English
Other Pari6ishtas, though not ascribed to EUty&yana, are said to be composed in accordance with his opi- nions.^ Again, while the Grihya-sfttras of the Chhandogas are acknowledged as the work of Go- bhila, a Pari^ishta on the same subject is ascribed to the son of Gobhila.* The names of Saunaka and E&ty&yana are frequently invoked at the beginning or end of these works, and though some of them ap- Ms.BodLw.6io. sei<at qRfaiftlpl d<i<> ^w- ^ MS. Bodl W. 504. ^2ir^?|^ TffVR qfifitg ^rrf^T- PARlSlSHTAS. 251 pear to us simply useless and insipid, it is not to be denied that others contain information which we should look for in vain in the S&tras. Their style is less concise than that of the S&tras. The simple Anushtubh l^loka preponderates, and the metre is more regular than that of the genuine Anushtubh compositions of j^aunaka. Their style resembles that of the Bd,rhaddaivata and Rig-vidh&na, works ori- ginally composed by l^aunaka, but handed down to us, as it would seem, in a more modern form. But on the other side the Pari^ishtas have not yet fallen into that monotonous uniformity which we find in works like the M&nava-dharma-sftstra, the Paddhatis, or the later Pur&nas ; and passages from them are literally quoted in the Pur&nas. The Pari^ishtas, therefore, may be considered the very last outskirts of Vedic literature, but they are Vedic in their cha- racter, and it would be difficult to account for their origin at any time except the expiring moments of the Vedic age. The following argument may serve to confirm the favourable view which I take of some of the Pari- 6ishtas. Besides the MSS. of the Charanavy&ha, there is a printed edition of it in R&ja K&dhak&nta Deva's l§abdakalpadruma. This printed text is evi- dently taken from more modern MSS. It quotes seven- teen instead of fifteen S&kh&s of the Vfijasaneyins ; whereas the original number of fifteen is confirmed by our MSS. of the CharanavyAha, by the Pratijnfi,-pari- ^ishta, and even by so late a work as theVishnu-purftna (p. 281.). We may therefore suppose that at the time when the PariSishta, called the Charanavyftha, was originally composed, these two additional i§&kh4s did not yet exist. Now one of them is the i§dkh& of the EdtylLyaniyas, a Sd^khd,, like many of those men- 252 PARISISHTAS. tioned in the Pnr&nas, founded on Sfttras, not ori Bra^hraanas. The fact, therefore, of this modern S&khft not being mentioned in the original Charanavyftha serves as an indication that at the time of the original composition of that Parisishta, sufficient time had not yet elapsed to give to KkiykysLTiB, the celebrity of being the founder of a ne^v $d.khd.. On the other hand it should be stated that P&nini does not seem to have knoivn literary works called Pari^ishtas.^ The number of PariSishtas is frequently stated at eighteen. This may have been their number at some time, or for one particular Veda, but it is now considerably exceeded- The CharanavyAha, itself a Parimshtaj gives the same number; but it seems to speak of the Parisishtaa of the Yajur-veda only. There is a collection of Parifiishtas for each Veda. Works, such as the Bah vricha- parisishta, S&nkhA.yana-pari- feishta, ASvahtyana-grihya-parisishta, must be ascribed to the Rig-veda. A MS, (Bodl. 466.) contains a collection of Pari&ishtas which belong to the S&ma- veda. At the end of the first treatise it is said : " iti S&mag&nam chhandah sanifiptam," " here end the metrea of the SUma-singers.*' * Other treatises be- gin with the invocation, '* Natnah S4maved&ya." The second is called Kratusangraha, on sacrifices; the third, Viniyoga-sangraha, on the employment of hymns; the fourth, Somotpattih, on the origin of Soma. The fifth and sixth treatises contain the index* to the Archika of the S&ma-veda after the Naigeya- ^kh^ As no pointed allusions to other Vedas occur I Parisishta occurs only m a pmtyudaharana in Pan. iv. 1. 48, but it is used there as a ieminine, and in quite a different sense. ^ It la also called chhandasam vichajah, and contains quotations jrom the T&n^ja-brahmana, Pingala, the Nidana, and Uktha-i^tro. FARISISHTAS. 253 in these tracts, there can be little doubt that the %vhole collection of these Pari^ishtas may be classed as S&ma-veda literature. The Chhandoga-parisishta, however, which is commonly ascribed to Kd.tyd.yana, is not found in this MS. The Pariliishtas of the Yajur- veda are enumerated in the Charanavyiiha, and will have to be examined presently. Those of the Athar- vana are estimated by Professor Weber at seventy- four \ and are said to be written in the form of dialogues, in a style similar to that of the Purd.nas, and sometimes, we are told, agreeing literally with phapters of the astrological Sanhit&s. According to the CharanavyAha^ the following are the eighteen Pari^ishtas of the Yajur-veda: 1. The Y^palakshanam ; according to Yydsa's Charanavy^ha, the Upajyotisham. 2. The Chhdgalakshanam ; M&ngalalakshanam, (Vyfisa). 3. The Pratijnfi.; Pratijnanuvllkyam ? (Vyftsa). 4. The Anuv&kasankhy& ; Parisankhyd. (Vyll.sa). 5. The CharanavyAhah ; Charanavyfthah ( Vyfi.sa). 6. The l§r&ddhakalpah'; Sr&ddhakalpah '( Vy&sa). 7. The iSulvik&ni or Sulvani. 8. The P&rshadam. ^ According to a passage in the Charanayjiihay belonging to the Atharvana, the number of the Eau6ikoktani Faridishtani would amount to 70. ' Besides the MS. of the E. L H., and collations of some of the MSS. at Berlin^ I have used the printed edition of the Charana- Tj^ha in Radhak&nta's Sanskrit Encjclopasdia. The MSS. differ so much that it would be hazardous to correct the one bj the other. Thej probably represent different versions of the same text. The name of the author varies likewise. Sometimes he is called Saunaka, sometimes Katj&yana, and in Badhak&nta's edi- tiouy Vj&sa. The last is, perhaps, meant for the same whom we found mentioned before as the author of a Commentary on Patau- jail's Yoga. The text has since been published by Prof. Weber. 254 PARISISHTAS. 9. The Rigyaj^shi. 10. The Ishtak&pftranarn. 11. The Pravar&dhy&yah ; PravarMh^yah (Vy&sa, No. 7.) 12. The Uktha-<etram ; Sastram (Vy&sa, No. 8). 13. The Kratusankhyft; Kratu (Vyftsa, No. 9). 14. The Nigam&h; Agamah (VyiLsa, No. 10). 15. The Yajnap&r6ve or p&rSvam ; Yajnam (VyAsa, No. 11) ; P&r6v&n (Vyfisa, No. 12). 16. The Hautrakam; Hautrakam (Vy&sa, No. 13). 17. The Prasavotthanam ; Pa&avah (VyiLsa, No. 14); Ukth&ni, (Vy&sa, No. 15). 18. The Kiirmalakshanam ; Eiirmalakshanam, (VyUsa, No. 16). A similar order has evidently been followed in a collection of the Pari6ishtas, forming part of Professor Wilson's valuable collection of MSS., now deposited in the Bodleian Library. The MS., however, is incomplete, and seems to have been copied by a person ignorant of Sanskrit from another MS., the leaves of which had been in confusion. Most of the MSS. of these Pari6ishtas are carelessly copied, whereas the MSS. of the Siitras are generally in excellent condition. The MSS. which Rdja R4dhak&ntadeva used seem to have been in an equally bad state, if we may judge from the various readings which he occasionally mentions.^ But although the Bodleian MS. leaves much to desire, it serves at least to support the authenticity of the titles given in the MS. of the CharanavyAha against the blunders of the printed text. We find there : For instance MK^IM^ ^^4<(i^ qi?: I instead of qi- PARIBISHTAS. 255 1. The Yiipalakshanam,^ a short treatise on the manner of preparing the sacrificial post. 2. The Chhdgalakshanam,^ on animals fit for sacri- fice. 3. The PratijnA,* begins with giving some defini- tion of sacrificial terms, but breaks off Mrith the fourth leaf, whereas the Pmvar&dhy&ya (No. 11) had already been commenced on the third, and is afterwards carried on on the fifth leaf. Thus we lose from the fourth to the eleventh Pari&ishta, which formed part of the original MS. if we may judge from the fact that the Pravarddhy&ya is here also called the eleventh Pari^ishta. 4. The Anuvakasankhyd. exists in MS. E.I.H. 965. 5. The Charanavyiihah is found in numerous copies. 6. The Srftddhakalpah exists in MS. E. I. H. 1201, and MS. Chambers 66. It is there ascribed to E&tyd.- yana. There is also among the Chambers MSS. at Berlin (292—294) a Srdddha-kalpa-bhashya ascribed to Gobhila. 7. The l§ulvikd.ni are found in MS. Chambers 66, and a Sulvadipikft, MS. E. I. H. 1678. 8. The P&rshadam. This must not be mistaken for a Pr&ti6d.khya, nor would it be right to call the PrlLti^khyas Pari^ishtas.