22. Jātūkarnya
Volume I: Part I pp. 278–279
Jātūkarṇya holds a notable position as a dharmaśāstrakāra, as evidenced by a specific verse attributed to Vṛddha Yājñavalkya, which explicitly names him among the esteemed authorities on Hindu law and custom. This direct mention by a figure of Vṛddha Yājñavalkya's stature firmly establishes Jātūkarṇya's recognition within the classical tradition. Further insight into Jātūkarṇya's contributions is primarily gleaned from quotations of his work found in later legal commentaries. These extensive citations are presented in verse form, indicating that Jātūkarṇya's original compositions were metrical, a common style for authoritative dharmaśāstra texts. His pronouncements are frequently encountered in the seminal Mitākṣarā commentary, an authoritative work itself, and continue to appear in various other subsequent dharmaśāstra treatises. The consistent reproduction of his verses across these foundational texts highlights the enduring relevance and perceived authority of Jātūkarṇya's legal and ethical insights for generations of scholars and jurists.
— Synopsis by P.V. Kane, from History of Dharmaśāstra
22. Jātūkarnya
22. Jātukarṇya
Viśvarūpa (on Yāj. I. 4-5) quotes a verse of Vṛddha-Yājñavalkya in which Jātukarṇa is mentioned as an expounder of dharma.1 The name is variously written as Jātukarṇya or as Jātukarṇa. The Smṛticandrikā quotes a passage from Aṅgiras in which Jātukarṇya is enumerated among writers of Upasmṛtiṣ Viśvarūpa quotes prose passages from Jātukarṇya a number of timeṣ2 On Yāj. I. 1, he gives a sūtra about “pratilomas”; on Yāj. I. 2 there is a sūtra saying that a pupil should not all of a sudden put a question to his teacher in an assembly of people, on Yāj. I. 29 about a Kṣatriya and Vaiśya wearing an Upavīta of hemp and wool when initiated for sacrifice, on Yāj. I. 37 as to the age when a Brāhmaṇa became a vrātya, about the prohibition of marrying another wife of a different caste when one has already married a savarṇa wife (on Yāj. I. 79), about the time for śrāddhas (on Yāj. I. 215). These quotations show that Jātukarṇya composed a sūtra work on ācāra and śrāddha, which was comparatively ancient. The quotations of Jātukarṇya in Mitākṣarā, Haradatta, Aparārka, and later writers are in verse and so it appears that by that time the work had been lost or forgotteṇ Aparārka ( p. 423 ) quotes a verse of Jātukarṇya which refers to the zodiacal sign Virgo. This would place the verse Jātukarṇya not very much earlier than the 3rd or 4th century A. D.
Maskarin on Gaut. Dh. S. quotes, on different sūtras, a number of verses e. g. on 10. 61 ( three verses ), 14. 31, 15. 1, 21. 3, 22. 20-21 ( two verses ), 22. 36 &c. The Smṛti-candrikā quotes verses of Jātukarṇya five times on Āhnika and Śrāddha and a prose passage ( Āhnika p. 114, Gharpure's eḍ ) on what is meant by Uttarīya ( in Śrauta or Smārta rites ). Aparārka ( p. 1069 on Yāj. III. 253 ) quotes a verse of J. that if a boy whose upanayana had not been performed drinks by mistake liquor the prāyaścitta is three kṛchras to be undergone by the boy's mother, brother or father. Viśvarūpa quotes several prose passages of Jātukarṇya ( vol. I. pp. 7, 46, 48, 144 on Śrāddha ), while Mit. quotes several verses on Yāj. I. 256, III. 17, 30, 253, 259-60. The name Jātukarṇya is an ancient one. The Kātyāyana Śrautasūtra ( IV. 1. 23 ff )264 mentions the view of Jātukarṇya on piṇḍapitṛyajña when all the three paternal ancestors of the performer are not dead and the Kalpataru on Śrāddha ( p. 240 ) remarks ‘Jīvatpitṛkasya trayaḥ pakṣāḥ’.