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A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature So Far as it Illustrates the Primitive Religion of the Brahmans - Max, 1859

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The same is implied, no doubt, in the other Sdtras, which give the rules as to the proper time when a young Brahman, a young Esha- triya, or a young Yai^ya should be apprenticed with their spiritual tutors, but never say at what age this or similar ceremonies should be performed for one not belonging to these three Yarnas. Yet they never exclude the oMra expressly \ nor do they represent him as the born slave or client of the other castas. In the Dharma-sfttras the social degradation of the l§{kdra is as great as in the later Law-books, and the same crime, if committed by a Brahman and a l^ildra, is visited with very different punishments. Thus, if a member of the three Yarnas commits adultery with the wife of a ^Mra, he is to be banished ; if a 6^dra commits adultery -with the wife of a member of the three Yarnas, he is to be executed.^ If a SAdra 4^l^iil ^ Iftt^ works, such as the Sansk^a-ganapati, this Siitra of Apastamba, which excludes the iSiidras from initiatioDy has been so altered as to admit them. MS. E. L H. 912, p. 16. M&p. i63.b. WM ^BT^: m,m\ ^^: i^ ^rr- lonest 0"^ i,o 9>i ^ honest metJ^^' °^ ^^ ?^^^ Vax^^as hig ^^.o be cut out.;,^ - ^F^^r^^^^^^^- noJ ^^* T^l^*^'' is executed ;lKr^^r' *^^^ ^e the SAdr^;„^, u only d^^S"^^"^". if - ^f^ This 18 tb^ w,k8. But altlTcr' r^**"^ "^^ ^ fv ^^^n by ^^, may be ^:^'^^*^ ^^^* "^ Itt^^^saYalfey^S^ tV^^ l>hara.a-siitras A**^<^ *, be auV ^^*^r^! ^'^utaand Grihya- ^'' StJv^V ,bal tW^at Bucb a supposition is con- ^°^ ^^^.r^tute. ^ti^t tbe Dbarma-sAtras occa. traa\ct^*,!l-t o t^® ^^tbesatne words in explaining . aiooaUy *Ltoploy^'*'*%ite8, the Sansk&ras. They gittras,*^^^^ Initiftt^^ .^ejed as independent coUec- ^"^l °tberefore, be co j^^^pg than the Srauta and sAma-s^thas. 209 Grihya-sAtras, but enjoying the same authority on matters belonging to Smriti or tradition, as theGrihya- siitras. We have still to mention the Ten SAtras of the S&ma-veda.^ These Sfttras ^ do not all, strictly speak- ing, treat of the Kalpa, or the ceremonial. Some of them are little more than lists, such as we find in the Anukramanis or Indices, appended to the other Vedas. Their style, however, approaches the style of the Siitras ; and, as they are quoted together as the Ten Siitras, and as some of them belong decidedly to the earliest productions of the Siitra literature, it will be more convenient to place them here, than to refer them to the Parifiishta literature, with which they have little or nothing in common. They are : I. The Kalpa-sAtra, or Arsheya-kalpa of Ma6aka, an index of the hymns used by the Chhandoga priests, in the order in which the sacrifices are described in the T^dya-brahmana. Eleven Prap&thakas: 1 — 5, on the sacrifices called Ekdha ; 6 — 9, on the sacri- ^ The most important among them were first noticed and de- scribed by Dr. Weber, on whose authority some of our statements must rest. MS. Chamb. 100. fai^l<<^^jM< PRTPT V^^ ^1 Yaradaraja, in his Commentary on Eatyayana's Pratih&ra (MS. BodI.W. 394.). ft^ lll1B^4Jl^M4i^fi<Mdai^>M and again : ^ ^ ^Mliq^inMIH>g|mM)^Hi ^^' 210 jroTiSHA. fices called AMna; 10 — 12, on the sacrifices called Sattra. Commentary by Yaradar&ja. II. The Anupada-sfttra, a gloss to the Tandya- br&hmana, in ten Prap&thakas. IIL The Ealpa-siitra, already mentioned, either of L&ty&yana or Dr&hy&yana. L&tySyana quotes Ma- 6aka, and follows the order of the T&ndya-brdhmana. IV. The NidAna-sAtra, on Metres, in ten Prap&- thakas. V. The TJpagrantha-sAtra, a treatise on the per- formance of some of the S&ma-veda sacrifices, com- monly ascribed to K&ty&yana.^ VI. The Kshudra-siitra or Kshaudra, in three Pra- pflithakas, equally treating of the ceremonial of the Sftma-veda.^ VII. The Tand&lakshana-sAtra. VIII. The Panchavidha-sAtra ^, in two Prapftthakas. IX. The Ealpd^nupada, and X. The Anustotra-sAtra *, in two Prap&thakas. We miss in this list the Pushpa-sAtra, ascribed to Gobhila, and containing rules on the adaptation of the text of the hymns to their musical performance. Jyotisha, ob Astrgngmt. The last of the Ved&ngas is called Jyotisha^ or Cf. Ind. Studien, i. 43. 54. 56. 58 ; MS. E. I. H. 121. m^j^^ <^l|4JH|4^^ copied Samvat, 1586 s= 1530 a.d. by Fandita Sri La- kshmidhara, son of Sri Bhtma, t^rt^Mil^jj,^ ^fj^: IRTJqr: || 2 MS. Bodl. W. 375. 8MS.Bodl.W.375. Begins H4c|lcn;0^^^^'OM5^<<Pl- ^^l(^ W^l fPTNt^ W^ NI^I<^IVr:il One of these five Bhaktis, the Pratiharn, is described in the Pratihara- siitra, ascribed to Eatyajana, and explained bj Yaradaraja. < MS. BodL W. 375. JYOTISHA. 211 Astronomy. Its literature is very scanty, and the small treatise, generally quoted as the Jyotisha, be- longs to the same class of works as the Sikshft. Colebrooke speaks of different Jyotishas for each Veda, and he calls one, which has a conmientary, the Jyotisha of the Kig-veda. Among his MSS., how- ever, which are now deposited at the East India House, there is but one work of this kind. It exists in various MSS- (Nos, 1378, 1743, 1520), and the differences between these MSS. are so small that we could hardly consider them as distinct works. This tract is later than the Slltra period, and we possess as yet no work on ancient astronomy, composed in the style of the early Sfttras. Notwithstanding its modern form, however, the doctrines which are pro- pounded in this small treatise represent the earliest stage of Hindu astronomy. The theories on which it is founded, and the rules which it lays down, are more simple, less scientific, than anything we find in other astronomical treatises. Nor is it the object of this small tract to teach astronomy. It has a practical object, which is to convey such knowledge of the heavenly bodies as is necessary for fixing the days and hours of the Vedic sacrifices. It was the establishment of a sacred Calendar, which in India, as elsewhere, gave the first impulse to astronomical studies. Thus we meet in the Br&hmanas and Aranyakas with frequent allusions to astronomical subjects, and even in the hymns we find traces which indicate a certain advance in the observation of the moon, as the measurer of time. The fact that the name of the moon is the same in Sanskrit, Greek, and German, and that it is derived from a root which p 2 212 JTOTISHA. originally means to measure, shows that even before the separation of the Indo-European family, the moon had been looked upon as the chief means of measuring time. And the close connection between the names of moon and month proves that a certain knowledge of lunar chronology existed during the same early period. In one passage of the Rig-veda ^ the moon is mentioned in connection with the Nakshatras, and we can hardly doubt that this is an allusion to the Nakshatras, the well-known name of the Lunar Man- sions or the Lunar Zodiac. In the hymns ^ the phases of the moon have not only received proper names, but they have been personified, and are in- voked as deities to grant progeny to their wor- shippers. Again, there is a passage in the first book of the Rig-veda, where, in addition to the twelve months, a thirteenth or intercalary month is men- tioned. The poet says there (Rv. i. 25. 8.), " He ( Varuna), firm in his work, knows the twelve months with their offspring, and knows the month which is produced in addition." It has been objected that the idea of an intercalary month was too scientific for the early poets of the Veda, and a different trans- lation has been proposed : " Varuna, who knows the twelve months, and knows those which are to come." But the poet would not have used the singular of the verb, if he meant the plural. He could not have ^ Ry. yiii. 3. 20 : '' &tho n&kshatran^m esha'm up&sthe 8<Sma ^'hitah," ** Soma is placed in the lap of these Nakshatras." > Ry. ii. 32. Rak&, the full moon ; Sinivali, the last day before the new moon ; and Gungu, the new moon, are mentioned. Ry. y. 42. 12, R&ka occurs again ; and x. 48. 8. we read Gungubhjah. In both these passages, howeyer, the poet is speaking of riyers, and not of the moon. JYonsHA. 213 said, " the twelve months and those which are to come/' if he meant to say, ^^ the past months and those which are to come/' No doubt the acquaint ance with an intercalary month presupposes a certain knowledge of lunar and solar astronomy, but not more than what a shepherd or a sailor might gain in the course of his life.