27. Bharadvāja and Bhāradvāja
Volume I: Part I pp. 290–294
A śrautasūtra and gṛhya of Bhāradvāja exists - Viśvarūpa's work establishes existence of a sūtra work on dharma of Bharad- vāja - there was a smṛti in verse also attributed to Bhāradvāja - Kautiliya shows that Bharadvāja was an ancient author on poli- tics - some views of Bhāradvāja - Mahābhārata on Bhāradvāja - Bhāradvāja ( Bārhaspatya ), sage of the 6th Mandala of the Ṛg- veda - mentioned by Pāṇini as a predecessor - Mahābhāṣya men- tions Bhāradvājīyas, a school of grammarians- Kautiliya probably lumps Bhāradvāja, Vyāsa and Manu and refers to them collectively as ‘ ācāryāh ’ - verses on vyavahāra attributed to Bhāradvāja - this probably different from work on politics.
— Synopsis by P.V. Kane, from History of Dharmaśāstra
27. Bharadvāja and Bhāradvāja
27. Bharadvāja and Bhāradvāja
Dr. S. C. Banerjee in his work ( Dharmasūtras, a study in their origin and development ) published in 1962 at Calcutta quotes only three prose passage of Bharadvāja. Although he publishes his work thirty years after the first vol. of the H. of Dh. he does not mention two prose passages which had been cited on pp. 126, 127, of that volume.
There is a Śrauta sūtra and a Gṛhya sūtra attributed to Bhāradvāja. The Mṣ of the śrauta in Bombay University Library contains nine praśnas and a portion of the 10th and begins ‘ darśapaurṇamāsan vyākhyāsyāmaḥ. ’ It quotes Ālekhana and Āśmarathya frequently. The Gṛhya has been edited by J. W. Salomonṣ It appears from quotations in Viśvarūpa and other early commentators that a sūtra work on dharma attributed to Bharadvāja or Bhāradvāja was in existence. The forms Bharadvāja and Bhāradvāja probably refer to the same work. On Yāj. ( I. 15 ) Viśvarūpa quotes a prose passage from Bhāradvāja prohibiting the learning of mleccha tongues and calling upon the preceptor to teach his pupil pure words, observance of Sandhyā and the kindling of fire1 on Yāj. I. 32 Bhāradvāja is quoted as prescribing a penance for even thinking of causing harm to beings,2 on Yāj. I. 185 a lengthy sūtra of Bhāradvāja on the purification of certain things is quoted, wherein is cited the view of some that boys are purified by a mere bath when touched by antyajas ;3 on Yāj I. 236 a prose passage of Bhāradvāja forbids in śrāddhas the use of certain cereals as fooḍ4 Aparārka quotes a long prose passage ( p. 1155 ) from Bhāradvāja in connection with the prāyaścitta for cession of gṛhya fires for various periodṣ
In the Smṛticandrikā, in Haradatta and in several other works verses of Bhāradvāja are quoted, which appear to be taken from a smṛti in verse.
That Bhāradvāja was an ancient writer on arthaśāstra follows from the Kauṭilīya, where in the views of Bhāradvāja are cited seven times and of Kaṇiṅka Bhāradvāja once. Some of the views of Bhāradvāja as described in the Kauṭilīya are that a king should choose his ministers from amongst his fellow-students, that the king should consider his line of policy alone in secret, that the princes should be punished secretly when they manifest no love for the king their father, that the minister should set one prince against another when the king is on his death-bed, that when calamities befall the king and the minister, the former is the lesser of two evils, that one should bow down before the strong. This last view occurs in the Mahābhārata in the same wordṣ5 The Śāntiparva ( chap. 140 ) contains a dialogue between Bhāradvāja and king Śatruñjaya of Sauvīra in which daṇḍa is said to be the most pre-eminent among the expedientṣ The same parva ( chap. 58. 3 ) mentions Bhāradvāja in a list of writers on rājaśāstra. The Yaśastilaka6 (4th Āśvāsa p. 100, Nirnaya-sāgara eḍ) quotes two verses of Bhāradvāja from his treatise on the topic of the six guṇas. This shows that Bhāradvāja's work on politics was available in the 10th century and contained verses (probably intermixed with prose). Bharadvāja (Bārhaspatya) is the sage of the whole of the sixth Maṇḍala of the Ṛgveda. The form Bharadvāja occurs (in the singular) in several verses (e. g. Ṛg. VI. 16. 5 and 33; VI. 31. 4) and in the plural also (in Ṛg. VI. 25. 9 and VI. 50. 15). The form Bhāradvāja occurs in Ṛg. VI. 51. 12 and in Mahābhāṣya notes at least in nine cases that the Bhāradvājīyas read the Vārtikas differently (e. g. Vārtika 9 on Pāṇ. I. 1. 56, Vārtika 4 on IV. 1. 79). That is, the Bhāradvājīyas were a school of grammarianṣ Bharadvāja is said to be the eldest son of Bṛhaspati in Anuśāsanaparva 30. 24 ff. In Śāntiparva7 chap. 140 there are two verses that state: the king should have the rod of punishment ready (or raised up), that he should always exhibit his prowess, he should have no weak points, but should find out the weak points (of others) and should pursue the holes (weaknesses) of others, that people are afraid of him whose Rod is raised and that out of the four upāyas Daṇḍa is the supreme one. These occur in Bhāradvāja's dialogue in Śānti 140. Manu (VII. 162-103) has almost the same verseṣ Kauṭilya differs from these viewṣ He states "The ācāryas say 'a king desiring the orderly maintenance of people's life should always have the Rod of punishment lifted up (for striking when necessary); for, there is no such means for keeping beings under one's control as Daṇḍa'; 'No' says Kauṭilya; for, the king that wields the Rod of punishment with severity becomes an object of disgust to beings; a king who is mild in punishing is treated with contempt, while a king that metes out the proper punishment is honoured; for the Rod of punishment used after proper consideration endows the people with Dharma, Artha and Kāma".
It appears to the present author that Kauṭilya instead of separately mentioning Bharadvāja reported in the Śāntiparva and Manu, probably lumps the three (viz. Bharadvāja, Vyāsa who quoted Bharadvāja's views and Manu) and refers to the three as 'ācāryāḥ' here. It is remarkable that Kauṭilya nowhere expressly mentions Vyāsa's name or the name Mahābhārata either for supporting his own views or for differing from him or it. In I. 3. 1-2 the Kauṭilya first mentions Sāmaveda, Ṛgveda, Yajurveda as Trayī, then adds Atharvaveda and Itihāsaveda and thus makes the Vedas to be five. In the Chāndogyopaniṣad (VII. 1. 2, VII, 1. 4, VII. 7. 1) Itihāsa-Purāṇa is said to be the 5th Veda and it seems that the Kauṭilya follows it. So the Itihāsaveda was entitled to great respect as Veda. It is probable, therefore, that he does not expressly state anywhere that he differs from the Mahābhārata or from Vyāsa. In the Mahābhārata itself 'Ākhyāna' is frequently mentioned as the 5th Veda, as in Vanaparva 58. 9, Udyoga 43. 41-42, Karṇaparva 87. 42, Śālya 6. 14. The Arthaśāstra I. 5 14 ( Purāṇam-itivṛttam-ākhyāyikā-udāharaṇam-dharmaśāstram-arthaśāstram cetihāsaḥ ) produces a jarring note, including, as it does, even Dharmaśāstra and Arthaśāstra under Itihāsa. This does not stand to reason and tradition and is probably an interpolation or a marginal note, which later came to be embodied in the original work.
The Parāśara-Mādhaviya (vol III, p. 231) quotes a verse of Bharadvāja which divides a pledge into four varietieṣ A few quotations from Bharadvāja on matters of vyavahāra are cited in other workṣ For example, the Sarasvatī-vilāsa cites a verse of Bharadvāja that a compromise, an exchange and a partition, if fair and equal, could be annulled only for ten days, but could be annulled till the 9th year, if unfair.8 It appears that the verses of Bharadvāja on vyavahāra are taken from a work other than the ancient work on politicṣ