History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c23.72

v2.c23.72

⁴⁶⁹ Besides the gṛhya sūtras, the dharmasūtras, Manu, Yājñavalkya and other smṛtis, the principal digests on saṁskāra relied upon here are the Saṁskāratattva of Raghunandana, the Saṁskāramayūkha of Nīlakaṇṭha, the Saṁskāra-prakāśa of Mitramiśra, the Saṁskārakaustubha of Anantadeva and the Saṁskāraratnamālā of Gopīnātha. Further, one should never lose sight of the fact that in a vast continent like India the various items in daily rites and ceremonies have always varied from age to age, from province to province and from caste to caste. Innumerable modifications were introduced and usages cropped up among the people, particularly owing to the influence of women, of which smṛtis and digests take no notice. This was the state of things even several centuries before Christ. The Āp. Dh. S. (II. 11. 29. 15) closes with the aphorism ‘some teachers hold that the rest of the dharmas (not described here) may be understood from (the usages of) women and of all varṇas’. The Āśv. gṛ. (I. 7. 1) states ‘various indeed are the usages of the different countries and of the different villages; one should observe them in marriage ceremonies.’ This work does not profess to give the bewildering differences of the several śākhās and the several provinces of Modern India, but will restrict itself principally to Western India and the Āśv. sūtra, though important variations have been pointed out in many places.