3. Sanskrit juridical texts

The famous Bhasya in legal literature Dharmasastra after the composition of Sutra is 'Balakrida' written by 3 Local government in ancient India- Radha kumud Mukherji-page-124-125

46 Viswarupa which is a Bhasya to Yajnavalkyasmrti. The other writer was Bharuci who wrote interpretation to Visnu Dharma sutra and Manusmrti. Perhaps Vijnaneswara was considered the prolific and eminent writer of this field, who himself adorned the court of Calukya Vikramaditya VI. His work "Mitaksara which is an interpretation to the work of Yajnavalkya, is one which is based on ancient texts. It has been approved both in south India and north India. The following authors have interpretted legal literature more than once. The topics which tells the doctrine of legacy has been translated in to English and Colebrook has given popularity to these British Indian courts." Narayana, the student of vijnaneswara wrote independent judicial code Vyavaharasiromany in connection with civil code of which only a small part exists now. The Silahara king of konganadesam called Apararka or Aparaditya first wrote a detailed interpretation for the work of Yajnavalkya in the 12th century. This is a comprehensive form of work which * Dhakshinam Bharatha Charitram - K.A.Neelakandasatri M.A-page-443

47 did not damaged the real ideas of the original texts (A.D.1297 and A.D.1500) which are considered for determining the Vyavahara of Varadaraja. Among the judicial court of south India, in the light of principles of mimamsa, both the interpreted works and smrticandrika which is often quoted by Hemadri deserves a good position. The interpretations written by him for the Dharmasutras of Apastambha and Gouthama are also praise worthy. Visweswara (1375) who is the author of the work Subhodhini which is written in connection with Mithaksara mentions about them and their sayings, Hemadri has written a work called Cathurvarga Cinthamany having five chapters called Fasting (Vratha), giving alms (Dana), Tirtha, Moksha (salvation) and Parivesa. The two chapters, that are Prayascitta (repentance) and vyavahara, are believed to be added by him later on. But these parts do not exist now. The published part has more than 6000 pages. This is the longest judicial code written at that time. The interpretinary work Parasarasmrti called Parasaramadhaviya is a well known work. This work also

48 includes an independent study of the vyavaharah left aside by Parasara³. The work of Dalapati NrsimhaPrasadam having twelve parts deals both with religious laws and civil laws. Dalapati (1490-1533) was a great Hindu having a good position in the court of Ahammednagar Naisasahi. Prataprudra Gajapati of Orrisa composed the work Saraswativilasa comparing different ideas of Apararka, Bharuci, Vijnaneswara etc. Only the vyavahara-part of this work is available now. The Vaisnates in south India consider the work Smrtiratnakara written by Harithavenkitacarya (Thozhappar-1450 to 1500) who was born in Chingalpettu district, the birth place of many Vaisnatesscholars, as a supreme sovereign religious code. Just as in the case of other literary works under the supervise of Nayak king in south India in the 16th and 17th century, many works were composed on the field of Vyavahara Dharmasastra. As mentioned above, we can see the influence of these works in Vyavaharamala Just like other works on vyavahara, this Vyavaharamala is Ibid-page-144 Ibid-page-444

49 also a work which scrutinized the aspects of law in a thorough way. A new aspect has been provided to the judicial system of Vyavaharamala in Kerala in the 16th century. At that time the kings considered this work as having supreme authority in legal affaires. The civil laws, property rights, giving alms etc were very rigid at that time in Kerala. We can see the unique judicial system prevailed in Kerala in Vyavaharamala even at the outset of the development of Indian judicial system. Subhodhini. Subhodhini is a text on the commentary of Mithaksara. Mithaksara system means etymologically limited letters. This system was adopted with certain local variations considered necessary to suit the requirement of the area. Vijnaneswara batta made more simple and useful descriptions. Balambhatti. The author of this work is Vaidyanathabhatta. It consists of about ten thousand slokas that are commentaries on Mitaksara.

50 Dattaka mimamsa of Nandapandita. Dattaka mimamsa is a standard book on the law of adoption. Nandapandita has also written a commentary on Visnu Dharma sutra. Viramitrodaya of Mithramisra. This is a commentary on yajnavalkyasmrti composed in seventeenth century. This work that includes the Mithaksara system accepted as an authoritative text in all parts of India. Mitramisra is the greater authority in the area governed by the Banares sub division. Yajnavalkayadharmasastranibandha of Apararka. Apararka was a silhara king who flourished a century after vijnaneswara. His work entitled yajnavalkya dharmasastranibandha is a digest. Saraswathivilasa of prathaparudramahadeva. Saraswathivilasa dealt with procedural law as also substantive law. The author quotes relevant text from various

51 smrtis. He follows mithaksara system generally. The text consists of 503 pages. Vyavaharanirnaya of Varadaraja. This work refers to judgment of the courts. This is also considered as a mithaksara system. Parasaramadhaviya. This is a commentary on parasarasmrti by Madhavacarya a scholar and minister in the Vijayanagara Empire. Parasaramadhaviya is a text that instructs how to govern a kingdom based on righteous laws. Smrticandrika of Devannabhatta. Devannabhatta belongs to the end of the twelfth century. This work mainly deals with the law of inheritance. Smrticandrika has become the source for reconstructing the smrtis of Katyayana and Brhaspati. After twelfth century all the writers have regarded smrticandrika as authoritative and a valuable source for Hindu law. Dayabhaga of Jimuthavahana.

52 Dayabhaga is a dissertation on the law of inheritance and partition. This work is a digest of all the smrtis. He is the founder of the laws and appears to have flourished in the early part of twelfth century. His theory is on the law of inheritance and partition. Vyavaharamayukha of Nilakanda Bhatta. Nilakanda Batta is the authority of mithaksara system. This work was composed in the beginning of the seventeenth century. He was an eminent jurisprudencialist. He followed mithaksara on matters of succession and stridhana. He was more. liberal in the recognition of the rights of the women. The works like Vyavaharamala is concerned about individual legal procedures. But the laws are arranged in accordance with social welfare. The Nitisastras are only concerned with morality, customs and righteousness. But law is concerned with all activities of society and its members and with sovereign power.