113. The Vīramitrodaya of Mitramiśra

Volume I: Part II pp. 941–953

113. The Vīramitrodaya of Mitramiśra

113. The Vīramitrodaya of Mitramiśra

The Vīramitrodaya is a vast digest composed by Mitramiśra embracing almost all branches of Dharmaśāstra. Excepting the Caturvarga-cintāmaṇi of Hemādri, this work is probably the largest known on dharmaśāstra. But it surpasses in interest and usefulness even Hemādri's work since it deals with vyavahāra also. It was divided into sections called _prakāśas_. When the first edition of the Hiṣ of Dh. was published in 1930, the _prakāśas_ on _vyavahāra, Paribhāṣā, saṁskāra, rājanīti, āhnika. pūjā, tīrtha_ and lakṣaṇa had been published, the first by Jīvānanda (Cal- cutta 1875) and the rest in the Chowkhamba Sanskrit serieṣ The text of the dāyabhāga portion of the Vyavahāraprakāśa was also published by Golapchandra Sarkar Sastri with an English translation (Calcutta 1879). It appears that Mitramiśra wrote on prāyaścitta also.¹ Of the Prāyaścittaprakāśa there is a complete and well written mṣ (No. 2610) in the Anup Sanskrit Library at Bikaner and there is also another mṣ of Lakṣaṇaprakāśa (No. 239 p. 49 of Val. Cat. of msṣ in I. C. Desai collection). The very names of the sections of the Vīramitrodaya convey an idea of the subjects dealt with in theṃ The Lakṣaṇa- prakāśa deals with the auspicious signs of men, women, the several Parts of human body, elephants, horses, thrones, swords, bows and with the characteristics and qualities of the queen, the ministers, the astrologer, physician, door-keeper, description of śālagrāma, śivaliṅga, rudrākṣa beads etc. In the Āhnikaprakāśa he dilates upon the daily duties beginning with one's rising from bed on brāhmamuhūrta, śauca, ācamana and ending with going to beḍ The Vyavahāraprakāśa is probably the leargest nibandha on vyavahāra. This is divided into four parts The first part deals with the meaning of vyavahāra, the constitution of the sabhā (court of justice), the appointment of judges, conflict of dharmaśāstra and arthaśāstra, assessors, the various grades of courts, the procedure about plaints and defendant's replies and their faults; the burden of proof and and the means of proof. The second gives a detailed exposition of the means of proof, viz. witnesses, documents, possession and ordealṣ The third treats of the eighteen titles of law including dāyavibhāga and the fourth very briefly speaks of those matters which were to be started suo motu by the king and not by a private individual. The dāyavibhāga portion of the Vyavahāraprakāśa occupies a little more than-one-fourth of the whole of the work.

In the Tīrthaprakāśa he deals with the nature of tīrthas, the utility thereof for men, the persons entitled to undertake pilgrim- age, the proper times for pilgrimage, the ceremonial acts to be performed at tīrthas such as shaving, fasts, bathing, gifts, the 113. The Vīramitrodaya of Mitramiśra description of the several varṣas and dvipas and of sacred rivers like the Ganges, Narmadā, sacred places like Gayā, Prabhāsa, Badri, Puṣkara and Purī.

In the Pūjāprakāśa he speaks of the definition of pūjā, persons entitled to perform pūjā (worship of gods ), the rewards of pūjā, proper times and places for pūjā, śālāgrāma, the proper articles and clothes for the worship of idols, proper flowers, fragrant substances, naivedya, the detailed method of worshiping Viṣṇu, Śiva, the Sun, Durgā, Brahmā etc. In the printed edition there are no introductory verses here.

In the Saṁskāra-prakāśa the author enumerates the saṁskāras and describes in detail garbhādhāna, puṁsavana, anavalobhana, sīmantonnayāna, jātakarama, nāmākaraṇa, śiśuniṣkramaṇa, anna- prāśana, cūḍā, upanayana, vivāha etc., the duties of brahmacārins, gotras, pravaras and sāpiṇḍya, all astrological matters in connec- tion with marriage, piṇḍapitṛyajña, sarpabali, aṣṭakāśraddha, śūlagava.

The Rājanītiprakāśa treats of the definition of rājan, the proper time and procedure of coronation, the daily routine for kings, the qualifications of ministers, commander-in-chief and the dependents of king, forts, capital, places, the four expedients of sāma etc. the six guṇas, auspicious and evil signs, marching for battle, Kaumudī and Indradhvaja festivals etc.

In all his works Mitramiśra mentions hundreds of authors and workṣ The portion on vyavahāra is full of long-drawn controversies in which he refutes the views of numerous predecessorṣ The Vīramitrodaya enters into polemics far more fre- quently than Nīlakaṇṭha. He generally upholds the Mitākṣarā of Vijñāneśvara againts all its critics, particularly the writers of the Bengal school. But he does not slavishly admire the Mitākṣarā in every thing. Now and then he rebukes even Vijñāneśvara. For example, he does not approve of what the Mitākṣarā says about the son called Kānīna.² He finds fault with Vijñāneśvara's explanation of the verse 'anyodaryastu ' as extremely forced and far-fetched and as simply exhibiting the author's pedantry.³ Out of the host of works and writers that he names in the vyavahāra section the important ones are noted below.⁴

The Vīramitrodaya was held to be a work of high authority by the Privy Council in the Benares School of Hindu Law. The Vyavahāraprakāśa was published in the Chowkhamba Series in 1932. The Privy Council has laid down that ' the Vīramitrodaya is properly receivable as an exposition of what may have been left doubtful by the Mitākṣarā and declaratory of the law of the Benares school'.⁵ Similarly it has been said by the same high tribunal that the Vīramitrodaya may be referred to even in Bengal where the Dāyabhāga is silent.⁶ But where the text of the Mitākṣarā on any point is quite clear, the gloss of the Vīramitrodaya on the text of any sage, which is in conflict with the rule laid down in the former, cannot be referred to for the purpose of casting a doubt on the clear rule of the Mitākṣarā.⁷ The Vīramitrodaya is inferior to the Vyavahāramayūkha in Western India⁸ and its doctrines are not followed in those provinces when in conflict with those of the other two workṣ Their Lordships of the Privy Council say in Vedachala v. Subra- ##113. The Vīramitrodaya of Mitramiśra

mania⁹ ʻalothough the Smṛticandrikā in the Southern Presidency is regarded as the most authoritative commentary on Vijñāneśvara's work, the Vīramitrodaya holds, as in Western India, a high positioṇ It supplement many gaps and omissions in the earlier commentaries and illustrates and elucidates with logical preciseness the meaning of doubtful prescriptionṣ' There is a mṣ of the Dānaprakāśa in the Deccan College (No. 305 of 1884–1887). It is an extensive work and contains the usual topics about giftṣ Besides the digest called Vīramitrodaya, Mitramiśra composed a commentary on the smṛti of Yājñavalkya. The Coṃ of Mitramiśra on the Yājñavalkyasmṛti was published (after the first volume of the H. of Dh. had been sent to the Press) in the Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series in several fascicules (from 1927–1930). Besides the works noted above he quotes the Karmapradīpa and the Smṛtisāra. In this work he does not quite approve of the reasons for the preference shown to the mother over the father as an heir by the Mitākṣarā, viz. the occurrence of the word ‘mātā’ as the first word when the word ‘pitarau’ is dissolved and the greater propinquity of the mother as compared with the father, since the latter can beget sons from another wife.¹⁰ The commentary gives three varieties of dāsī.¹¹ Vide I. O. cat. p. 371 No. 1288 and Peterson's 2nd report pp. 49–53 for further details about this commentary. In the Ācāraprakāśa he quotes besides some of the works mentioned above he following also, viz. Kullūka, Prayogapārī- jāta, Prāyaścittaviveka, Madanapārijāta, Śrīdatta (vide I. O. cat. p. 437 No. 1471 ). In the introductions to the several sections of his digest and also in the colophons therein Mitramiśra furnishes consider- able information about himself, his family and the family of his patroṇ Mitramiśra was the son of Paraśurāma- paṇḍita and grandson of Haṃsapandita. Haṃsapandita seems to have been a native of Gopācala ( Gwalior ) and was endowed with the rare combination of wealth and learning. One Cāṇḍeśvara of Kāśī was the guru of Paraśu- rāmāpaṇḍita. Mitramiśra indulges in hyperbolic¹² descrip- tions of his own learning and naively tells his readers that they need study only his work and may neglect all other nibandhaṣ Mitramiśra was commanded by Vīrasiṃha to compose his great digest.¹³ The introduction to the Āhnikaprakāśa starts with king Medinimalla who was a scion of the Kāśirāja family. His son was Arjunadeva who became ruler of Bundelkhanḍ His son was Malakhāna, whose son was Pratāparudra (founder of the capital Orccha ). In the commentary of Mitramiśra on the Vyava- hāra section of Yāj. Smṛti the second verse begins 'आस्ते क्षोणि- प्रशस्तिनुरिव गिरिशन्मौडछापूरपूर्व:' i. e. the capital is called ओडछापूर (or 'पुर'). His son was Madhukarasāha, whose son was Vīrasiṃha. Vide Dept. of Letters, Calcutta University, vol. XIII for a paper on Bir Singh Deo by Mr. Līla Sitaram, (pp. 1-34 ) and a paper on ‘Nīlakaṇṭha and Mitramiśra’ in Calcutta Review vol. LVI (for July-September ) for 1935 pp. 147-56 Vīrasiṃha’s son was¹⁴ Jujhāra who is described as 'young' (yuvā in verse 23). His son was Vikramārka whose son was Narasimhadeva. There is no such introduction to the printed Pūjāprakāśa and Narasimhadeva is not mentioned in the introductions to the other prakāśaṣ From the article of Mr. Lala Sītārām in the Calcutta Review (May and July 1924 ) further information can be gathered about Bīrsinghdeo ( i. e. Vīrasimhadeva ). In the article it is shown how and under what circumstances Vīrasimha killed Abul Fazal, the friend of Emperor Akbar and a great literary geniuṣ We are told there that there is a work called Vīrasimhadeva-carita composed in Vikrama year 1664 ( 1607-8 A. D. ) by Kesavadāsa, author of Kavipriyā and Rasikapriyā. Vīrasimha was 7th out of the eight sons of Madhukarasāha. Not only was he a soldier, but he was a great builder. He built the palace forts of Orcchha and Datia, the temple of Keśavadeva at Mathurā, several lakes called Bīrasāgara, Simhasāgara and Deosāgara ( after the three parts of his own name ). He is said to have ruled at Orcchha from 1605 to 1627 A. D. From the introduction to the commentary¹⁵ on yajña- valkya it appears that Vīrasimha commanded Mitramiśra to write it and that a learned man Sadananda, the ornament to Tirabhukti ( Tirhoot ) received directions to collect materials from Mitramiśra who was a wealthy persoṇ It will be seen that the title Vīrami- trodaya very cleverly suggests that Mitramiśra wrote it under the patronage of Vīrasimhadeva. The title may mean ‘the rise of Vīra and Mitra’ or ‘the rise of the friend of Vīra’ or ‘the rise of the sun, viz. Vīra’.

The Introductory verses to several parts of the Vīramitrodaya furnish information about the family of the author.

The editor of the Vyavahāraprakāśa (Pandit Viṣṇu Prasad Bhandari) gives some additional information about Mitramiśra. It is stated that Mitramiśra also composed a campū called ‘Ānandakanda’, at the end of which he gives some information about his family and himself. He was a brāhmaṇa of the Sānnādhya class (a section of Gauḍa brāhmaṇas); he had two elder brothers, named Vīreśvara and Cakrapāṇi and a younger brother called Yogāditya and a sister named Sunīti. The editor quotes a verse (see note below)¹⁶ occurring at the end of the Ānandakanda-campū.

The time when Mitramiśra flourished can be easily settled on account of his relations with Vīrasimhadeva. In his Āhnika-prakāśa (vide footnote 1468 above) he mentions the great-grand son of Vīrasimha. Therefore that section must have been written when Vīrasimha was advanced in age. Vīrasimha ruled at Orchha from 1605 to 1627. Hence the literary activity of Mitramiśra must be placed in the first two quarters of the 17th century. This date agrees with the fact that he names Vācaspati and Raghunandana. We thus see that Mitramiśra was almost a contemporary of Kamalākarabhatta and Nīlakaṇṭha. The two latter do not refer to him nor does Mitramiśra name theṃ

The Chowkhamba Sanskrit series of Benares has published twelve prakāśas of the Vīramitrodaya viz. on Paribhāṣā, Saṁs- kāra, Āhnika, Pūjā, Lakṣaṇa, Rājanīti, Tīrtha, Vyavahāra, Śrāddha, Samaya, Bhakti, Śuddhi. A few words may be said here on some of theṃ The last three here are comparatively smaller than the otherṣ

The Paribhāṣāprakāśa (a small part extending to 116 printed pages) describes the genealogy of the family to which¹⁷ Vira-simha belonged, then mentions Haṃsapandita, who belonged to a brāhmaṇa family of Gopācala (i. e. modern Gwalior) whose son was Paraśurāma (verse 30, whose teacher was Candīśvara, verses 30-31), whose son was Mitramiśra (verse 32) who be- came a great favourite of king Vīrasimha (v. 35) by whose order the work (called Viramitrodaya) was composed by Mitra-miśra (v. 36); twenty-two parts called prakāśas were composed by Mitramiśra. They are: Paribhāṣā, Saṃskāra, Āhnika, Pūjā, Pratiṣṭhā, Rājadharma, Vyavahāra, Śuddhi, Śrāddha, Tīrtha, Dāna, Vrata, Samaya, Jyotis, Śānti, Karmavipāka, Cikitsā, Prāyaścitta, Prakīrṇaka, Lakṣaṇa, Bhakti, Mokṣa. Eleven (excluding Saṃskāra) cover about 4500 printed pageṣ The 22 parts must have covered about two lakhs of ślokas (each of 32 syllables) i. e. they came to double of the Mahābhārata in extent. Among those published in the Chowkhamba series, six cover about 500 or more printed pages each viz. those on Saṃskāra, Āhnika, Lakṣaṇa, Rājanīti, Tīrtha, Vyavahāra. The Vyavahāraprakāśa is a large work; it deals with legal procedure (viz. plaint, reply, evidence, witnesses, documents, possession; oaths and ordeals); the eighteen titles of law (from ṛṇadāna to Dāyabhāga) i. e. it deals with both substantive law and adjective law. In the Vyavahāraprakāśa he quotes and discusses numerous works and authors (the important ones are quoted in the note below)¹⁸ On pp. 557 and 564 he mentions his own Pasibhāṣā-prakāśa.

It is not possible for reasons of space to give even briefly the contents of all the twenty-two parts of Vīramitrodaya.

An attempt has to be made to convey the matters dealt with in a few of the 22 partṣ The Rājanītiprakāśa covers 493 printed pageṣ A very brief summary of it would be interesting. The meaning of the word ‘rājan’; praise of king's office; coronation of a king and the proper times for the coronation and those that are prohibited for it. Description of the ceremony of coronation; the good qualities required in a king and actions prescribed for kings and those forbidden; his daily duties; per-sons who are helpers of the king viz. the Chief Minister the Commander-in-chief, the heads of departments, envoy, chamber-lain, guard, servants; forts and capital; treasury, army, friends; the Upāyas Sāma, Dāna, Daṇḍa, Bheda; taking counsel with ministers; guarding the heir to the throne; the aspects of policy; the circle of kings; the six guṇas laid down by Manu VII. 160 and Yāj. I. 347; marching on an invasion; king's dreams and their meaning; the good or evil omens; preparing the king for actual fight; public festivals like Kaumudī; raising Indra's banner; worship of Bhadrakalī; Lohābhisārikā; Vasor-dhārā; homa causing destruction of enemies; the rite called Ghṛtaka-mbala described in Viṣṇudharmottara; prakīrṇaka (miscellaneous matters); sights and dreams that are auspicious and those that are inauspicious; nimittas (i. e. throbbing of certain parts of the body such as eyes); Jayābhiṣeka according to the Liṅga- 113. The Viramitrodaya of Mitramiśra purāṇa ; Kaumudīmahotsava, raising of Indra-dhvaja ; Vasordhārā (pp. 447-467) ; Śatrunāśana rites (i. e. rites for liquidating an enemy) such as Krttikāśnāna (p. 458), and Ghrtakambalaśānti from the Visṇudharmottarapurāṇa and from Atharvaveda-pariśisṭa (pp. 459-464) ; Viduroktanītis from the Mahābhārata (pp. 465-493 ).¹⁹

The Tirthaprakāśa of the Viramitrodaya occupies 610 printed pageṣ After mentioning the several members of the family of his patron Virasimha, he praises himself to the skies in verses 32-33, (vide note 1471 above). In 18 verses he gives a summary of its contents, viz. the large provinces and mountains of Jambu-dvīpa (India), description of Kāśī, Prayāga, Gayāvidhi, of rivers like Sarasvatī, Gangā, Yamunā, Narmadā, holy places like Kurukṣetra, Kokāmukha, Prthūdaka, Prabhāsa, Puṣkara, Badari, Lohārgala, Kedāra, Naimiṣa, Indraprastha, Ayodhyā, Mathurā, Citrakūṭa. Ujjayinī, Dvārakā, Tāpī, Payoṣṇī, Godāvarī, Sahya, Gokarṇa, Saptakoṭīśvara, Kāverī, Setubandha, Rāmeśvara, Puruṣottama, Ekāśurā, Koṇārka, Virājakṣetra, Kāmarūpa, Karatoyā, Brahmaputranāja. He proposes to restrict the word Tīrtha only to such places or rivers as are enumerated as tīrthas by the learned or by great sageṣ

He profusely quotes the Mahābhārata in the Tīrthaprakāśa. Tīrthas are either Daiva (such as Vārāṇasī, Prabhāsa, Puṣkara ), or āsura (such as Gayā) ; or ārṣāṇi (those that are established by rṣis) and mānuṣa are those established by rulers of Sūryavamśa or Somavamśa. Men of all varṇas and āśramas are entitled to perform tīrthayātrā (p. 19). The Mahābhārata and the Purāṇas are full of descriptions of tīrthas and pilgrimageṣ Kurukṣetra²⁰ as a tīrtha is described in Vanaparva 83. 1-8. Vanaparva chapters 87-90 speak of the tīrthas in the east, south, west and north respectively. Śalyaparva (chapters 35-39) describes the tīrthas which were visited by Balarāma in his pilgrimage. The Anuśāsanaparva (chapter 26) is full of the greatness of the Gangeṣ²¹ Two typical verses are quoted below from it. On p. 315 of the Rājanītiprakāśa²² he quotes a verse of Vyāsa in which different words are given to indicate what Daiva is and which distinguishes Puruṣakāra (human effort) from Daiva; vide also Manu VII. 205, Yaj. I. 349 and 351. Vanaparva (82. 9-12) deals with this topic of Daiva and Puruṣakāra.²³

In the Indian Historical Quarterly (Vol. 24 for 1948 pp. 336-7) Pandit K. Madhav Krishna Sarma informs scholars that the Anup Sanskrit Library at Bikaner has a mṣ of the Mokṣa-prakāśa. The first folio is missing. There are in all 342 paper folios, 8 lines on each page and 40 syllables in each line. The main topics dealt with are stated in the note below.²⁴

His Bhaktiprakāśa is a substantial work of 175 printed pageṣ In his Introductory verses he states the philosophical doctrine that God is one, but he further states that Mukti is difficult; the mind does not give up all the worldly by matterṣ Therefore devotion to Hari is the only way. He mentions the nine aspects of ‘bhakti’ (the verse is quoted below)²⁵ and dilates on them in pp. 31–128. He points out each of the nine aspects may be Sattvikī, Rājasī or Tāmasī and expounds these. He mentions the Bhāgavatapurāṇa and the commentator Śrīdharasvāmīn fre- quently. He frequently quotes the Purāṇas and the Bhagavad- gītā. At the end (on pp. 134–175) he deals with ‘bhajanīya- nirṇaya’ (exposition on the object of worship).

In the Vyāṅgyārtha-kaumudī of Anantasrāma²⁶ of Puṇya- stambha ( Puṇṭāmbe ) on the Godāvarī, a commentary on the Rasamañjarī of Bhānudatta, the author gives a pedigree of his patroṇ He describes the Kāśīrāja family at Benares, in which was born Pratāparudra whose son was Madhukarasāha, whose son was Vīrasimhādeva. Ananta wrote the commentary for Candrabhānu, a son of Vīrasimhādeva, in 1635 A. D. This corroborates the dates above given by Mr. Lala Sitaraṃ There- fore it is almost beyond doubt that the literary activity of Mitra- miśra lies between 1610 and 1640 A. D.