Sankhayana Grhya Sutram - Belong to The Rgveda (An Old and Rare Book)

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Manuscript Material and Plan

The critical edition of the S'ankhayana Grhya Sara is based on the printed texts and MSS preserved in the Panjab University Library and Lalchand Research Library at Lahore. The MSS were collated before the partition of the country. Extracts from the commentary of Narayana and from the Paddhati of Ramacandra have been included. The com-mentary. of Narayana was discovered by me during my stay in Gujarat. The following is the list of the material used in this edition :-

BMS-Benares Sanskrit Edition.

OMS-German Edition by Dr. Oldenberg published in Indische Studien Vol. XV.

PMS-MS in the Panjab University, Lahore.

LMS-MS lying in the Lalchand Research Library, D.A.V. College, Lahore, now shifted to Sadhu Ashram, Hoshiarpur, Panjab.

In preparing the text endeavour has been made to trace the origin of mantras occurring in the Grhya Sutras and their variants found in other Vedic texts have been given in the footnotes. Prof. Oldenberg's investigations on his text both in English and German have been used and the results have been incorporated. Grouping of the various contexts has been indicated by suitable captions. To distinguish the Grhya texts from Vedic citations, the former has been printed in black and the latter in the white type.

The introduction treats of various topics, viz., infallibility of the Vedic tradition, the problems of tracing the sources of Mantras ; sources of the Grhya texts ; the influence of AV. on the RV. Grhya Sutras ; incomplete data in Bloomfield's Vedic Concordance ; Criticism of Drs. T.R. Chintamarti's and V.M. Apte's illuminating researches ; comparative study of the RV. Grhya Sutras, GS. as a source of folklore.

Six useful appendices are given at the end. The first contains, extracts from the works of Narayana and Ramcandra. The second deals with a comparative study of this sutra with the important Vedic texts, vie., RV. YV. TS. MS. KS. SV. AV. AB. SB. SS. AS. K. APS. MS. LS. APM. SMP. BrhD. The third gives an exhaustive word index of the whole text. In this, the different grammatical forms have been indicated by different signs. The fourth appendix contains the Word-Index of the (xiv) entire Matra text. The fifth contains the study of the 1.gvedic mantras found in the three schools. The last appendix deals with the contents of three Grhya sutras belonging to the RV.

I am grateful to my distinguished predecessors especially to Profs. Stenler and Oldenberg who were the pioneers to give impetus to the study of Grhya Sutras in Europe. In India, Drs. Raghuvir, Apte and Chintamani are some of the foremost scholars who have enriched this field by their valuable investigations on the subject. This work was undertaken at Lahore before the partition of the country, and the printing of the textual portion was almost complete when disturbances broke out. My house possessing a treasured collection of rare Sanskrit books was reduced to ashes. After 1947 it was not possible to undertake this work which re-quired undivided attention and sufficient funds. I am glad that in spite of onerous duties of the office, I have been able to devote my leisure to this branch of Vedic Studies. In this accomplishment I am beholden to my teacher, the late Dr. L. Sarup, and to Acharyi Vishva Bandhu Shastri whose life is dedicated to Vedology. I am indebted to Dr. S. Varma, M.A., D.Litt., one of the outstanding linguists of the world, for writing a Foreword to this work. I take this opportunity of thanking Dr. Sampurnanand, Chief Minister of U.P., for his deep interest in and love for Sanskrit studies in the country. I am also grateful to Profs. Atmanand Vidjalankar and Amarnath Shastri for their valuable suggestions. I am also thankful to Sarvashri G. N. Seth, the manager, Kedar Nath and Ram Swarup Sharma, the foremen of the Navin Press, Delhi for their cooperation in printing the work.

The present work, being a new edition of the ankhayana Grhya Sutra after 51 years-the last one a curiosity of corrupted presentation, being published in 1908-appears to be an indication of intellectually awakening India. The notable features of this edition are transparent readability, highly 'elaborate variants, many sided indices and a text systematized with a heading of each subject.

But the outstanding characteristic of this edition- is an exhaustive introduction which is evidently a product of years and years of intensive study, piercing reflection and comparative penetration. The most impressive portion of this introduction is "comparative study of the RV. Schools with special reference to the Grhya Sutras'. Pp. 36-40). In this study we are told that the number of RV citations in 8ankhliyana Grhya Sutra is 170, in Kausitaka Grhya Sutra 187, and in Avalayana Grhya Sutra 125 (Page 37). Parallel context is preserved only in 36 cases, which have been thoroughly handled in merciless details (Page 38). This portion also establishes the post-Khila chronology of the Grhya texts concerned.

This wide and oppressive problem of tracing mantras has been handled in pages 9-11. A particular difficulty in this connection, viz. the difficulty of distinguishing between an injunction and mantra portion has been approached. It is very thought-provoking and debatable section and it is hoped that this challenging portion will rouse other Vedic scholars to reflect on this issue and that a further definite point will be gained in this line of thought.

The section on "comparative study of 8ankhayana Grhya and Kausitaka Grhya 8Akhas shows an intimate relation between these schools (pages 40-43) one of the contributions of the 8-ailkhay-ana Sakha is said to be six mantras such as (Adha svapnasya) RV 1,120,12 etc. (page 46) The contribution 'of Kausitaka Grhya is stated to be a special rite viz. Niskramanika not mentioned in the other related schools (page 48).

The exhaustive discussion of various readings such as between (Jiyatam ; Jagatx) (Pp. 28-29) indicates that the edition is not of the mechanical but of the intellectual type.

That the editor, in spite of pressing professional and domestic engagements, should have persisted, all single handed to go so deep into the subject for years arid years is a marvel. Far from the International standards of research at the present day, such a work should never be the work of one man; it necessarily pre-supposes team work. If a team-work in Sanskrit scholarship could be actualized one day, then another edition of this work could be undertaken with special reference to the following :-

1. A thorough examination of all Manuscripts concerning the work.

2. A statistical survey of all parallel variants occurring in the manuscripts and of all items bearing on the contents of the work.

3. A complete register of all unusual passages occurring in the text, with parallels from other connected texts.

4. Separate indices of names, attributes and actions.

It is hoped that the Sanskrit Board, newly created by the Government of India; will reconstruct Sanskrit scholarship on Inter-national Lines and thus further enrich the country by stimulating the abilities of Editors like Dr. S.R. Sehgal.

**Contents and Sample Pages**