History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s23.23

v1.c6.s23.23

Nārada contains several rare words such as "hoḍha" (in vyavahāramātṛkā I. 27, meaning 'one's property when lost or stolen'). He gives expression to certain principles of law and politics, such as that a man is master of his own house, in other words, a man's house is his castle;³⁶² he highly eulogises the office of king, almost assigning it a divine origin and exhorts the people to obey and honour even a weak and undeserving king.³⁶³ Mr. Jayasval sees in this and in the fact that Nārada speaks of dīnāra while the Mṛcchakaṭika speaks of nāṇaka indications that Nārada belongs to the fourth century, is later than the drama, is propping up the authority of a new dynasty and flourished under the Imperial Guptas (C. W. N. vol. 17, p. CCLXXXV). He regards a person as minor till the sixteenth year.³⁶⁴ This limit was probably first fixed by Nārada. Nārada further boldly says that in case of conflict between *dharmaśāstra* and usages, the latter have to be followed, as they are directly observed.³⁶⁵