Dear colleagues,

The Bṛhaspatismṛti contains the interesting short text entitled Dharmakavidhi pasted below. If I am not overlooking anything, Kane has not discussed it in Hist. of Dharmaśāstra. Does anyhone happen to know parallels for it, does anybody have a suggestion on what the significance of the suffix -ka might be here, and is there any convincing way to estimate the date of this little text (presuming that the Bṛhaspatismṛti is a composite text)? Could anyone supply a pdf of K.V. Rangaswami Aiyangar's volume Gaekwad Oriental Series, 85 (Bṛhaspatismṛti Reconstructed, 1941)?

On a related note, I assume that jīvadānādibhir mantraiḥ here refers to the Vedic mantra jīvadānava stha etc. So this passage is not directly relevant to my underlying problem, the meaning of jīvadāna in a 5th c. inscription: sources such the Ratnamālāvadāna 4.112 and the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa 1.93.10 seem to suggest that this can be an equivalent of jaladāna (itself, presumably, an equivalent of the Mahādāna jaladhenu) or else that it literally means a gift of life (as at MBh 12.149.108 and, somewhat differently, at Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa  2.16.53). I should much appreciate references to or discussions of jīvadāna in the primary of and secondary literature on Dharmaśāstra.

Thank you.

Arlo Griffiths
EFEO/Jakarta

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Bṛhaspatismṛti [1.8.12 Dharmakavidhiḥ]

pattradvaye lekhanīyau dharmādharmau sitāsitau  /<BR>

jīvadānādibhir mantraiḥ gāyatryādyaiś ca sāmabhiḥ  // Brh_1,8.82 //<BR>

āmantrya pūjayed gandhaiḥ kusumaiś ca sitāsitaiḥ  /<BR>

abhyukṣya pañcagavyena mṛtpiṇḍāntaritau tataḥ  // Brh_1,8.83 //<BR>

samau kṛtvā tu tau kumbhe sthāpyau cānupalakṣitau  /<BR>

tataḥ kumbhāt piṇḍam ekaṃ pragṛhṇītāvilambitaḥ  // Brh_1,8.84 //<BR>

dharme gṛhīte śuddhaḥ syāt sa pūjyaś ca parīkṣakaiḥ  /<BR>

adharme saṃgṛhīte tu daṇḍyo nirvāsya eva vā [p.93]  // Brh_1,8.85 //<BR>

likhed bhūrjapaṭe vāpi dharmādharmau sitāsitau  /<BR>

abhyukṣya pañcagavyena gandhamālyaiḥ samarcayet  // Brh_1,8.86 //<BR>

sitapuṣpas tu dharmaḥ syād adharmo 'sitapuṣpadhṛt  /<BR>

evaṃ vidhāyopalipya piṇḍayos tāni dhāpayet  // Brh_1,8.87 //<BR>

gomayena mṛdā vāpi piṇḍau kāryau samau tataḥ  /<BR>

mṛdbhāṇake 'nupahate sthāpyau cānupalakṣitau  // Brh_1,8.88 //<BR>

upalipte śucau deśe devabrāhmaṇasaṃnidhau  /<BR>

samarcayet tato devān lokapālāṃś ca pūrvavat  // Brh_1,8.89 //<BR>

dharmāvāhanapūrvaṃ tu pratijñāpattrakaṃ likhet  /<BR>

yadi pāpavimukto 'haṃ dharmaś cāyātu me kare  // Brh_1,8.90 //<BR>

abhiśastas tayoś caikaṃ pragṛhṇītāvilambitaḥ  /<BR>

dharme gṛhīte śuddhiḥ syād adharme tu sa hīyate  // Brh_1,8.91 //<BR>

evaṃ vicārayan rājā dharmārthābhyāṃ na hīyate  // Brh_1,8.92 //<BR>