xx PREFACE
the parts of the text dealing with Rajadharma and Vyavahara have been amalgamated with a text dealing with the topics of the Grhyasutras ; but it is very dubious if it is possible to recover the original form of the Smrti. It is, of course, easy to eliminate certain obviously late passages, such as those dealing with the Vinayaka- and Graha-canti and the anatomical matter in Book iii, but the more radical analysis suggested is far less satisfactorily made out.
Of auxiliary sciences architecture has at last received expert treatment from Professor Prasanna Kumar Acharya in his Dictionary of Hindu Architecture and Indian Architecture} based on a new text and rendering of the Mdnasdra, for which the period of A. D. 500-700 is suggested. Striking similarities between the prescriptions of the Mdnasdra and Vitruvius are unquestion- ably established. Unhappily, the deplorable condition of the text of the Samardnganasutradhdra' 1 of Bhoja adds to the difficulty of valuing his remarks on architecture, town-planning, engineering, and the construction of remarkable machines, pro- bably akin to the mechanical toys of the Middle Ages. 3 The Principles of Indian Silpa Sdslra, with the text of the Maya- sdstra, by Phanindra Nath Bose, is also of value. 4 Hawking figures in a Qyainikacdstra by Rudradeva.
On the early development of logic an interesting light has been thrown by Professor O. Strauss's demonstration from the Mahdbhdsya 5 that Patanjali was well acquainted with the doctrine of the causes familiar from the Sdtkkhyakdrikd* why things in themselves visible are sometimes not seen, and also had some knowledge of the theory of the syllogism — how much, is not altogether certain. The evidence, however, is useful as supporting the view that our philosophical Sutras are essentially the outcome of a long period of development, and, whatever their date as we have them, contain doctrines much earlier in point of time. The effort to distinguish strata, though energetically pursued, leads to little that is certain. For instance, while we may readily believe
1 Oxford, 1927 ff. 2 GOS. 1924-5.
3 Ocean of Story, iii. 56 ff.
4 A text and trans, of a Qilpa Qattra are in print.
' Festgabe Garbe, pp. 84-94. See also Prabhat Chandra Chakravarti, IHQ. •■ 478 ff.
Verse 7 ; cf. Caraka, Sutrasthana, ix. 8.
