Harvard-Yenching Institute

Dntas in The Brahmastras Author(s): S. K. Belvalkar Reviewed work(s): Source: Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Apr., 1936), pp. 28-32 Published by: Harvard-Yenching Institute Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2718034 . Accessed: 30/01/2013 05:35
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DRPTANTAS IN THE BRAIIMASUTRAS S. K.

BELVALKAR,

M. A., PH. D.

(HARVARD)

BENARES HINDU UNIVERSITY, BENARES (INDIA)

Argument by example, or an inference from the particular to the particular, is generally admitted to have been the original and true type of inference. The man on the street, in fact, knows no other more effective method of debate. The particular analogous instance adduced in proof gets its validity of course from the universal proposition which it implies, and which in Sanskrit is designated the vyapti; and upon the degree of infallibility attainable by the vydpti depends naturally the distinction between accurate "induction" and mere "analogy." It is therefore no wonder if we find that drstantas or illustrative examples 1 play a very important role in Sanskrit philosophical writing, and the frequency and the range of the drstantas used can often be taken to indicate the stage of philosophical evolution reached by a particular work or author; while if different portions of the same work show any very outstanding variation in this respect, that can be, ceteris paribus, regarded as pointing to possible chronological strata within that work. In the following paper, intended as a tribute of reverence and affection to the memory of Professor James Haughton Woods to whom I owe more than words can express, it is proposed to examine critically, from the above point of view, the drstantas occurring in the Brahmasfitras, commonly attributed to the authorship of BIDARiYANA. The Brahmasfttras, in the form in which they have been preserved in the oldest extant Bh&syaor comment on them-that of 8ANKARA-contains exactly 555 sfitras or aphorisms, distributed into four chapters of four padas or quarters each. The distribution of the drstantas in the whole work is shown in the following table'In specific cases they take the form of fables, parables, and akhy-dyikas legendary stories. or

28

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DRSTANTAS

IN THE BRAHMASUTRAS

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Chapter I Quarter i Quarter ii Quarter iii Quarter iv Total Chapter II Quarter i Quarter ii Quarter iii Quarter iv Total Chapter III Quarter i Quarter ii Quarter iii Quarter iv Total Chapter IV Quarter i Quarter ii Quarter iii Quarter iv Total Grand Total

No. of Siltras 31 32 43 28 134

No. of Drstantas 1 1 0 3 5

37 45 53 22 157

10 92 13 3 35

27 41 66 52 186

3 10 21 4 7 41

19 21 16 22 78 555

0 0 0 4 4 85

These 85 drstintas are furnished by 79 out of the 555 sfitras. It must, however, be pointed out that no less than 17 of the above drstdntas
2

Si~tras 3 and 7 contain two drstdntas each.

3 Sfitra 43 contains two drstatntas. 4 Sftra 26 contains four drstdntas.

5Namely, II. i. 6, 9, 13, 33; II. ii. 15; II. iii. 7, 25; II. iv. 1; III. i. 19, 20, 24; III. ii. 29; III. iii. 16, 30, 36, 37; and III. iv. 2. It is rather strange that they should all come from the 2nd and the 3rd chapters only.

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S. K. BELVALKAR

are vague, being expressed by words like "as in the world," "as is seen," or "as elsewhere," thus leaving only 68 specific illustrations, six of which occur twice,6 and one seven times.7 This gives 56 drstantas for 555 sUtras, or about one original drstdnta for every ten s-dtras. In fairness, however, it must be pointed out that there are 17 cases where the siltra specifically mentions one drstdnta and hints at others with the word 'ddi, " and others." 8 The commentators do not always fill them out in the same way.9 Looking to these facts it cannot be said that the Brahmasfttras indulge in anything like superabundance of drstantas, which is rather surprising when we remember that not only the several Upanishad texts but even the latter-day Vedanta works like the Pahcadasi consist of little beyond a minute elaboration of just a few drstantas. A much greater surprise, however, awaits us if we consider the distribution of these drstantas between the different parts of the work; and when I began this investigation I had no idea that its results would afford a most welcome corroboration of certain conclusions about the that I had worked out, chronological stratification of the BrahmasfUtras on quite independent grounds, in my Basu McdllikLectures on Vedanta Philosophy, Part I, Lecture V, pages 142-144. For facility of reference, I state these conclusions in a categorical manner. The present text of the Brahmasfitras falls into three well-defined strata. (i) Their original of nucleus was the Chandogya-Brahmasuftra JAIMINI which attempted to or apparent self-contradictions of the several remove all inconsistencies Vedanta texts comprised within the Chdndogya-Upanisad. There probably existed analogous Brahmasfitras for other Upanisads like the Brhadaranyaka; and the Bhagavadgitd reference in the plural (Chapter XIII, verse 4) is to these diverse Brahmasfttras. (ii) In the second stage attempt was made to harmonize the teachings of these diverse
6 Namely, upalabdhi (II. iii. 37 and III. iii. 54), asman (II. i. 23 and II. ii. 7), vidhi (III. iii. 5 and III. iv. 47), ambu (II. ii. 3 and 19), ?vapna = samdhya (II. ii. 29 and IV. iv. 13), and payas = ksira (II. i. 24 and II. ii. 3). Namely, prakaia (III. ii. 15, 34; II. iii. 46; III. ii. 25; III. ii. 28) = pradipa (IV. iv. 15) = jyotis (II. iii. 48). 8 Namely, asmadi (II. i. 23), caksurddi (II. iv. 10), jyotirddi (II. iii. 48), trendi (II. ii. 5), ddsakitavadi (II. iii. 43), devadi (II. i. 25), parovariyastvadi (III. iii. 7), pumstvadi (II. iii. 31), prakasddi (thrice: II. iii. 46, III, ii. 25, and III. ii. 34), prdnadi (II. i. 20), madhvadi (I. iv. 10), mantradi (III. iii. 56), vidhyadi (III. iv. 47), sfiryakadi (III. ii. 18), and svapnadi (II. ii. 29). 9 Another small point to be noted is that the word 'vat, which expresses the drstanta in 66 sfitras, probably does not do so in one case: III. ii. 14.

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DRSTANTAS

IN THE BRAHRMASUTRAS

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Brahmasfitras and build up, with the help of the smrtis, a consistent Vedanta philosophy acceptable to all schools. The citations from other Upanishads, the references to the smrrtis and to earlier authorities by name, as also the combatting of sankchya "misinterpretations" belong to this stage. (iii) In the third stratum (which is practically the present text minus a few very late additions) attempts were made to defend the Vedanta philosophy against attacks from without and even to carry the battle into the domain of these opposing "heterodox " schools. Of the total number of 555 sutras, according to my calculation, 151 belong to the first stratum, 238 to the second, and 166 to the third, including within this last some 15 very late additions. The following facts would seem to afford a welcome confirmation of the above conclusions. The first chapter of the Brahmasfttras of 134 sfitras gives only 5 drstdntas (i. e. 3.73%) ; and 3 of these again occur in the fourth quarter, the first half of which combats certain sarykhya "misinterpretations " while the latter half is of the nature of a parisiista or supplement, where occur the well-known controversial s-dtrasopposing the views of AXSMARATHYA, AUDUL OMI, and KiSAKRTSNA. The second chapter of 157 sfitras gives 35 (i. e. 22.29%) drstdntas. It contains the well-known sqmrti- and tarka-padas where the author wages defensive and offensive warfare against "heterodox" systems of philosophy, and also discusses the nature of the individual self (tvampadartha-vivecana, II. iii. 16-53). Is it not curious that just these portions (which belong to the third stratum) should account for almost all the above drstantas? Professor JACOBI has objected to my regarding the smrti- and tarka-padas as later additions, but has conceded it in the case of the tvam-paddrtha-vivecana. But even;this discussion covering 38 sultras gives 10 (i. e. 26.3%) drstantas out of the 12 contained in the whole quarter! And it cannot be said that this particular topic was more in need of illustrations than any other topic in the Brahmasftras. In the third chapter the discussion of the nature of the Supreme Self (tat-padartha-vivecana, III. ii. 11-41) and the so-called gunopasamharaprakarana in quarter iii are assigned by me to the third stratum, and these fully account for as many as 34 out of( the total number of 41 drstantas (i. e. 22.04%) in the entire chapter of 186 sfitras. In the fourth chapter of 78 sultras only 4 drstantas (i. e. 5.13%) occur, and these are all found in the four successive sultraswherein the views of BADARI, BADARAYANA, and JAIMINI are opposed to one another. It would accordingly seem reasonable to conclude that in the later and more controversial portions of the Brahmasittras the drstantas occur

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in increasing frequencya result that we could have even deduced a priori. Just one more concluding observation on the range of knowledge or experience covered by the 56 (or, including repetitions the 68) illustrations found in the Brahmasfttras may here be permitted. The rules of procedure and interpretation established by the Pfzrva-mimdmsi in connection with the ritual of the sacrifice have yielded as many as 27 (nearly 40%) of the drstantas; and there is nothing unusual in this in view of the relation between the Pftrva-mimdmsaand the Veddnta, which analogously is designated the Uttara-mimdmsd. Of the remaining illustrations mythology has yielded two, and philosophical systems controverted, six; while ten are derived from the psychological experiences of waking, dreaming, and sleeping states. The balance of 23 illustrations has been contributed by ordinary events of daily life. This fact is noteworthy; and it becomes particularly instructive in view of the further circumstance that these matter-of-fact illustrations or laukika-drstdntas come in just those controversial portions of our text which on independent grounds can be considered as late additions. That these laukikadrstantas should have occasioned the widest divergence in interpretation among the commentators is nothing strange or unexpected; and there are a few of them which, in spite of the astonishing erudition and ingenuity expended on them, still continue to tempt, and to elude, the earnest student.

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