TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu
TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu
TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu
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N. India., and also its Sūtra, the Kauśika Sūtra, have a few of these cases.<br />
KauśS 42.17 ajmaḥ > aymaḥ, 64.17 anajmi > anaymi, 180 . Both texts,<br />
interestingly, can be traced back to a Gujarat tradition of the Middle Ages. -<br />
Occasionally, -ym- , is also found in the Or. version of PS (18.76.4:<br />
maymani). 181 Finally, another addition can be made from Nepal, where I<br />
once saw this trait in an Agnihotra Paddhati belonging to the Vājasaneyi<br />
school. 182<br />
How does this all add up? The few cases in MS, MŚS, PS, ŚS and KauśS can<br />
all be traced back to medieval Gujarat. PB and the other Kauthuma texts are<br />
also prominently found in Gujarat. It is unlikely, however, that the<br />
substitution of -jm- by -ym- in PB I had much of an an impact on the other<br />
schools (Śaun., Paipp., Maitr.). Even if one evokes the Moḍha Brahmins of<br />
Gujarat who were cāturvedins (and of whom I have indeed seen SV, MS, and<br />
AV MSS), this cannot readily explain the diffusion of the feature to all the<br />
texts mentioned above.<br />
The medieval homeland of the Kapiṣṭhalas is still unknown, but may have<br />
been Gujarat. The school has not thus far been traced anywhere in India; I<br />
suspect that its medieval home lies in Gujarat/Maharashtra (or<br />
Orissa/Andhra), as the only extensive MS of this text shows a peculiarity<br />
common to these areas, i.e., pronouncing and therefore also writing the sound<br />
-ṛ- as [ru]. The MS is written in Devanāgarī; Gujarat or Maharashtra thus<br />
would be the preferred choice. 183 Then there is a similarity in Sandhi between<br />
MS and KpS, i.e., -as/-e before accented vowel > - ā in MS, occasionally only<br />
in KpS. This indicates a Maitr. influence on KpS transmission, either in<br />
recitation or, more probably, in writing. This again supports a Gujarat<br />
homeland for the medieval KpS. Modern evidence tends to confirm this. 184<br />
If, at a certain time, KpS/KpB was one of the major Yajurveda traditions in<br />
180<br />
Cf. also y/j change in: 120.1 samajyāyan > samayyāyam, 133.6 yajñe > jajñe; see<br />
Bloomfield, p. LXI.<br />
181<br />
The reason is that PS originally stems from Gujarat, at a time of 800/1000 AD, cf.<br />
author, ZDMG, VI. Suppl.band, 1985, p. 265 sqq.<br />
182<br />
See StII 8/9 p.209, but note Brāhmaṇo Gurjaradeśād āgataḥ in a colophon of another<br />
MS from Nepal, 13th cent., see author, in: Formen kulturellen Wandels... = Nepalica 2., ed.<br />
B.Kölver, St. Augustin 1986, p. 1987, ann.2.<br />
183<br />
The only other manuscript of KpS , from the former Ft. William at Calcutta, is also<br />
written in Nāgarī, as is the manuscript, which I unfortunately was not allowed to film at the<br />
Benares Skt.Univ. during three visits in 1972/73, of a so-called Kāpiṣṭhala Gṛhyasūtra.<br />
184<br />
See the letter no. 14 by Kanhaiyālāl Bhāīśaṅkar Dave of Pātāṇ (N. Gujarat), in Dr.<br />
Yaśavant Khuśāl Deśpāṇḍe, Vedaśākhā Vāṅmay āṇi Carak Brāhmaṇyācāṃ Itihās, Nāgpur<br />
1961, app.2, p.26. Someone should investigate the Kap. and other (Yajur-) Vedic traditions<br />
of Gujarat (Dave mentions: Kaṭha, Kapiṣthala, Maitr., Caraka).<br />
67