Yasastilaka and Indian Culture

SR No.: 001609
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Krishnakant Handiqui
Publisher: Jain Sanskruti Samrakshak Sangh Solapur
Publication Year: 1968
Total Pages: 566
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Story, Literature, & Culture
File Size: 16 MB

Page 406

14. JAINA CRITICISM OF VEDIO SACRIFICES
387
The verse occurs in a different form in the commentaries of Uvata and Mahidhara on the Vājasaneyisaṁhita 24. 40;
षदशतानि नियुज्यन्ते पशूनां मध्यमेऽहनि । अश्वमेधस्य यज्ञस्य नवभिश्चाधिकानि च ॥
Among other sacrificial citations, all of which are anonymous, we have already reproduced the dubious statement on the Gosava sacrifice quoted in Yasastilaka, Books IV and VII. 30. The dictum Hinnot a gafauri मुरां पिबति न तेन सुरा पीता भवति quoted in the same context cannot be genuine, because although the reference to wine is correct, the name of the rite (sautrāmuni) is incorrectly spelt. The word is, in fact, consistently misspelt by Somadeva who writes sautrāmani for sautrāmani. The following sacrificial verse is cited in VII. 30:
गोसवे सुरभि हन्याद्राजसूये तु भूभुजम् । अश्वमेधे हयं हन्यात् पौण्डरीके च दन्तिनम् ॥ The verse is clearly spurious, and might even be an invention, as it contains the absurd statement that the king is sacrificed at the Rājasūya, The only reference to human sacrifice in the ritual of the Rājasūya is in the legend of Sunaḥśepa, which is recited by the Hotr priest after the anointing of the king, but the story in question is nothing less than a condemnation of the offering of a human victim. Hillebrandt's view that the reoitation of the legend is a reminiscence of a possible early connection of the Rājasūya with human sacrifice is clearly far-fetched, and has been rejected by Keith.
The following citation hearing on the Puruşamedha in Yasastilaka VII. 30 is an example of haphazard quotation or misquotation from sacrificial texts. It reads as follows in Somadeva's work:
___ ब्रह्मणे ब्राह्मणमालमेत इन्द्राय क्षत्रिय मरुद्भ्यो वैश्यं तमसे शद्गमुत्तमसे तस्करम् आत्मने क्लीबं कामाय पुंश्चलमतिकुष्टाय मागधं गीताय सुतमादित्याय स्त्रियं गर्भिणीम् । The passage in question forms part of a longer one found with variations in the Vājasaneyisamhită XXX. 5ff., the Taittiriya Brāhmana III. 4, and the S'atapatha Brāhmana XIII. 6. 2. The ancient text, e. g, that of the Taittiriya Brāhmana, reads as follows:
ब्रह्मणे ब्राह्मणमालभते । क्षत्राय राजन्यम् । मरुभ्यो वैश्यम् । तपसे शुदम् । तमसे तस्करम् । नारकाय वीरहणम् । पाप्मने क्लीबम् । आक्रयायायोगूम् । कामाय पुरश्चलूम् । अतिक्रुष्टाय मागधम् । गीताय मूतम् । नृत्ताय शैलूषम् ।
The principles underlying Vedic injunctions are criticized by Somadeva in the aforesaid controversial dialogue in Yasastilaka, Book
i e. g. Afeche Tetit HTHU in VII. 22. 2 Hillebrandt: Ritual-litteratur, p. 145, and Keith: Rigveda Brāhmanas, p. 62.