State and Government in Ancient India c14.s1.13

c14.s1.13

Nor do the *Jānapada-dharmas* referred to by the Smṛitis prove the existence of a Jānapada as a central law-making popular parliament. The *jānapadadharmas* referred to by Manu in VIII. 14 are the customs of the country and not the enactments of its legislature. A comparison of this verse with Manu. I. 118³ would show that *janapadadharmas* are identical with *deśa-* *dharma*. Kātyāyana defines the latter as those customs of a country which are generally accepted and which do not go counter to the rules of Śruti and Smṛiti.¹ It is such provincial customs that are referred to as *deśadharma* in the *Arthaśāstra* or Kauṭilya also.² The laws of inheritance, marriage, food and professions differed in different parts of the country; widows were heirs in some places but not in others; marriage with maternal uncle's daughter was approved in the south, but not in the north; wine drinking was tolerated in the north but condemned in the south. While deciding cases in the court, Manu and other Smṛiti-writers point out that *deśadharmas* or *jānapadadharmas* *i.e.* the customs of the province concerned should be taken into consideration by the court. They were, however, mere customs and not any laws passed by the legislature like a Jānapada body.