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 6, Part 2 (1964)
197 (of 234)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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July, 1964] DHARMADHIKARA峁咥 AND DHARMADHIKARIN 447 may be based on the misreading of a word in the Matsya Pur膩峁嘺,
CCXV. 24.
Moreover, the interpretation of Dharm-adhikarika (Dharm-
adhikarin) as the same as Dharm-adhyaksa, Dharm-adhikaranika
(Dharm-adhikaranin) etc., in the sense of 'an administrator of
justice' or 'a judge' does not appear to be quite accurate.
In the Abhij帽anasakuntala, Act I, King Du峁anta, in ex-
plaining his presence at Kanva's hermitage, represents himself to
Sakuntala and her friends as an officer of the Paurava King
who was employed in the dharm-adhikara and visited the holy
forest inhabited by the hermits in order to know if the religious
rights of the sages were being performed without hindrance, 'ya岣�
Pauravena r膩j帽膩 dharmadhikare niyukta岣� so = 'hama vighnakriy-
opalambhaya dharm-aranyam = idam =膩y膩ta岣�.'" On getting this
information, a friend of Sakuntal膩 observes that the presence of
the officer there indeed provided the performers of religious rites
with a protector-sa-n膩th膩 id膩nim dharmac膩ri峁嘺岣�. This would
suggest that the Dharm-adhikarin, the same as dharm-膩dhik膩re
niyukta of this text, was a superintendent of the Department of
Religious Affairs rather than a judge.
That the Dharm-adhikara峁噄n (or Dharm-adhikara峁嘺; was
different from the Dharm-adhikarin is clearly indicated by the
Matsya Purana which not only deals with the qualifications of the
two officers separately but even enumerates other officers in an
intervening section. Thus we have the following lines in the
Matsya Purana, CCXV. 24 ff.鈥�
Sama岣� satrau ca mitre ca dharma-艣膩stra-vi艣膩rada岣� |
Vipra-mukhyah kulina艣 =ca Dharmadhikarani (or no) bhavet ||
Karyastathavidh膩s = tatra dvija-mukhy膩岣� Sabhasada岣� ||
Sarva des-aksar-abhij帽a岣� sarva-sastra-vi艣膩rada岣� |
Lekhaka岣� kathito raj帽a岣� sarv-adhikarane峁 vai |!
Sirs-opetan susamp奴r峁嚹乶 = sama-艣re峁噄-gatan = saman |
=
antaran = vai likhed=yastu Lekhaka岣� sa varah smrta岣� ||
Upaya-v膩kya-ku艣ala岣� sarva-sastra-vi艣膩rada岣� |
bahv-artha-vakt膩 c=alpena Lekhaka岣� syannrpottama ||
Purus antara-tattvaj帽膩岣� pr膩峁僺ava艣=c=apy=a-lolupa岣� |
