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History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s17: 30. The Smṛtis

History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s17

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30. The Smṛtis

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The word smṛti is used in two senses. It is applied to all ancient orthodox non-Vedic works such as Pāṇini’s grammar, to the śrauta, gṛhya and dharma sūtras, to the Mahābhārata, to Manu, Yājñavalkya and others. In a narrower sense smṛti and dharmaśāstra are synonyms, as Manu says.²⁵⁴ The word smṛti occurs in Taittirīya Āraṇyaka (I. 2). Gautama (Dh. S. I. 2) and Vasiṣṭha (Dh. S. I. 4) speak of smṛti as one of the sources of dharma. Āp. Dh. S. (II. 6. 15. 25) employs the word smṛti and has in view Gautama's dharmasūtra according to Haradatta. In the Pūrvamīmāṁsā-sūtra the word smṛti occurs (vide VI. 8. 23 and XII. 4. 42).²⁵⁵ In the Vedāntasūtras the word smṛti is employed in a wide sense, in one place as referring even to the sāṅkhya system.²⁵⁶ In that work the word is used according to Śaṅkara with reference to the Mahābhārata or the Manusmṛti (Vedāntasūtra II. 3. 47, III. 1. 14 and 21, IV. 2. 14).

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²⁵¹ माषमात्रमपि द्रव्यं क्रेतुर्विक्रेतरि स्थितम् । व्याप्नोति सकलां भूमिं कायमरूपं विषं यथा ॥ अर्धदत्तमदत्तं तु क्रयमाहुरवक्रयम् । अवक्रयो निवर्तेत यदि काले न दीयते ॥ सरस्वती० p. 321.

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²⁵⁴ श्रुतिस्तु वेदो विज्ञेयो धर्मशास्त्रं तु वै स्मृतिः। मनु II. 10.

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²⁵⁵ स्मृतेर्वा स्याद् ब्राह्मणानाम्। पू. मी. सू. XII. 4. 42 (refers to आर्त्विज्य).

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²⁵⁶ स्मृत्यनवकाशदोषप्रसङ्ग इति चेन्नान्यस्मृत्यनवकाशदोषप्रसङ्गात् । वेदान्तसूत्र II. 1. 1.

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In ancient times the number of smṛtis (i. e. works on dharmaśāstra) must have been very small. Gautama mentions by name no smṛtikāra except Manu, though he speaks of dharmaśāstras (XI. 19). Baudhāyana names seven (besides himself) authors on dharma, viz. Aupajaṅghani, Kātya, Kāśyapa, Gautama, Prajāpati, Maudgalya and Hārīta. Vasiṣṭha names only five authors, Gautama, Prajāpati, Manu, Yama, and Hārīta. Āpastamba mentions a large number, viz. ten, some of whom like Eka, Kuṇika and Puṣkarasādi are no more than mere names to us. Manu speaks of only six (besides himself) viz. Atri, the son of Utathya, Bhṛgu, Vasiṣṭha, Vaikhānasa (or. rather Vikhanas) and Śaunaka. But in all these works the writers are mentioned only casually and there is no regular enumeration or list of writers on dharma in one place. Aparārka quotes (p. 7) a sūtra of Gautama (not found in the printed G. Dh. S.) in which sixteen authors of dharmaśāstras including himself are enumerated.²⁵⁷ The same sūtra with slight variations is ascribed to Śaṅkha-Likhita in the Vīramitrodaya (Paribhāṣāprakāśa p. 16). Yājñavalkya is probably the earliest writer who enumerated in one place (I. 4-5) twenty expounders of dharma (including himself and counting Śaṅkha and Likhita as two distinct persons). It will be noticed that Yāj. omits Baudhāyana. Parāśara also gives a list of 19 expounders of dharma (excluding himself), but his list differs slightly from that of Yāj. Parāśara omits Bṛhaspati, Yama, and Vyāsa and adds Kāśyapa, Gārgya and Pracetas. The Tantra-vārtika (p. 125) of Kumārila speaks of eighteen dharmasaṁhitās. Viśvarūpa quotes a verse of Vṛddha-Yājñavalkya, who adds ten names to the list of Yājñavalkya (vide note 219 above). The Caturviṁśatimata is a work which professes to give the views of 24 sages on dharmaśāstra, viz. all those listed by Yāj. (except Kātyāyana and Likhita) and six more, viz. Gārgya Nārada, Baudhāyana, Vatsa, Viśvāmitra, Saṅkha (Sāṅkhyāyana?). Aṅgiras as quoted in the Smṛticandrikā (I. p. 1), Hemādri (Dānakhaṇḍa p. 528), the Sarasvatīvilāsa (p. 13) and other works mention Upasmṛtis.²⁵⁹ There is a smṛti called Ṣaṭtriṁśanmata quoted by the Mit., Aparārka and other works. Paiṭhīnasi as quoted in the Smṛticandrikā, the Saṁskāramayūkha and other works enumerates 36 smṛtis.²⁶⁰ Aparārka says that the Bhaviṣyatpurāṇa speaks of 36 smṛtis and his enumeration of them is slightly different from that of Paiṭhīnasi.²⁶¹ The Vṛddhagautamasmṛti (Jīvānanda part II. pp. 498-499) gives a list of 57 dharma-śāstras. The Prayoga-pārijāta as quoted in the Vīramitrodaya enumerates 18 principal smṛtis, 18 upasmṛtis and 21 other smṛtikāras.²⁶² If all the smṛtis cited in the later *nibandhas* such as the Nirṇayasindhu, the Mayūkhas of Nīlakaṇṭha and the Vīramitrodaya be taken into account, the number of smṛtis will be found to be about 100.

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²⁵⁷ अत्र गौतमः । स्मृतिधर्मशास्त्राणि तेषां प्रणेतारो मनुविष्णुदक्षाङ्गिरोत्रिवृहस्पत्युशन-आपस्तम्बगौतमसंवर्तत्रेयकात्यायनशङ्खलिखितपराशरव्यासशातातपप्रचेतोयाज्ञवल्क्यादयः।

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²⁵⁸ वक्तारो धर्मशास्त्राणां मनुर्विष्णुर्यमोङ्गिराः। वसिष्ठदक्षसंवर्तशातातपपराशराः॥ आपस्तम्ब्रोशनोव्यासः कात्यायनबृहस्पती। गौतमः शङ्खलिखितौ हारीतोत्रिरहं तथा ॥ याज्ञ. I. 4-5 (Trivandrum ed.). The Mit. reads the two verses differently though the names are the same.

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²⁵⁹ नारदः पुलहो गार्ग्यः पुलस्त्यः शौनकः क्रतुः । बौधायनो जातुकाँ विश्र्वामित्रः पितामहः॥ जाबालिर्नाचिकेतश्च स्कन्दो लौगाक्षिकाश्यपौ। व्यासः सनत्कुमारश्च शन्तनुर्जनकस्तथा ॥ व्याघ्रः कात्यायनश्चैव जातूकर्ण्यः कपिञ्जलः बौधायनश्च काणादो विश्र्वामित्रस्तथैव च ॥ पैठीनसिर्गोभिलश्चेत्युपस्मृतिविधायकाः॥ quoted as from प्रयोगपारिजात by वीरमित्रोदय (परिभाषाप्र. p. 18). The वीर. adds that these upasmṛtis were enumerated by the Madanaratna also.

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²⁶⁰ तेषां मन्वङ्गिरोव्यासगौतमाञ्युशनोयमाः। वसिष्ठदक्षसंवर्तशातातपपराशराः ॥ विष्णुवापस्तम्बहारीताः शङ्खः कात्यायनो गुरुः। प्रचेता नारदो योगी बौधायनपितामहौ॥ सुमन्तुकाश्यपौ बभ्रुः पैठीनो व्याघ्र एव च ॥ सत्यव्रतो भरद्वाजो गार्ग्यः कार्ष्णाजिनिस्तथा ॥ जाबालिर्जमदग्निश्च लौगाक्षिर्ब्रह्मसंभवः। इति धर्मप्रणेतारः षट्त्रिंशदृषयः स्मृताः ॥ quoted in the स्मृतिचन्द्रिका and संस्कारमयूस.

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²⁶¹ ताश्र्व मनुविष्णुयमदक्षाङ्गिरोत्रिवृहस्पत्युशनःपस्तम्बवसिष्ठकात्यायनपराशरव्यासशङ्कलिखितसंवर्तगौतमशातातपहारितयाज्ञवल्क्यप्रचेतोबुधदेवलसोमजमदग्निविश्र्वामित्रप्रजापतिनारदपैठीनसिपितामहबौधायनछागलेयजाबालिच्यवनमरीचिकाश्यपा इति षट्त्रिंशदेव स्मृत्यन्तरे पठिताः। अपरार्क p. 7.

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²⁶² The 18 principal स्मृतिकारs according to the प्रयोगपारिजात are मनु, बृहस्पति, दक्ष, गौतम, यम, अङ्गिरस्, योगीश्वर, प्रचेतस्, शातातप, पराशर, संवर्त, उशनस्, शङ्ख, लिखित, अत्रि, विष्णु, आपस्तम्ब, हारीत. The उपस्मृतिs have been enumerated above (in n. 259). The other 21 smṛtis are : वसिष्ठो नारदश्चैव सुमन्तुश्च पितामहः । विष्णुः कार्ष्णाजिनिः सत्यव्रतो गार्ग्यश्च देवलः ॥ जमदग्निर्भरद्वाजः पुलस्त्यः पुलहः क्रतुः । आत्रेयश्च गवेयश्च मरीचिर्वत्स एव च ॥ पारस्करश्चर्ष्यशृङ्गो वैजवापस्तथैव च । इत्येते स्मृतिकर्तार एकविंशतिरीरिताः॥ वीर०, परिभाषाप्र० p. 18.

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The smṛtis thus relied upon are the products of different and and widely separated ages. Some of them are entirely in prose or in mixed prose and verse, while the large majority are in verse. A few of them are very ancient and were composed centuries before the Christian era. Such are the dharmasūtras of Gautama, Āpastamba, Baudhāyana, and the Manusmṛti. Some were composed in the first centuries of the Christian era such as the smṛtis of Yājñavalkya, Parāśara, Nārada. Most of the smṛtis other than the above fall between the period from 400 A. D. to 1000 A. D. The chronology of all these smṛtis presents perplexing problems. Some of the metrical smṛtis are remodellings of older sūtras as in the case of Śaṅkha. There are sometimes as many as two or three different smṛtis going under the same name, e. g. Śātātapa, Hārīta, Atri. Then the confusion is worse confounded by the fabrications of sectarian zeal, such as the Hārītasmṛti which is full of Vaiṣṇavaite teachings. There are several works going under the names of well-known smṛtikāras with the prefixes Vṛddha, Bṛhat, Laghu. In many cases the works going under these names are different from the smṛtis that are without these prefixes and this differentiation took place at a very early date in certain cases, for example, so early a writer as Viśvarūpa distinguishes between Yājñavalkya and Vṛddha-Yājñavalkya, Gārgya and Vṛddha-Gārgya. Similarly Viśvarūpa quotes (on Yāj. I. 69) Vṛddha-Manu and (on Yāj. I. 19) Vṛddha-Vasiṣṭha, which latter probably was different from the Vasiṣṭhadharmasūtra, as the latter does not contain the details given by Viśvarūpa.²⁶³ In some cases the works designated Vṛddha or Bṛhat are larger and in all cases later than the works without those prefixes. For example, Parāśara and Bṛhat-Parāśara (Jīvānanda part II. pp. 55-310), Gautama and Vṛddha-Gautama (Jīvānanda part II. pp. 497-638). Some of the works with the prefix Vṛddha are versified compilations of prose works, e. g. Mit. on Yāj. III. 267 quotes a verse from Vṛddha-Viṣṇu which is merely the versified equivalent of Viṣṇu-dharmasūtra chap. 50. 6, 12-14. It appears that sometimes the same work is cited with the prefix Vṛddha or Bṛhat, e. g. the Mit. on Yāj. II. 135 quotes a passage from Bṛhad-viṣṇu which is the same as the Viṣṇudharmasūtra 17. 4-7.

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²⁶³ वृद्धवासिष्ठेऽप्येवमेव मध्ये सौम्यमिति तु विशेषः. Vide वसिष्ठध. सू. III. 64-68 for the five तीर्थs on one's hand.

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As most of the writers of digests quote from memory and had recourse to mss. and not to standard editions, even well known verses are ascribed to different authors in different works. The verses 'bhrātṝṇām-aprajāḥ' &c. which are quoted as Nārada's (Nārada 16.25-26) in the Vyavahāramayūkha are attributed to Śaṅkha in the Madanapārijāta (p. 680). The three verses about *bandhus* are ascribed to Baudhāyana by Mādhava and to Vṛddhaśātātapa by the Madanapārijāta (p. 674).

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In spite of all these drawbacks, an attempt will be made in the following pages to arrange some of the leading versified smṛtis in chronological order beginning from the Manusmṛti.

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All these smṛtis are not equal in authority. Most of them are obscure and are only rarely cited by ancient commentators. Exclusive of the dharmasūtras hardly a dozen smṛtis have found commentators. If we are to judge of the authority of a smṛti by the commentaries thereon, then the Manusmṛti stands pre-eminent. Next to it is the Yājñavalkyasmṛti.

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