[INDOLOGY] svacchandatantram - date

[Elliot Stern]

I’m looking for any information or discussion about the dating of svacchandatantram. I am of course aware that any dating of this text is likely to be approximate.

Background for the question: Vyomaśivaḥ gives a what appears to be his own definition of a moment (kṣaṇaḥ), and then quotes another text for definitions of larger time units.

tathā hi paramāṇoścāvaruddhanabhodeśatyāgopalakṣitaḥ kālaḥ kṣaṇaḥ |

		taddvayaṃ lava ityukto nimeṣaśva lavadvayam |
		kāṣṭhā nimeṣāḥ pañcadaśa ceha prakīrtitāḥ ||
		triṃśatkāṣṭhā kalā proktā kalāḥ triṃśanmuhūrtakaḥ |

ityevaṃ māsāderapi lakṣaṇaṃ prasiddhaṃ grāhyam~| (vyomavatī, ed. Gaurinath Sastri, 1.128.9-14).


This seems to derive from svacchandatantram:

kṣaṇadvayaṃ tuṭirjñeyā taddvayaṃ tu lavaḥ smṛtaḥ // SvaT_11.201 //
lavadvayaṃ nimeṣastu jñātavyo gaṇitakramāt /
daśa pañca nimeṣāśca kāṣṭhā caiva prakīrtitā // SvaT_11.202 //
triṃśatkāṣṭhāḥ kalā jñeyā muhūrtastriṃśadeva tāḥ /

 The Mysore ms. of vyomavatī improves the comparison to svacchandatantram:

tathā hi paramāṇoḥ svāvaruddhanabhodeśatyāgopalakṣi[81v8]taḥ kālaḥ kṣaṇaḥ tadvayaṃ ca lavaḥ prokto nimeṣaśca lavadvayaṃ kāṣṭhā nimeṣāḥ pañcadaśa ceha prakīrttitāḥ triṃśatkāṣṭhā kalā proktā kalātriṃśanmuhūrttakaḥ ityevaṃ māsāde[81v9]rapi lakṣaṇaṃ purāṇāaprasiddhaṃ grāhyamiti

Also, if anyone knows a closer comparison for the verses Vyomaśivaḥ cites, please provide the reference. I am aware that the mahābhāratam and other texts have similar verses, but svacchandatantram so far appears to be the best candidate for source. 

Elliot M. Stern
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