DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49827#0080
SMRITI FRAGMENTS.
65
for the present to venture a more definite statement than Lecture
this that they belong more probably to the latest than to ni-
the earlier phases in the growth of Indian Law. Thus Misceiiane-
the Angiras-smriti ordains the performance of Sati, which ous Frag-
is also recommended in the Smritis of Vishnu, Brihaspati,
Vyasa, Harita and in some others, but in none of the oldest
works.1 Bharadvaja speak,s of two sorts of pledges that
are not mentioned anywhere else. That the author of
the Smi^ti-sangraha (Sangrahakara) cannot be an early
writer is shown by the meaning of Sangraha, i.e. col-
lection, this collection being no doubt made up of the
sayings of earlier sages; and this supposition is fully
borne out by the contents of the fragments quoted frohi
the Sangraha.2
The works attributed to Vriddha or Brihan-Manu, V. or 2. The
Brihad Yajnavalkya, V. or B. Vasishtha, V. or B. Vyasa, V. ®eiiera-
Gautama, V. Katyayana, V. or B. Brihaspati, Laghu and V. or of divers
B. Harita, etc., are, by the addition of such epithets as these, Smritis.
distinguished from Mann, Yajnavalkya, etc., themselves. It
has been sometimes supposed that the addition of the epi-
thet Vriddha “ old,” e. g., to the name of Manu, proves that
this “ old Manu ” must have lived in an earlier epoch than
the author of the Code of Manu. But an examination of the
facts shows that no genuine historical tradition is embodied
in these epithets. Thus the metrical Smriti of Vriddha, Gau-
tama. “ the old Gautama,” as published in Calcutta, is clearly
a modern production, of sectarian origin, and separated by
thousands of years from the Dharmasutra of Gautama. It
differs likewise from that metrical Smriti of Vriddha
Gautama, which is occasionally quoted in the authoritative
Digests, and this work also, though older than the one
printed in Calcutta, must be more recent than the Dhar-
masutra. Among the few Clokas attributed to V. or B.
O .t.
Manu are three on the transport of commodities and the
hire of vehicles, which are similar to tjie corresponding
rules of Yajnavalkya and Narada, and show that the Law
of Commerce and Trade must have been comparatively
developed at the time of their composition. They also
contain two words 'which have a modern appearance, the
1 See below, p. 80. »
2 Thus the Sangraha contains some curious speculations about the
nature of Property and of Inheritance. Several customs, the perform-
ance of which is enjoined in the other works, are declared obsolete in
the Sangraha.
5
65
for the present to venture a more definite statement than Lecture
this that they belong more probably to the latest than to ni-
the earlier phases in the growth of Indian Law. Thus Misceiiane-
the Angiras-smriti ordains the performance of Sati, which ous Frag-
is also recommended in the Smritis of Vishnu, Brihaspati,
Vyasa, Harita and in some others, but in none of the oldest
works.1 Bharadvaja speak,s of two sorts of pledges that
are not mentioned anywhere else. That the author of
the Smi^ti-sangraha (Sangrahakara) cannot be an early
writer is shown by the meaning of Sangraha, i.e. col-
lection, this collection being no doubt made up of the
sayings of earlier sages; and this supposition is fully
borne out by the contents of the fragments quoted frohi
the Sangraha.2
The works attributed to Vriddha or Brihan-Manu, V. or 2. The
Brihad Yajnavalkya, V. or B. Vasishtha, V. or B. Vyasa, V. ®eiiera-
Gautama, V. Katyayana, V. or B. Brihaspati, Laghu and V. or of divers
B. Harita, etc., are, by the addition of such epithets as these, Smritis.
distinguished from Mann, Yajnavalkya, etc., themselves. It
has been sometimes supposed that the addition of the epi-
thet Vriddha “ old,” e. g., to the name of Manu, proves that
this “ old Manu ” must have lived in an earlier epoch than
the author of the Code of Manu. But an examination of the
facts shows that no genuine historical tradition is embodied
in these epithets. Thus the metrical Smriti of Vriddha, Gau-
tama. “ the old Gautama,” as published in Calcutta, is clearly
a modern production, of sectarian origin, and separated by
thousands of years from the Dharmasutra of Gautama. It
differs likewise from that metrical Smriti of Vriddha
Gautama, which is occasionally quoted in the authoritative
Digests, and this work also, though older than the one
printed in Calcutta, must be more recent than the Dhar-
masutra. Among the few Clokas attributed to V. or B.
O .t.
Manu are three on the transport of commodities and the
hire of vehicles, which are similar to tjie corresponding
rules of Yajnavalkya and Narada, and show that the Law
of Commerce and Trade must have been comparatively
developed at the time of their composition. They also
contain two words 'which have a modern appearance, the
1 See below, p. 80. »
2 Thus the Sangraha contains some curious speculations about the
nature of Property and of Inheritance. Several customs, the perform-
ance of which is enjoined in the other works, are declared obsolete in
the Sangraha.
5