History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s19: 32. The Two Epics

History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s19

Language: English

32. The Two Epics

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The two epics, particularly the Mahābhārata, contain in numerous places passages bearing on dharmaśāstra and are relied upon as authoritative Smṛtis in later works. The Mahābhārata is styled a dharmaśāstra in the Ādiparva (2. 83).

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The Rāmāyaṇa is pre-eminently a kāvya; yet on account of its noble ideals it was almost as popular as the Mahābhārata and is relied upon as a source of *dharma* in the *nibandhas* though much less frequently than the other great epic. The Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa (canto 100) and the Āraṇya-kāṇḍa (33) contain disquisitions on politics and state administration. The Smṛticandrikā (I. p. 57) quotes the well-known verse of the Rāmāyaṇa (Sundara 59. 31) about cessation of study on the first day of a month.³⁰¹ The Smṛticandrikā (I. p. 193 and III. p. 416) quotes two verses on *tarpaṇa* and *śrāddha* from the Rāmāyaṇa.³⁰² The Hāralatā (pp. 64 and 152) quotes verses from the Rāmāyaṇa. Aparārka on Yāj. III. 8-10 quotes four verses from the Rāmāyaṇa on sorrow for the dead.

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³⁰¹ सा प्रकृत्यैव तन्वङ्गी तद्वियोगाच्च कर्शिता । प्रतिपत्पाठशीलस्य विद्येव तनुतां गता ॥

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³⁰² पादशौचमनभ्यङ्गं तिलहीनं च तर्पणम् । सर्वं तत्र जले तुभ्यं यच्च श्राद्धमदक्षिणम् ॥ इङ्गुदैर्बदरैर्बिल्वै रामस्तर्पयते पितॄन् । यदन्नः पुरुषो भवति तदन्नास्तस्य देवताः ॥ The second verse is almost the same as Ayodhyā 103. 30 and Ayodhyā 104. 15 calls it लौकिकी श्रुति.

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For considerations of space it is impossible to enter into any discussion as to the age of these two epics, as to the earlier and later strata in them and other allied questions. These questions are passed over here as more appropriate to separate treatises on the epics. The following works will give some idea of the problems connected with these two great heirlooms of Indian antiquity :— Das Mahābhārata seine Entstehung, sein Inhalt, seine Form, by Oldenberg (Göttingen, 1922); Das Mahābhārata als Epos und Rechtsbuch, by Dahlmann (Berlin 1895); Zur Geschichte und Kritik des Mahābhārata by Holtzmann (Kiel, 1892-94); Mahābhārata, a criticism by Mr. C. V. Vaidya (1903); das Rāmāyaṇa, Geschichte und Inhalt, by Dr. Jacobi (Bonn 1893); The Riddle of the Rāmāyaṇa by Mr. C. V. Vaidya (1906, Bombay).

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In these pages the Bombay oblong edition of the Mahābhārata with the com. of Nīlakaṇṭha has been used.

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In the following table an attempt is made, though not exhaustive, to indicate where dharmaśāstra topics occur in the Mahābhārata.

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The following table will give some idea of the topics of dharma-śāstra that are dwelt upon in the Rāmāyaṇa, though briefly. The Gujarati Press Edition (1915-20) is referred to—

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| *Abhiṣeka*— | Ayodhyā 15, | ,, | 40 (10-14) |
| | Yuddha 128. | ,, | 41 (1-6) |
| *Arājaka*— | Ayodhyā 67. | Yuddha | 17-18 and |
| *Pātakas*— | Kiṣkindhā 17 (36-37), | ,, | 63. |
| | 18 (22-23) &c. | *Śrāddha*— | Ayodhyā 77 |
| *Rājadharma*— | Bāla 7, | ,, | 103 |
| | Ayodhyā 100, | ,, | 111 (104-120) |
| | Āraṇya 6 (11-14) | *Satyapraśaṁsā*— | Ayodhyā 109. |
| | ,, 9 (2-9) | *Strīdharma*— | Ayodhyā 24, 26-27, |
| | 33 | | 29, 39, 117-18. |

Linked texts (2)

Mahābhārata — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa — Vālmīki, Sanskrit