Baudhayana Dharmasutra
by Georg Bühler | 1882 | 56,962 words
The prashnas of the Dharmasutra of Baudhayana consist of the Srautasutra and other ritual treatises, the Sulvasutra which deals with vedic geometry, and the Grihyasutra which deals with domestic rituals. The Dharmasutra of Baudhayana like that of Apastamba also forms a part of the larger Kalpasutra. Likewise, it is composed of prashnas which liter...
Praśna II, Adhyāya 2, Kaṇḍikā 3
1. A Brāhmaṇa who always carries water (in his pot), who always wears the sacred thread, who daily recites the Veda, who avoids the food of Śūdras, who approaches (his wife) in the proper season, and offers sacrifices in accordance with the rules (of the Veda, after death) never falls from Brahman's heaven.[1]
2. The Veda (says), 'Manu divided his estate among his sons.'[2]
3. (A father may, therefore, divide his property) equally among all, without (making any) difference;[3]
4. Or the eldest may receive the most excellent chattel.[4]
5. (For) the Veda says, 'Therefore, they distinguish the eldest by (an additional share of the) property.[5]
6. Or the eldest may receive (in excess) one part out of ten;[6]
7. (And) the other (sons) shall receive equal shares.[7]
8. While the father lives, the division of the estate takes place (only) with the permission of the father.[8]
9. The (additional) share of the eldest is, (according to the order) of the four castes, a cow, a horse, a goat, and a sheep.[9]
10. If there are sons born of wives of different castes (varṇa), they should make ten portions of the ancestral property and take four (shares), three, two, (and) one, according to the order (of the castes).[10]
11. But if a legitimate son of the body (aurasa) is born, the (other) sons of equal caste shall obtain one third share (of the estate).[11]
12. If there is a son of equal caste and a son of[12] a wife of the next lower caste, the son born of the wife of the next lower caste may take the share of the eldest, provided he be endowed with good qualities.
13. (A son) who possesses good qualities becomes the protector of the rest.[13]
14. One must know a son begotten by (the husband) himself on a wedded wife of equal caste (to be) a legitimate son of the body (aurasa).[14]
Now they quote also (the following verse): 'From the several limbs (of my body) art thou produced, from my heart art thou born; thou art "self" called a son; mayest thou live a hundred autumns.'[15]
15. The (male child) born of a daughter, after an agreement has been made, (one must know to be) the son of an appointed daughter (putrikāputra); any other (male offspring of a daughter they call) a daughter's son (dauhitra).
16. Now they quote also (the following verse): 'The son of an appointed daughter should offer the first funeral cake to his mother, the second to her father, and the third to his father's father.'
17. He who is begotten, by another man, on the wife of a deceased man, of a eunuch, or of one (incurably) diseased, after permission (has been given), is called the son begotten on a wife (kṣetraja).[16]
18. Such a (son begotten on a wife) has two fathers and belongs to two families; he has a right to perform the funeral oblations, and to inherit the property of (his) two (fathers).[17]
19. Now they quote also (the following verse): The son of two fathers shall give the funeral cakes (to his two fathers, and pronounce) two names with each oblation, and three cakes shall serve for six persons; he who acts thus will not err.'
20. He (is called) an adopted son (datta) who, being given by his father and his mother, or by either of the two, is received in the place of a child.[18]
21. He (is called) a son made (kṛtrima) whom (a mail) himself makes (his son), with the (adoptee's) consent (only), and who belongs to the same caste (as the adopter).[19]
22. He is called a son born secretly (gūḍhagga) who is secretly born in the house and whose (origin is) afterwards (only) recognised.[20]
23. He is called a son cast off (apaviddha) who, being, cast off by his father and his mother, or by either (of them), is received in the place of a child.[21]
24. If anybody approaches an unmarried girl without the permission (of her father or guardian), the son born by such (a woman is called) the son of an unmarried damsel (kānīna).[22]
25. If one marries either knowingly or unknowingly a pregnant bride, the child which is born of her is called (a son) taken with the bride (sahoḍha).[23]
26. He (is called a son) bought (krīta) who, being purchased from his father and his mother, or from either of them, is received in the place of a child.[24]
27. He (is called the son) of a twice-married woman (paunarbhava) who is born of a re-married female, (i.e.) of one who, having left an impotent man, has taken a second husband.[25]
28. He (is called) a self-given (son, svayaṃdatta) who, abandoned by his father and his mother, gives himself (to a stranger).[26]
29. He who is begotten by (a man of) the first twice-born (caste) on a female of the Śūdra caste (is called) a Niṣāda.
30. (He who was begotten by the same parents) through lust (is called) a Pāraśava. Thus (the various kinds of) sons (have been enumerated).[27]
31. Now they quote also (the following verses): 'They declare the legitimate son, the son of an appointed daughter, the son begotten on a wife, the adopted son and the son made, the son born secretly and the son cast off, (to be entitled) to share the inheritance.'[28]
32. 'They declare the son of an unmarried damsel and the son received with the bride, the son bought,[29] likewise the son of a twice-married female, the son self-given and the Niṣāda, to be members of the family.'
33. Aupajandhani (declares that) the first among them alone (is entitled to inherit, and a member of his father's family).[30]
34. 'Now, O Janaka, I jealously watch my wives, (though I did) not (do it) formerly; for they have declared in Yama's court that the son belongs to the begetter. The giver of the seed carries off the son, after death, in Yama's hall, Therefore they carefully protect their wives, fearing the seed of strangers.'
35. 'Carefully watch (the procreation of your) offspring, lest strange seed fall on your soil. After death the son belongs to the begetter; through carelessness a husband makes (the procreation of) a son useless.'
36. Let them carefully protect the shares of[31] those who are minors, as well as the increments (thereon).
37. Granting food, clothes, (and shelter), they shall support those who are incapable of transacting legal business,[32]
38. (Viz.) the blind, idiots, those immersed in vice, the incurably diseased, and so forth,[33]
39. Those who neglect their duties and occupations;[34]
40. But not the outcast nor his offspring.[35]
41. Intercourse with outcasts shall not take place.
42. But he shall support an outcast mother, without speaking to her.
43. The daughters shall obtain the ornaments of their mother, (as many as are) presented according to the custom (of the caste), or anything else (that may be given according to custom).[36]
44. Women do not possess independence.[37]
45. Now they quote also (the following verse): Their father protects (them) in childhood, their husband protects (them) in youth, and their sons protect (them) in old age a woman is never fit for independence.'[38]
46. The Veda declares, 'Therefore women are considered to be destitute of strength and of a portion.'[39]
47. Those (women) who strive (to do what is) agreeable to their husbands will gain heaven.[40]
48. But for a violation (of their duty towards the husband) a Kṛcchra penance (must be performed).[41]
49. (For violating it) with a Śūdra (a woman) shall perform a lunar penance (cāndrāyaṇa);
50. (For violating it) against the order of the castes with a Vaiśya and so forth, she shall perform a Kṛcchra or an (Atikṛcchra) penance.
51. For male (offenders, i.e.) Brāhmaṇas and so forth, a year's chastity (is prescribed).[42]
52. Let him burn a Śūdra (who commits adultery with an Āryan) in a straw-fire.[43]
53. Now they quote also (the following verses):
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
3. Vasiṣṭha VIII, 17.
[2]:
Taittirīya Saṃhitā III, 1, 9, 4.
[3]:
Colebrooke V, Dig. XL. Govinda points out that this rule refers to sons equal by caste, origin, and virtue.
[4]:
Colebrooke, loc. cit.; Viṣṇu XVIII, 37.
[5]:
Taittirīya Saṃhitā II, 5, 2, 7. See also the discussion on this text, Āpastamba II, 6, 14, 10-13.
[6]:
Colebrooke, loc. cit.; Vasiṣṭha XVII, 43.
[7]:
Colebrooke, loc. cit.; Gautama XXVIII, 8.
[8]:
Colebrooke V, Dig. XXII; Dāyabhāga II, 8. In C.'s Digest p. 225 the first clause is omitted and connected with the following Sūtra. Govinda agrees with Jīmūtavāhana.
[9]:
Colebrooke V, Dig. XLIX. The rule is an explanation of the term varaṃ rūpam, 'the most excellent chattel,' in Sūtra 4. The meaning probably is, as the Digest states, that among Brāhmaṇas it is usual to give to the eldest a bull, among Kṣatriyas a horse, and so forth.
[10]:
Vasiṣṭha XVII, 48-50; Viṣṇu XVIII, 2-40 where the several cases that can arise have been fully worked out.
[11]:
I translate according to the reading of K., M., and the two MSS. of the commentary, aurase tūtpanne savarṇās [°ṇas, M., K.] tṛttyāṃśaharāḥ [°yāṃśaṃ haret, K.] The other MSS. omit the last two words of the Sūtra. The sense of the Sūtra seems to be, that subsidiary sons of equal caste obtain a third of the estate when a legitimate son of the body is born to their father; see also Kātyāyana V, Dig. CCXVIII. Govinda gives the following explanation: aurasaḥ savarṇaputrāś ca vakṣyante | aurasaḥ savarṇāyāṃ saṃśkṛtāyāṃ svayam utpāḍitaḥ [Sūtra 14] | tasminnutpanne savarṇās tṛtīyāṃśaharā bhaveyuḥ | sarvaṃ dhanajātaṃ tredhā vibhajya teṣām ekaṃ ṣoḍaśa saṃpādya trīn dvāvekam iti kalpayet || 'The legitimate son and the sons of equal caste will be described (below). He is called a legitimate son who is begotten by the husband himself on a wedded wife of equal caste. When such a one is born, the (other) sons of equal caste shall obtain one third share. Dividing the whole property into three parts, and making one of them sixteen (?), he shall give three, two, one.'--Govinda.
[12]:
Colebrooke V, Dig. CLVII; Dāyabhāga IX, 15.
[13]:
Colebrooke, loc. cit.
[14]:
Colebrooke V, Dig. CXCVI; Vasiṣṭha XVII, 13. The verse is found in the Mahābhārata and elsewhere.
[15]:
Colebrooke V, Dig. CCXIII; Vasiṣṭha XVII, 15-17.
[16]:
Colebrooke V, Dig. CCXXXVII; Dāyabhāga II, 60; Vasiṣṭha XVII, 14.
[17]:
Colebrooke Dig., loc. cit.
[18]:
Vasiṣṭha XVII, 28.
[19]:
Colebrooke V, Dig. CCLXXXIV; Gautama XXVIII, 32.
[20]:
Vasiṣṭha XVII, 24.
[21]:
Viṣṇu XV, 24-25.
[22]:
Colebrooke V, Dig. CCLXI; Vasiṣṭha XVII, 21-23. It must be understood that the father must belong to the same caste as the girl.
[23]:
Vasiṣṭha XVII, 27.
[24]:
Colebrooke V, Dig. CCLXXXI; Vasiṣṭha XVII, 30-32.
[25]:
Vasiṣṭha XVII, 18-20.
[26]:
Vasiṣṭha XVII, 33-35.
[27]:
Colebrooke V, Dig. CCXCIII. Govinda points out that the Pāraśava is, according to Baudhāyana, the offspring of a Śūdrā concubine, not of a Śūdrā wife. But see also above, I, 9, 17, 4.
[28]:
Colebrooke V, Dig. CLXXX; Vasiṣṭha XVII, 25.
[29]:
Colebrooke V, Dig. CLXXIX; Vasiṣṭha XVII, 26.
[30]:
-34. Aupajandhani is one of the ancient teachers of the White Yajur-veda, mentioned in the lists incorporated in the Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa XIV, 5, 5, 21; 7, 3, 26. The legends of the White Yajur-veda frequently mention king Janaka of Videha, and assert that that philosopher king had frequent and intimate intercourse with Yājñavalkya and other teachers of the Veda which Āditya revealed. It seems to me, therefore, highly probable that Govinda is right in taking the vocative janaka in Sūtra 34 as a proper name, and in asserting that the verse belongs to a conversation between Aupajandhani and Janaka. This explanation, which possibly may be based on an ancient tradition of Baudhāyana's school, is certainly preferable to Haradatta's statement on Āpastamba II, 6, 13, 7, that these verses express the sentiments of a husband who had neglected to watch his wives, and later learned that he would not derive any spiritual benefit from their offspring. In the text of Sūtra 34 I read with the Dekhan MSS. and Āpastamba, loc. cit., īrṣyāmi, instead of ishyāmi, which M. and the commentary give.
[31]:
Colebrooke V, Dig. CCCCLII; Vasiṣṭha XVI, 8, 9. 'The p. 230 increments, i.e. the proper interest. Thus the money of minors shall bear interest,'--Govinda.
[32]:
Colebrooke V, Dig. CCCXXVIII; Dāyabhāga V, 12; Vyavahāramayūkha IV, 11, so; Vasiṣṭha XVII, 52-54.
[33]:
Colebrooke and Mayūkha, loc. cit. 'The expression "and so forth" includes hunchbacks and other (disabled) persons.'--Govinda. Vyasanin, 'immersed in vice,' may also mean 'afflicted by calamities,' and is perhaps intended to be taken both ways.
[34]:
Colebrooke and Mayūkha, loc. cit. Akarmiṇas, 'those who neglect their duties and occupations,' I.e. those who though able (to fulfil their duties are) indolent.--Govinda.
[35]:
Colebrooke and Mayūkha, loc. cit.; Burnell, Dāyabhāga 49. 42, Gautama XXI, 15, and note.
[36]:
Colebrooke V, Dig. CXXX; Vasiṣṭha XVII, 46. 'Sāmpradāyikam (literally "customary") qualifies (the word) ornaments; sāmpradāyikam (means) what is obtained according to custom; what is given to their mother by the maternal grandfather and grandmother, that (is called) sāmpradāyikam. "Or anything else," (viz.) presented according to custom, (e.g.) a bedstead and the p. 231 like, a couch, and an outer garment, and the like. So much and nothing else shall the daughters receive.'--Govinda.
[37]:
Vasiṣṭha V, s. All the MSS. of the text read na strīsvātantryaṃ vidyate, while the text given by the two copies of the commentary has na strī svātantryaṃ vindate. Govinda asserts that the Sūtra is intended to forbid the independent action of women with respect to things inherited. The correct view probably is that with this Sūtra the topic of the duties and rights of women begins, and that the rule contains a general maxim.
[38]:
Vasiṣṭha V, 2.
[39]:
Colebrooke V, Dig. CXXXI. The text is in great confusion. The Dekhan and Gujarāt MSS., except K., read, na dāyaṃ nirindriyā hyadāyāś ca striyo matā iti srutiḥ; K. has, tasmāt[n]nirindriyā hy. st. m. i. śru. || tasmāt striyo nirindriyā adāyādīr api pāpāt; while M. and the I. O. copy of the commentary have, tasmānnirindriyā adāyāś ca striyo matā iti śrutiḥ [sūtiḥ, M.] The Telugu copy is mutilated, and reads nādayantiriti srutiḥ. Though the reading of the Dekhan MSS. is supported by Mitramiśra Vīramitrodaya, fol. 209, p. I, 1. 3, it is certainly not the original one, for there is no verb by which the accusative 'dāyam' is governed. Mitramiśra's attempt to make it depend on 'arhati' in the verse quoted in Sūtra 45 is futile, because, according to the usage of the Sūtrakāras, a Sūtra may be completed by a verb taken frost another original aphorism of the author, but cannot be connecter with a portion of a quotation taken from some other work. This same principle, of course, applies not only to Sūtras, but to the writings of all other authors, whether Indian or European. The reading of K., M., and of the I. O. copy of the commentary is not open to the objection just mentioned, and therefore preferable. But it seems to me highly probable that, nevertheless, it is not p. 232 quite genuine; for the word 'tasmāt,' with which it begins, is not required, because its sense is already expressed by the following hi,' and because the Sūtra apparently contains half an Anuṣṭubh Śloka, which the insertion of tasmāt destroys. It is also easy to see how it came to be inserted. Every Yajurvedī who read the passage would be reminded of the analogous passage of the Taittirīya Saṃhitā VI, 5, 8, 2, 'tasmāt striyo nirindriyā adāyādīr api pāpāt puṃsaḥ upastitaram,' which in K. has actually been inserted after our Sūtra. In the Vedic Mantra 'tasmāt' is required, and is certainly the genuine reading. Hence it seems to have been transferred into Baudhāyana's text, possibly by the mistake of some scribe who, according to the habit of his kind, took a marginal reference to the beginning of the Vedic passage for a correction of the text. In my opinion it must be thrown out. The sense of the half verse remains exactly the same. It corresponds to Manu IX, 18. According to Govindasvāmin and others its object is to show that women are incapable of inheriting, and the word dāya, 'portion,' must be taken in the sense of 'a share of the inheritance.' For a full discussion of this point, I refer to the Introductory Note on Book I, Chapter II, Sect. 14 of West and Miller's Digest of H. L. C., third edition.
[40]:
Viṣṇu XXV, 15, 17; Vasiṣṭha XXI, 14.
[41]:
-50. Vasiṣṭha XXI, 6-13.
[42]:
Govinda points out that this rule refers to adultery with women of equal caste, and thinks that the word 'chastity' indicates that Kṛcchra penances are to be performed; Vasiṣṭha XXI, 16, 17; Viṣṇu LIII, 2. But see Gautama XXII, 29.
[43]:
Vasiṣṭha XXI, 1, 5.