the Ganges and Jamna as Āryāvarta, while others held it to be the land between the disappeared river Saraswati and Black forest, and between Himālaya and Vindhya.
The strong antipathy against the Dekkhan which we find in our text cannot be found in the earlier books.[1]
The doctrine that the Brāhmanas can claim for their conduct and usages standard authority over regions much greater than those throughout which other castes can do so cannot be traced in earlier books.
A corollary to the above recited doctrines is that a Brāhmana who was born in a country which is second best and lives anywhere in Aryāvarta should be looked up to, and that all the people should learn right conduct from him. This is something very significant in determining the location of the author.
Expression of so quaint an idea at the very beginning of the book appears like an unconscious apology on the part of a Brāhmana who may be living outside the central regions (Madhyadesha) for presuming to write a work on dharma.
The author's personal character.—The date and the place of our author being determined, we now turn to his personal character. If we read the book critically the author, with all his exaggerations and uncouth rules, does not impress us unfavorably. The author apparently was a very learned man of his period, who
- ↑ It is true that Baudhāyana prescribes a penance for those who would migrate to the country of the Kāraskāras which is a part of Dekkhan, but he prescribes it also even for those who lived in almost all parts of Northern India excepting Madhya-desha.
