicated by me to Dr. von Bdht-
lingk for insertion in his new Dictionary.
All the points noticed render it necessary to assign a
comparatively recent date to the Vishzzuitic editor; and if
the introduction of the week of the Greeks into the ancient
Dharma-sutra has been justly attributed to him, he cannot
be placed earlier than the third or fourth century A. D.2
The lower limit must be put before the eleventh century,
in which the Vishzzu-sutra is quoted in the Mitakshara of
Vigmanewara. From that time downwards it is quoted in
nearly every law digest, and a particularly large number
of quotations occurs in Apararka’s Commentary on Yagma-
valkya, which was composed in the twelfth century3.
Nearly all those quotations, as far as they have been
examined, are actually found in the Vishzzu-sutra ; but the
whole text is vouched for only by Nandapazzzfita’s Com-
mentary, called Vaigmyanti, which was composed in the
1 Whitney, Indische Grammatik, § 826.
2 See Jacobi, Journal of the German Oriental Society. XXX, 306. The first
author with a known date, who shows an acquaintance with the week of the
Greeks, is Varahamihira (sixth century a. d.)
3 See Buhler, Kasmir Report, p. 52. The MSS. used are from the Dekhan
College, Puzza.