Grihya Sutras

SR No.: 007685
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Hermann Oldenberg
Publisher: Oxford
Publication Year: 1886
Total Pages: 2642
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 49 MB

Page 1927

INTRODUCTION
TO THE
FRAGMENTS OF BRI HASPATI.
THE fragments of Brihaspati are among the most precious relics of the early legal literature of India. Apart from Importance of their intrinsic value and interest, as containing
Brihaspati. a very full exposition of the whole range of the Hindu law, their close connexion with the Code of Manu gives them a special claim to consideration, and renders them a valuable link in the chain of evidence' by which the date of the most authoritative code of ancient India has been approximately determined 2.
The connexion between the Manu and Brihaspati Smritis appears first from the way in which Brihaspati refers to, He refers to and quotes from, the Code of Manu. In the
Manu. chapter on Gambling and Betting, Brihaspati says (XXVI, 1), Gambling has been prohibited by Manu, because it destroys truth, honesty, and wealth. It has been permitted by others, when conducted so as to allow the king a share (of every stake).' The observation that Manu disagrees with the other legislators as to the permissibility of gambling is perfectly just. See Manu IX, 221–228; Yâgñavalkya II, 199–203 ; Åpastamba II, 25, 12, 13; Narada XVII, 1-8; Katyayana XXV, 1. Brihaspati goes on to say (XXVI, 2) that 'Gambling shall take place under the superintendence of keepers of gaming-houses, for the purpose of discovering thieves.' This rule agrees almost literally with Yagñavalkya II, 203, and the fact that Brihaspati does not refer to Yagñavalkya by name, although he names Manu, can only be accounted for by his very particular veneration for the latter, as the fountain-head of Sacred Law.—On the
Bühler, The Laws of Manu (Sacred Books of the East, vol. xxv), pp.cviii-cx. • What follows up to p. 375 has been reprinted, with modifications and additions, from a paper on Manu and Brihaspati,' in the first volume of the Vienna Zeitschrift f. d. Kunde d. Morgenlandes, pp. 275-280.
Digitized by Google