90. Shrīdatta Upādhyāya
Volume I: Part II pp. 759–762
Shrīdatta Upādhyāya stands as one of the earliest *nibandhakāras* on *dharmaśāstra* originating from Mithilā. He flourished prominently between 1200 and 1300 A.D., with his most active period likely centred around 1275 to 1300 A.D. Notably, Shrīdatta offers very little information about himself or his family within his extensive works. Among his significant contributions is the *Ācārādarśa*, which delves into various aspects of conduct and meticulously cites numerous earlier authors. His *Chandogāhnika* addresses principal topics pertinent to daily religious observances, drawing upon a range of established works. Further, Shrīdatta authored *Pitṛbhakti*, a treatise quoting several authorities, and the *Śrāddhakalpa*. The *Samayapradipa* is another notable work, outlining its specific contents. A distinctive feature of Shrīdatta Upādhyāya's approach is his remarkably liberal stance, exemplified by his allowance of *Vaiśvadeva* rituals for *śūdras*. It is crucial to distinguish him from another Maithila writer, Śrīdattamiśra, who flourished towards the end of the fourteenth century.
— Synopsis by P.V. Kane, from History of Dharmaśāstra
90. Shrīdatta Upādhyāya
##90. Śrīdatta Upādhyāya
Mithila has made extremely valuable and substantial contri- butions to Dharmaśāstra Literature. From the days of the Yājñavalkya smṛti down to modern times the land of Mithila has produced writers whose names are illustriouṣ Śrīdatta Upādhyāya is one of the earliest among the mediaeval Maithila nibandhakāraṣ He is the author of several works which will be briefly noticeḍ The Ācārādarśa of Śrīdatta was printed in Benares at Divakara Press and by the Veńkateśvara Press in Bombay in samvat 1961. It is a manual of the daily religious duties of the followers of the white Yajurveda (Vājasaneyins ),1 such as ācamana, brushing the teeth, morning bath, sandhyā, japa, brahma- yajña, tarpana, daily worship of gods, vaiśvadeva, feeding guests etc. Among the works and writers named are the following2:— Ācāra-cintāmani, Kalpataru, Kāmadhenu, Kālikāpurāna, Gaṇeśa- miśra, Rājā (probably Bhojadeva ), Smrtimahārṇava, Harihara and Halāyudha-nibandha. There is a commentary on this work called Ācārādarśabodhini composed by Gaurīpati or Gaurīśa, son of Dāmodara Maithila, at Benares in 1640 A. D. (Dr. Bhandar- kar’s report, 1883-84, p. 347 ). In this work he uses several vernacular words; e. g. he says that ‘Śāla ’ tree is known as Sagavana3 (in the vernacular ).
Śrīdatta’s work called ‘Chandogāhnika’ was printed by the Nirṇayasāgara Press (Bombay, 1930 ). It summarizes at the end the principal topics viz. rinsing the mouth, bath, morning sandhyā, five daily yajñas, bhojana (midday meal ), resting thereafter, evening sandhyā, evening meal, repeating the Veda, going to beḍ In the Introductory verse he states: looking into the smṛtis, purāṇas, Grhyasūtras and the nibandhas of Bhūpāla (i. e. king Bhoja) and Gopāla (the author of the Kāmadhenu ) I shall set out the āhnika (daily rites prescribed ) for Sāmavedinṣ At the end also he states that he studied all the nibandhas of Bhūpāla and otherṣ It is a small work (63 printed pages), but it quotes, besides the well-known sūtras, smṛtis and the Mahābhārata the following works : Karma- pradīpa (frequently pp. 19, 47, 50, 53, 60 ), Kāmadhenu (pp. 5, 7, 8, 12, 46 &c. ), Kalpataru (pp. 4, 5, 36, 58, 63 &c. ), Chandoga- paddhati (p. 53), several Purāṇas (such as Narasimha, Devī, Nandi, Padma, Brahma, Bhavisya. Mārkaṇḍeya, Matsya, Liṅga, Vāmana, Varāha, Vāyu, Viṣṇu, Skanda), Mahārṇavaprakāśa (pp. 4, 15), Mitākṣarā (p. 31), Ratnakaraṇḍikā (p. 11), Yogi- yājñavalkya (many verses quoted on pp. 9, 10, 13, 17, 19, 27, 41, 44), Haribhakti (p. 36), Haribhaktidīpikā (p. 2), Smṛtimañjūṣā (p. 2 said to be Dakṣiṇadesīya). He refers to his own work ‘Śrāddhakalpa’ (p. 53). For a small work like the Chando- gāhnika the author quotes a very large number of authoritieṣ It may be noted that this work specifies (on pp. 45–46) at some length the Aparādhas that Bhāgavatas should not be guilty of and explains the word Bhāgavata in several wayṣ
The Pitṛbhakti is a manual on the Śrāddha rites for students of the Yajurveda. It was based4 on the Kātyākalpa with Karka’s bhāṣya thereon and on the works of Gopāla and Bhūpāla (i. e. Bhojadeva). It is frequently quoted in the Śrāddhaviveka of Rudradhāra. Among the writers named are (besides those that occur in the Ācarādarśa also) : Pitṛhitakaraṇīkāra, Nārāyaṇa- vṛtti (on Āśvalāyana Gr. S. ), Mitākṣarā, Ratnakaraṇḍikā, Vidhi- puṣpamālā (26 a), Śubhakara, Smṛtimañjarī, Smṛtimañjūṣā, Halāyudha’s Śrāddhādhyāya. This work first treats of the details of the Pārvaṇaśrāddha, then of ekoddiṣṭa, of the monthly śrāddhas, the śrāddha on the 11th day after death, of Sapiṇḍī- karaṇa, of ābhyudayika śrāddha. It then proceeds to consider the definition of śrāddha.
The Śrāddhakalpa was composed by him for the Sāma- vedinṣ It is referred to in his Samayapradīpa5 and Pitṛbhakti (folio 33b). The Samayapradipa treats of the proper times for various vratas.6 It is divided into three chapters (paricchedas). The first is called Samayapariccheda and dilates upon the definition of vrata, on the procedure about fasts, nakta and the vratas of Gaṇeśa and other deities, the second is called Saṁvatsara-kṛtya-pariccheda and treats of vratas from the pratipadā to the amāvasyā in the several months and the third is called prakirṇaka (miscellaneous) dealing with the vratas on saṅkrānti (the Sun's passage into another Zodiacal sign) etc. In this work Śrīdatta often refers to the views of the Gauḍas and contrasts them with his owṇ He also refers to Gauḍanibandha. No other writers or works except those that are already enumerated under Ācāradarśa and Pitṛbhakti are named in this work. On folio 7a there is a name which is somewhat indistinct and appears to be ‘Mitāmitrādibhiḥ’. The Samayapradipa is mentioned in the Kṛtya-ratnākara (pp. 400, 479, 505) of Cāṇḍeśvara and in Śūlapāṇi’s Durgotsava-viveka7. Śrīdatta is more frequently quoted in the Śrāddhakriyā-kaumudī of Govindānanda than almost any other author or work.
As Śrīdatta names the Kalpataru, Harihara and Halāyudha’s work on śrāddha he must have flourished later than 1200 A. D. As Cāṇḍeśvara mentions his Samayapradipa, Śrīdatta must have flourished before the first quarter of the 14th century. If Gaṇeśamiśra mentioned in the Ācāradarśa be the same as Gaṇeśavaramiśra, the author of Sugatisopāna and uncle of Cāṇḍeśvara (which appears extremely probable), then Śrīdatta flourished a short time before Cāṇḍeśvara and must have composed his works between 1275 and 1510 A. D.
Śrīdatta affords hardly any information about himself or his family. But as he refers to certain writers by the general word ‘Gauḍaḥ’ (pakvatailam na duṣyatīti Gauḍaḥ p. 12 of Chandogāhnika) it may be assumed that he was not a Gauḍa but a Maithila.