History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c26.386

v2.c26.386

(IV. 24-27) has similar provisions. Commentators like Viśvarūpa and Medhātithi explain that these verses are not to be taken literally. They merely praise the extreme desirability of the brāhma form. Viśvarūpa, however, alternatively proposes that one may accept the texts of the holy sages as literally true, following the *dictum* of Śabara that there is nothing too heavy (or impossible) for a holy text.¹²²⁴ One may laugh at these texts about the virtues of the several forms of marriage, but they are really intended to emphasize the high importance to the future of the race and to society of noble ideals of marriage, of morals and of a decent and peaceful mode of life.