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Sacred Books of the East
SonDon
MACMILLAN AND CO.
Publishers to the University of
(BxiQx'a.
/ SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST
Translated
By Various Oriental Scholars
And Edited by
F. Max Muller
Vol. Ii
At the Clarendon Press
\^All rights reserved^
Sacred Laws of the Aryas
As Taught in the Schools of
APASTAMBA, GAUTAMA, VASISIiri7A, AND BAUDHAYANA
TRANSLATEiy BY
Georg Buhler
PART I ApASTAMBA and GAUTAMA
At the Clarendon Press
[All rights reserved"]
CONTENTS.
Introduction to Apastamba Introduction to Gautama
Page
APASTAMBA'S Aphorisms on the Sacred Law.
General Rules ......... i
Initiation ......... 2
Studentship ......... 7
A Student who has returned Home . . . -29
The Study of the Veda 33
A Student who has returned Home .... 48
Saluting . . . . . . . . • • 5^
Purification ......••• 54
Eating, and Forbidden Food 57
Lawful Livelihood 7^
Penance .....••••• 75 Rules for a Snataka . . . ■ • • .92
The Duties of a Householder 99
Inheritance . . . . ■ • • • .129
Funeral Oblations 136
The Four Orders 151
The King ' • • • -159
GAUTAMA'S Institutes of the Sacred Law.
Initiation ^73
Purification ^77
Studentship 18°
The Ascetic ^9°
The Hermit '92
The Householder ^94
Vlll CONTENTS.
Page
Saluting .........
Times of Distress .....
2cg
A King and Brahmawa versed in the Vedas
The Duties of a Snataka
Lawful Occupations and Livelihood .
Civil and Criminal Law ....
Witnesses
Lnpurity .......
Funeral Oblations
The Study of the Veda ....
Eating, and Forbidden Food .
Women .......
Penances
Inheritance
Transliteration of Oriental Alphabets adopted for the Trans- lations of the Sacred Books of the East
Introduction
To
APASTAMBA.
For all students of Sanskrit philology and Indian history Apastamba's aphorisms on the sacred law of the Aryan Hindus possess a special interest beyond that attaching to other works of the same class. Their discovery enabled Professor Max Muller, nearly thirty years ago, to dispose finally of the Brahmanical legend according to which Hindu society was supposed to be governed by the codes of ancient sages, compiled for the express purpose of tying down each individual to his station, and of strictly regu- lating even the smallest acts of his daily life^ It enabled
1 Max Muller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 133 seq.
The following letter, addressed to the late W. H. Morley, and puTalished by him in his Digest of Indian Cases, 1850, may be of interest as connected with the first discovery of the Apastamba-sutras : —
9, Park Place, Oxford, July 29, 1P49. My dear Morley,— I have been looking again at the law literature, in order to write you a note on the sources of Manu. I have treated the subject fully in my introduction to the Veda, where I have given an outline of the dif- ferent periods of Vaidik literature, and analyzed the peculiarities in the style and language of each class of Vaidik works. What I consider to be the sources of the Manava-dharma-sastra, the so-called Laws of Manu, are the Sfitras. These are works which presuppose the development of the prose literature of the Brahma/ias (like the Aitareya-brahmawa, Taittiriya-brahmawa, &c.) These Brahmawas, again, presuppose, not only the existence, but the collection and arrangement of the old hymns of the four Sawhitas. The Siitras are therefore later than both these classes of Vaidik works, but they must be considered as belonging to the Vaidik period of literature, not only on account of their inti- mate connexion with Vaidik sul jects, but also because they still exhibit the irre- gularities of the old Vaidik language. They form indeed the last branch of Vaidik literature ; and it will perhaps be possible to fix some of these works chronologi- cally, as they are contemporary with the first spreading of Buddhism in India.
Again, in the whole of Vaidik literature there is no work written (like the Manava-dharma-sastra) in the regular epic Sloka, and the continuous employ- ment of this metre is a characteristic mark of post -Vaidik writings.
One of the principal classes of Sutras is known by the name of Kalpa-
Apastamba.
him not only to arrive at this negative result, but also to substitute a sounder theory the truth of which sub- sequent investigations have further confirmed, and to show that the sacred law of the Hindus has its source in the teaching of the Vedic schools, and that the so-called re- vealed law codes are, in most cases, but improved metrical
sutras, or rules of ceremonies. These are avowedly composed by human authors, while, according to Indian orthodox theology, both the hymns and Brah- mawas are to be considered as revelation. The Sutras generally bear the name of their authors, like the Sutras of Asvalayana, Katyayana, &c., or the name of the family to which the Sutras belonged. The great number of these writings is to be accounted for by the fact that there was not one body of Kalpa-sutras bind- ing on all Brahmanic families, but that different old families had each their own Kalpa-siitras. These works are still very frequent in our libraries, yet there is no doubt that many of them have been lost. Sutras are quoted which do not exist in Europe, and the loss of some is acknowledged by the Brahmans them- selves. There are, however, lists of the old Brahmanic families which were in possession of their own redaction of Vaidik hymns (,Sawhitas), of Brahmanas, and of Sutras. Some of these families followed the Rig-veda, some the Ya^ur-veda, the Sama-veda, and Atharva-veda ; and thus the whole Vaidik literature becomes divided into four great classes of Brahma«as and Sutras, belonging to one or the other of the four principal Vedas.
Now one of the families following the Yao'ur-veda was that of the Manavas (cf.
i^'arawavyuha). There can be no doubt that that family, too, had its own Sutras.
Quotations from Manava-sutras are to be met with in commentaries on other
Sutras ; and I have found, not long ago, a MS. which contains the text of the
Manava-srauta-sutras, though in a very fragmentary state. But these Sijtras,
the Srauta-sutras, treat only of a certain branch of ceremonies connected with the
great sacrifices. Complete Sutra works are divided into three parts: i. the
first (Srauta), treating on the great sacrifices; 2. the second (GWhya), treating
on the Sa?wskaras, or the purificatory sacraments ; 3. the third (SamayaMrika
or Dharma-sutras), treating on temporal duties, customs, and punishments.
The last two classes of Sutras seem to be lost in the Manava-siltra. This loss is,
however, not so great with regard to tracing the sources of the Manava-dharma-
sastra, because whenever we have an opportunity of comparing Sutras belonging
to different families, but following the same Veda, and treating on the same
subjects, the differences appear to be very slight, and only refer to less important
niceties of the ceremonial. In the absence, therefore, of the Manava-samayaA'arika-
sutras, I have taken another collection of Sutras, equally belonging to the Yag-ur-
veda, the Sutras of Apastamba. In his family we have not only a Brahma^ia,
but also Apastamba 5rauta, GWhya, and Samaya/rarika-siitras. Now it is, of
course, the third class of Sutras, on temporal duties, which are most likely to
contain the sources of the later metrical Codes of Law, written in the classical
51oka. On a comparison of different subjects, such as the duties of a Brahma-
^arin, a Gr/hastha, laws of inheritance, duties of a king, forbidden fruit, &c.,
I find that the Sutras contain generally almost the same words which have been
brought into verse by the compiler of the Manava-dharma-sastra. I consider,
therefore, the Sutras as the principal source of the metrical Smr«tis, such as the
Introduction. Xi
editions of older prose works which, in the first instance, were destined to be committed to memory by the young Aryan students, and to teach them their duties. This circumstance, as well as the fact that Apastamba's work is free from any suspicion of having been tampered with by sectarians or modern editors, and that its intimate con- nexion with the manuals teaching the performance of the great and small sacrifices, the 6"rauta and Gr/hya-sutras, which are attributed to the same author, is perfectly clear and indisputable, entitle it, in spite of its comparatively late origin, to the first place in a collection of Dharma- sutras.
The Apastambiya Dharma-sutra forms part of an enor- mous Kalpa-sutra or body of aphorisms, which digests the teaching of the Veda and of the ancient Rzshis regarding the performance of sacrifices and the duties of twice-born men, Brahma;/as, Kshatriyas, and Vaij-yas, and which, being chiefly based on the second of the four Vedas, the Ya^ur- veda in the Taittiriya recension, is primarily intended for the benefit of the Adhvaryu priests in whose families the study of the Ya^ur-veda is hereditary.
The entire Kalpa-siitra of Apastamba is divided into thirty sections, called Prai'nas, literally questions ^. The
Manava-dharma-; astra, Yao-fiavalkya-dharma-sastra, &c., though there are also many other verses in these works which may be traced to different sources. They are paraphrases of verses of the Samhitas, or of passages of the Brahma;;as, often retaining the same old words and archaic constructions which were in the original. This is indeed acknowledged by the author of the Manava-dharma- sastra, when he says (B. II, v. 6), ' The roots of the Law are the whole Veda (Samhitas and Brahmawas), the customs and traditions of those who knew the Veda (as laid down in the Sutras), the conduct of good men, and one's own satisfaction.' The Manava-dharma-iastra may thus be considered as the last redaction of the laws of the Manavas. Quite different is the question as to the old Manu from whom the family probably derived its origin, and who is said to have been the author of some very characteristic hymns in the Rig-veda- sa7?jhila. He certainly cannot be considered as the author of a Manava-dharma- sastra, nor is there even any reason to suppose the author of this work to have had the same name. It is evident that the author of the metrical Code of Laws speaks of the old Manu as of a person different from himself, when he says (B. X, V. 63^ ' Not to kill, not to lie, not to steal, to keep the body clean, and to restrain the senses, this was the short law which Manu proclaimed amongst the four castes.'— Yours truly, M. M. ^ Burnell, Indian Antiquary, I, 5 seq.
xii Apastamba.
first twenty-four of these teach the performance of the so-called 5rauta or Vaitanika sacrifices, for which several sacred fires are required, beginning with the simplest rites, the new and full moon offerings, and ending with the complicated Sattras or sacrificial sessions, which last a whole year or even longer. The twenty-fifth Pra^-na con- tains the Paribhashas or general rules of interpretation, which are valid for the whole Kalpa-sutra, the Pravara- kha./ida., the chapter enumerating the patriarchs of the various Brahmanical tribes, and finally the Hautraka, prayers to be recited by the Hotraka priests. The twenty-sixth section gives the Mantras or Vedic prayers and formulas for the Grzhya rites, the ceremonies for which the sacred domestic or Grihya. fire is required, and the twenty-seventh the rules for the performance of the latter. The aphorisms on the sacred law fill the next two Pra^nas; and the ^ulva-sutra ^, teaching the geometrical principles, according to which the altars necessary for the vSrauta sacrifices must be constructed, concludes the work with the thirtieth Praj-na.
The position of the Dharma-sutra in the middle of the collection at once raises the presumption that it originally formed an integral portion of the body of Sutras and that it is not a later addition. Had it been added later, it would either stand at the end of the thirty Prai-nas or altogether outside the collection, as is the case with some other treatises attributed to Apastamba '^. The Hindus are, no doubt, unscrupulous in adding to the works of famous teachers. But such additions, if of considerable extent, are usually not embodied in the works themselves which they are intended to supplement. They are mostly given as .fcshas or parij-ish/as, tacked on at the end, and generally marked as such in the MSS.
In the case of the Apastamba Dharma-sutra it is,
however, not necessary to rely on its position alone, in
order to ascertain its genuineness. There are unmistakable
indications that it is the work of the same author who
> On the ^ulva-sutras see G. Thibaut in ' the Pandit,' 1875, p. 292. * Burnell loc. cit.
Introduction. Xiu
wrote the remainder of the Kalpa-sCitra. One important
argument in favour of this view is furnished by the fact
that Praxna XXVII, the section on the GWhya cere-
monies, has evidently been made very short and concise
with the intention of saving matter for the subsequent
sections on the sacred law. The Apastambiya Gr/hya-sutra
contains nothing beyond a bare outline of the domestic
ceremonies, while most of the other Gr/hya-sutras,
