26. Brihaspati
Volume I: Part I pp. 287–290
An ancient teacher of arthaśāstra mentioned in Kauṭilīya- Mahābhārata ( Śānti 59. 80-85 ) credits him with compression of vast work of Brahmā on trivarga and mentions several of his views - Kāmasūtra speaks of Bṛhaspati as writer on artha - peculiar views of Bṛhaspati according to Kauṭilīya - Bṛhaspati also wrote a prose work on vyavahāra and peśayaścitta - probably the authors of the two are different - 700 verses on vyavahāra ascribed to Bṛhaspati are quoted in the Mitākṣarā - this is an independent work composed between 300–500 A. D. – smaller compilations in verse ascribed to Bṛhaspati - Bārhaspatya Arthaśāstra edited by Dr. Thomas is a late work.
— Synopsis by P.V. Kane, from History of Dharmaśāstra
26. Brihaspati
earliest writers and works to mention hiṃ In the Deccan College Collection there are two msṣ of a Budha-dharmaśāstra in prose (No. 507 of 1881–82 and No. 145 of 1895–1902, 2 folios ). The work is very brief1 and speaks of upanayana, marriage, eight forms of marriage, the saṁskāras from garbhādhāna to upanayana, the five daily great yajñas, śrāddha, pākayajñas, havīryajñas, somayāgas, the means of subsistence for a Brāhmaṇa, the duties of Vaiśyas and Śūdras, the orders of forest hermits and saṁnyāsins, removal of thorns by the king, administration of justice, king’s dutieṣ
The work does not produce the impression of being early. It is in the nature of a summary of larger works on dharma. All quotations in Hemādri cited from Budha are not found in the msṣ
26. Bṛhaspati
That Bṛhaspati was an ancient teacher of Arthaśāstra follows from the Kauṭiliya, wherein the Bārhaspatyas are cited six timeṣ In the Mahābhārata (Śānti. chap. 59. 80–85) Bṛhaspati is said to have compressed into 3000 chapters the work on dharma, artha and kāma composed by Brahmā. The Vanaparva (32. 61) speaks of Bṛhaspati-nīti. The Mahābhārata several times cites verses (gāthās or ślokas) said to have been sung by Bṛhaspati2 (vide Śānti. 23. 15, 56. 38–39, 57. 6–7). 57. 6–7. Vide also Śanti. 58. 13-16, 69 23-24. The Anu- śāsana (39. 10–11) speaks of the Arthaśāstra composed by Bṛhaspati and otherṣ In some of these places there are dist- inct references to a śāstra or mata of Bṛhaspati and sections of his work are referred to (as e. g. rājādhikāra). The Śānti- parva (170. 12) describes how a king could, according to Bṛhaspati's views, secure his goal in four wayṣ3 In the Vanaparva (150. 29) men are said to be upheld by the nayas proclaimed by Bṛhaspati and Uśanaṣ Vide also Sabhā 50. 9, 55. 6, 73. 7–8, Udyoga 33. 71–72, 55. 66. The Kāmasūtra repeats the tradition that Brahmā composed a work in one hundred thousand chapters on dharma, artha and kāma and that Bṛhaspati dealt with a portion of that work, viz. on artha.4 Vide note 238 above. Aśvaghoṣa (Buddhacarita I. 46) speaks of the rājaśāstra of Śukra and Bṛhaspati. Accor- ding to the Arthaśāstra of Kauṭilya some of the special views of Bṛhaspati's school were that there were only two vidyās for kings viz. vārtā and daṇḍanīti and that the council of ministers should comprise 16 memberṣ According to Kāman- daka and the Pañcatantra (II. 41) 'avíśvāsa' was the sheet- anchor of royal policy according to Bṛhaspati. The Yaśasti- laka (p. 13) says that the nīti of Bṛhaspati had no place for Godṣ5 The commentary on the Nītivākyāmṛta gives the first verse of Bṛhaspati.6 Viśvarūpa contains several prose quotations (which from their context must have been taken from Bṛhaspati) about the qualifications of a senāpati, prati- hāra, dūta &c. It is somewhat strange that in this quotation the mantrin is required to be deeply conversant with the śāstras of Manu, Bṛhaspati and Uśanaṣ For similar prose quotations, vide Viśvarūpa on Yāj. I. 323, II. 154. That Bṛhaspati also wrote a sūtra work on Vyavahāra and other topics of dharma follows from the quotations contained in Viśvarūpa and Haradatta. For example, Viśvarūpa cites a prose passage from Bṛhaspati (on Yāj. II. 38) about the duty of the king to restore property stolen from his subjects if he could not recover it from the thief, about the rising scale of the rates of interest according to the castes; about the debts of a deceased man being payable by those who took his wealth, by his wife or by his son; about a surety being made to pay when the principal died; about the illegitimate son of a śūdra getting a share on his father's death and about his taking the whole estate with the king's permission if there were no legitimate issue of the śūdra.7 Haradatta on Gau- tama 22. 18 quotes a prose passage from Bṛhaspati on the prāyaścitta for killing a cow. These quotations establish that Bṛhaspati wrote a sūtra work on dharma also (i. e. at least on vyavahāra and prāyaścitta ). Viśvarūpa also quotes a few verses from Bṛhaspati on vyavahāra and prāyaścitta and in one place at least indicates that the verse he attributes to Bṛhaspati occurred in the same work in which a prose passage quoted by him occurreḍ8 From this it follows that the sūtra work of Bṛhaspati on dharma contained verses also in Viśvarūpa's time. Whether the two works on arthaśāstra and dharma were composed by the same Bṛhaspati cannot be determineḍ It looks probable that they were composed by different authorṣ Yāj. (I. 4-5) mentions Bṛhaspati among the expounders of dharma. He is probably referring to the sūtra work an dharma disclosed by quotations from Viśvarūpa. In the Mit. and other commentaries and nibandhas over seven hundred verses on vyavahāra and a few hundred more on ācāra and prāyaścitta are cited from Bṛhaspati. That seems to have been an independent work composed between 300 and 500 A. D., which will be discussed later on ( vide sec. 37 ).
In Jīvānanda’s collection ( part I. pp. 644–651 ) and in the Ānandāśrama collection there is a Bṛhaspatismṛti in 80 verses in which Bṛhaspati is represented as instructing Indra about giftṣ Several msṣ in the Deccan College Collection contain this smṛti, but in an abridged form in 70 and 49 verses ( No. 130 of 1884–86 and No. 147 of 1895–1902 ). Vide also I. O. cat. p. 386 No. 1324, 1325–1328. Aparārka quotes ( p. 1225 ) verse 7 of this smṛti ( in verse ) and the Dānaratnākara quotes verses 6 and 7 as from Dāna-Bṛhaspati.
The Bārhaspatya Arthaśāstra edited by Dr. F. W. Thomas ( Lahore, 1921 ) is a later work and does not deserve more than a passing notice. In six chapters it deals with the conduct, duties, studies of kings, omens, rules of policy &c.