Essay name: Purana Bulletin
Author:
Affiliation: University of Kerala / Faculty of Oriental Studies
The "Purana Bulletin" is an academic journal published in India. The journal focuses on the study of Puranas, which are a genre of ancient Indian literature encompassing mythological stories, traditions, and philosophical teachings. They represent Hindu scriptures in Sanskrit and cover a wide range of subjects.
Purana, Volume 8, Part 2 (1966)
101 (of 228)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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July, 1666] A NEW VERSION OF THE BRHASPATISAṂHITĀ 317
omitted in other CR texts. The first of these two stanzas served
as an introduction to the Bṛhaspati-samhita of the Garuḍa-purāṇa
and announced the content of the following adhyaya-s dealing with
"science of ethics and expediency."
The Caṇakya-rāja-nīti-śāstra and the Garuda-purāṇa
4. In his previous studies "The Caṇakya-rāja-nīti-śāstra and
the Bṛhaspati-samhita of the Garuda-purāṇa" in the Annal of 'he
Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute" and "Cāṇakya's Aphorisms
in Purāṇa-s" in the Purana³ this author came to the conclusion
that the Brhaspati-samhita of the Garuḍa-purāṇa is almost
identical with the Cāṇakya-rāja-nīti-śāstra version. He was able
to prove that seventy per cent of the Bṛhaspati-saṃhitā maxims
of the Garuḍa-purāṇa are identical with CR.
The Garuḍa-purāṇa is an encyclopaedic work and is not ori-
ginal in its entirety. It has already been proved beyond any doubt
that the Garuḍa-purāṇa contains abstracts from the Rāmāyaṇa, the
Mahābhārata and the Harivamsa, a synopsis of the Dharmaśāstra
by Parāśara, but what is more important it contains nearly five.
hundred stanzas that were taken from the first and third books of
the Yajnavalkya Smrti. V. N. Mandlik in his introduction to the
Vyavahāra-Mayūkha and H. Losch in his Die Yajnavalkya Smrti
verglichen mit den Paralellen des Agni-und Garuda Purāṇa analysed
the Garuḍa-purāṇa from this point of view and came to the conclu-
sion that almost the whole of the first book of the YajnavalkyaSmṛti
was included in the first book of the Garuḍa-purāṇa in chapters
93 to 101 and that a great part of the third book of the
Yajnavalkya Smrti was included in the first book chapters 166
and 102 to 105 of the Garuḍa-puräna. In addition the whole
1. "Now I shall discourse on the science of Ethics and Expediency; a
perusal whereof may benefit kings and commoners alike and enable
them to secure long lives, and good names on earth, and exalted sta-
tions in heaven after death". (N. M. Dutt's translation).
2. ABORI xxxviii, pp. 58-110.
3. Purāṇa, VI. 1, pp I13-146.
4. M. Winternitz, Geschichte der indischen Litteratur, I. 389, 479; A. A.
Macdonnel, A History of Sanskrit Literature p. 300; and others.
5. I. ch. 107.
6. Cf. V. N. Mandlik, p. LVII sqq. and H. Losch pp. 49, 50.
