क्षुद्रकल्पसूत्रम्: Ksudrakalpasutra of Mashaka Gargya with the Commentary of Shri Shrinivasa Critically Edited by Prof. B. R. Sharma (An Old and Rare Book)

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

The Ksudrakalpasutra with the bhasya of Shri Shrinivasa is being brought out for the first time and is now being published as the first number in our newly started Panjab University Indological Series. This Kalpasutra without commentary was edited by W. Caland in 1908 as part of his Arseyakalpa, in Roman script, with valuable footnotes. Later a Devanagari version of this work sans footnotes was brought out by Pandit Rajaram, Professor, D.A.V. College, Lahore, in 1921.

The Ksudrakalpa is actually the second part of the main work Arseyakalpa, and both these works are popularly ascribed to Mashaka. But the Ksudrakalpa, later assumed the position of an independent work like many other works in this field and has been treated as such by the commentators. This is the peculiarity generally observed in Saman literature.

The Arseyakalpa with the commentary of Varadaraja is being published by the Vishveshvaranand Vedic Research Institute and will be ready for release very soon. The edition of the Chandoviciti with two commentaries prepared by me will shortly be sent to the press. The Phullapota, a commentary of Ganesha on Puspasutra, so far unpublished, and the Drahyayaņa Shrautasutra with the commentary of Dhanvin are under prepartion and it is hoped, that these two works will be ready for press in the near future.

My aim, as already made known in the Introductions and Prefaces to my earlier editions of Samavedic works, is to try to complete as many works as possible on Samaveda during my active life.

The Arseyakalpa and the Ksudrakalpa are the two liturgical works of Simaveda containing the enumeration of saman chants which are to be sung in various Soma sacrifices lasting from one day to several years. Both these works in their enumeration of saman chants for different Soma sacrifices closely follow, to a great extent, the order of Tandya Brahmana in listing the sacrifices and their Kalpasampattis, While the Arseyakalpa presents a dry list of samans for various rites commencing from Jyotistoma to Vishvast jam ayana, dividing the sacrifices into three categories according to the period of duration required to accomplish them, viz., Ekaha, Ahina and Sattra, the Ksudrakalpa simply confines itself to 85 Ekaha sacrifices (1.1.11-9) 22 kinds of Prsthya-sadahas (11.10-14) and lastly innumerable kinds of Dvadashahas (11.15 to the end). It is to be noted here that the Ksudrakalpa follows the Tandya Brahmana of Kauthuma in respect of only Kamya and, to some extent, Prayashcitta rituals (cf. Tan, Br, 6, 9), covering its first two chapters or first Prapathaka. Here the Ksudrakalpa has left out some of the Prayashcittas such as Narashamsa, Upadamsana etc., but at the same time as far as the Kamya and other rituals are concerned it has faithfully followed the Tandya Brahmana. Again the Ksudrakalpa, unlike the Arseya which presents but a most monotonous list of sumans to be sung at the various rituals and sacrifices, gives not only the Kiptis or Kalpas te. formulae of verses, but also mentions the Vistutis and the Sampats, i.c. the accountability of the total syllables of different samans composed on various metres in the Stomas, and also contains instruction or discussion that is warranted in the context. In this respect it may be treated as a supplementary treatise to the Samaveda Brahmaņas as also an auxiliary to the later Shrautasutras. The Tandya Brahmaņa names the pratipat ie, the first stotriya to be sung in Kamya yajnas, and the Sandhi-saman, the saman to be sung in the last ratriparyaya at the break of the dawn, in Prayashcitta rituals but does not fully enumerate the samans.