History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s21.23
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s21.23
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v1.c6.s21.23.1
It is said that the sages approached Yājñavalkya in Mithilā and requested him to impart to them the dharmas of the varṇas, āśramas and others. The contents of the work may be briefly summarised as follows:— Kāṇḍa I. fourteen *vidyas*; twenty expounders of dharma, sources of dharma; constitution of a *pariṣad*, the *saṁskāras* from Garbhādhāna to marriage, upanayana, its time and other details, every day duties of brahmacārī, persons fit to be taught, what things and actions a brahmacārī was to avoid, period of studenthood; marriage, qualifications of girl to be married, limits of *sapiṇḍa* relationship, intercaste marriages; the eight forms of marriage and the spiritual benefits therefrom, guardians for marriage, Kṣetraja son, grounds of supercession of wife, duties of wife; principal and intermediate castes, duties of householder and keeping sacred domestic fire, the five great daily yajñas; honouring a guest, madhuparka, grounds of precedence, rule of the road, privileges and duties of the four varṇas, ten principles of conduct common to all, means of subsistence of a householder, and solemn vedic sacrifices; duties of *snātaka*, days of cessation from study; rules about prohibited and allowed food and drink; rules about flesh-eating; purifications of various materials, such as metal or wooden vessels; gifts, who is fittest to accept them, who should accept gifts, rewards of gifts, gift of cow, rewards of other gifts, highest gift is knowledge;
v1.c6.s21.23.2
śrāddha, proper time for it, proper persons to be invited at it, unfit persons, the number of Brāhmaṇas to be invited, procedure of śrāddha, various śrāddhas such as pārvaṇa, vṛddhi, ekoddiṣṭa; sapiṇḍīkaraṇa; what flesh to be offered at śrāddha, reward of offering śrāddhas; propitiatory ceremonies as regards Vināyaka and the nine grahas; rājadharma, king's qualifications, ministers, *purohita*, royal edicts, king's duties of protection, administration of justice, taxation and expenditure, allotment of the day to various duties, constitution of maṇḍala, the four expedients, the six guṇas, fate and human effort, impartiality in punishment; units of measure and weight, grades of fine; Kāṇḍa II. members of hall of justice, judge, definition of vyavahārapada, rules of procedure, plaint, reply, taking security, indicia of a false party or witness, conflict of dharmaśāstra and arthaśāstra; means of proof, documents, witnesses, possession; title and possession, gradation of courts, force, fraud, minority and other grounds of invalidity, finding of goods; treasure trove; debts, rates of interest, debts of joint family, what debts of father son need not pay; devolution of debts; suretyship of three kinds, pledge; deposit; witnesses, their qualifications and disqualifications; administering oaths, punishment for perjury; documents; ordeals of balance, water, fire, poison and holy water;
v1.c6.s21.23.3
partition, time of it, wife's share on partition, partition after father's death, property not liable to partition, joint ownership of father and son; twelve kinds of sons; illegitimate son of śūdra, succession to a sonless man, re-union, exclusion; husband's power over wife's *strīdhana*; boundary disputes; dispute between master and herdsman; sale without ownership; invalidity of gift, rescission of sale; breach of contract of service; slavery by force; violation of conventions; non-payment of wages; gambling and prize fighting; abuse, defamation and slander; assault, hurt etc.; sāhasa; partnership; theft; adultery; miscellaneous wrongs; review of judgment; Kāṇḍa III. cremation and burial; offering of water to various deceased persons; for whom no mourning was to be observed and no water to be offered; periods of mourning for various persons; rules for mourners; impurity on birth; instances of immediate purification on death or birth; means of purification, such as time, fire, ritual, mud etc ; rules of conduct and livelihood in distress ; rules for forest hermit ; rules for a *yati* ; how the individual soul is clothed in a body ; various stages of the fœtus, number of bones in the body, the various organs such as liver, spleen etc. ; the number of arteries and veins ; reflection over ātman, use of music in the path of *mokṣa* ; how the originally pure ātman is born among impure surroundings ; how some sinners are born as various kinds of animals or inanimate things ;
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how *yogin* attains immortality ; three kinds of actions due to *sattva*, *rajas* and *tamas* ; means of *ātmajñāna* ; the two paths, one to immortality and the other to heaven ; the various diseases from which sinners suffer ; purpose of prāyaścittas ; names of 21 hells ; the five mortal sins, and other acts similar to them ; upapātakas ; prāyaścittas for Brāhmaṇa murder or for killing other persons ; prāyaścittas for drinking wine, for other mortal and venial sins and for killing animals of various sorts ; greater or lesser expiation according to time, place, age, ability ; ostracising the non-conformist sinner ; secret expiations; ten *yamas* and *niyamas*; Sāntapana, mahāsāntapana, taptakṛcchra, parāka, cāndrāyaṇa and other expiations ; rewards of reading this smṛti.