History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s22.2

v1.c6.s22.2

The smṛti of Parāśara must have been an ancient one as Yāj. (I. 4) mentions him among the ancient writers on dharma. But it is doubtful whether we possess the ancient smṛti of Parāśara. The extant smṛti is probably a recast of it as it mentions Yāj. in the first chap. (p. 2). The Garuḍapurāṇa in chap. 107 gives a summary in 39 verses of the Parāśara-smṛti. In doing so it takes parts of the latter and pieces them together. For example, verses 2-4 in the Garuḍapurāṇa (chap. 107) are ‘śrutiḥ smṛtiḥ sadācāro yaḥ kaścid vedakartṛkaḥ । vedāḥ smṛtāḥ brahmaṇādau dharmā Manvādibhiḥ sadā ॥ dānaṁ kaliyuge dharmaḥ kartāraṁ ca kalau tyajet । pāpakṛtyaṁ tu tatraiva śāpaṁ phalati varṣataḥ ॥ ācārāt prāpnuyāt sarvaṁ ṣaṭ karmāṇi dine dine । sandhyā snānaṁ japo homo devātithyādipūjanam ॥’. These are taken *verbatim* or with slight changes from the Pārāśara-smṛti; compare na kaścid vedakartā ca vedasmartā caturmukhaḥ । śrutiḥ smṛtiḥ sadācārā nirṇetavyāś ca sarvadā । tathaiva dharmaṁ smarati Manuḥ kalpāntarāntare । tapaḥ paraṁ . . . dānamekaṁ kalau yuge ॥ . . . tyajet-deśaṁ kṛtayuge . . . kartāraṁ ca kalau yuge । . . . kṛte tū tatkṣaṇāt śāpaḥ . . . kalau saṁvatsareṇa tu ॥ chap. I. verses 20-21, 23, 25, 27 and vide 39 for verse 4 of the Garuḍa-purāṇa. This establishes that the Garuḍa regarded the Parāśara-smṛti authoritative and ancient. There is another problem to be considered. Kauṭilya mentions six times the views of Pārāśara or the Pārāśaras on various aspects of politics and state administration. Therefore it appears that there was a work of Pārāśara on politics, in which it is possible that vyavahāra also was dealt with.