History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.230.5

v4.c62.230.5

19-25 show¹²⁸ that the king was to find the law required for the decision of causes from the following, viz. (1) the Veda, Dharmaśāstras, the Aṅgas (lores auxiliary to the Veda such as grammar, exegesis, metrics etc.), Upavedas, Purāṇas; (2) customs of countries, castes and families that were not opposed to the Veda; (3) the usages of husbandmen, traders, herdsmen, moneylenders and artizans; (4) ratiocination; (5) the opinions128a delivered by the assembly (pariṣad) of men deeply learned in the three Vedas. The authoritativeness of customs, usages and conventions and their relation to śāstra will be discussed later on. In the decision of causes there were four deciding factors, dharma, vyavahāra, caritra and rājaśāsana, which will also be dealt with later. So royal edicts or orders first came to be made in the administration of justice and probably served as laws or precedents in later times. Vide H. of Dh. vol. II. pp. 968-970 for the role of pariṣads in religious matters. Yāj. I. 9 and Śaṅkha speak of *parṣat* or assembly of learned men as final authorities on dharma.