A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, so far as it illustrates the Primitive Religion of the Brahmans c8.42

c8.42

"Does it not seem after all," he says, "as if this Smriti (containing as it does the laws of men) hardly deserved a commentary of its own, inasmuch as it is difficult to make out on what grounds it claims any authority? For if we appeal to a Sûtra of Jaimini's (the founder of the Pûrva-mîmânsâ) where he has proved that the Veda possesses an authority irrespective of anything else, these arguments can hardly apply to books which are evidently the work of men, and entirely dependent on the authority of their sources. These sources again, if they be considered as the life and strength of that authority, are often very indistinct. First, they could never fall under the cognizance of the senses, because the very nature of duty or law is transcendental. Nor can this ultimate reason or source be found in induction, inasmuch as induction is only possible after observation. Neither can it be looked for in the sayings of other men, because man is exposed to error, and cannot even express things as he has really perceived them. But even if man was free from error, there would always be room for doubt and opposition. And as to finding the authority for these laws in direct precepts of the Śruti (Mantras and Brâhmaṇas) this is out of the question, because such precepts are not to be found there. We have never seen a passage in the Veda where precepts like those of the Smriti, to keep the body clean, &c., are given. To admit the right of induction for laws of this kind would be most dangerous, for it would apply with equal force to the precepts of Buddha, to worship the holy sepulchre, &c.