[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India)](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930) › v4.c63.7 # History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.7 History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.7 - **Language:** English ### [v4.c63.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v4.c63.7) The authors of smṛtis believed that there was a golden age or era of perfect virtue in the dim past, when men were bent only on right conduct, that later ages saw the advent of sinful promptings, that therefore regulation of life by the learned and the king came into vogue (compare Gaut. VIII. 1). Manu I. 81-82 (= Śāntiparva 231. 23-24) state that in the Kṛta age dharma prevailed in its perfection, there was no advent of adharma among men then and that in each of the three succeeding \*yugas\* dharma declined progressively by the introduction of theft, falsehood and deceit. The Śāntiparva (59. 13 ff) narrates that in the Kṛta age there was no king and no punishment, that gradually kāma (lust) and rāga (passion) began to wield sway and dharma dwindled away. This belief in an ideal or perfect past was universal and was probably depicted in order to induce men to rise higher and higher in goodness and virtue and to make them submit easily to the discipline of government and the priestly requirements. This ideal description of the past is often found associated with the picture of anarchy that reigned in the dim past which was retrieved from horrors by the creation of the kingly office (vide pp. 30-34 above). These diametrically opposite views of the past contained in the same works (such as Manu and the Mahābhārata) probably owe their origin to the desire of the writers to make the common people submit to the absolute rule of kings. Almost all works even from the Ṛgveda (X. 10. 10) downwards believe in the progressive deterioration of religion and morals. A state of anarchy is visualised in a few works only for the purpose of glorifying the great usefulness of the institution of kingship. Nār. I. 1 states³²⁷ 'when people were solely bent on dharma and were truthful, there existed neither administration of law and justice nor hatred nor jealousy. When dharma declined (or disappeared) among men, administration of law and justice came to be introduced and the king was declared to be the decider of disputes and the chastiser (of the guilty)'. Bṛ. also (S. B. E. 33 p. 277) says 'In bygone ages men were pre-eminently virtuous and free from cruel tendencies; now that men are overwhelmed by greed and hatred, judicial procedure has to be declared'. - [Previous: v4.c63.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v4.c63.6) - [Next: v4.c63.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v4.c63.8) - [Up: v4.c63](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v4.c63) ## Linked texts (6) - [Gautamadharmasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.kalpa.dharma.gautama.8.1) — Gautama (dharmasūtrakāra), Sanskrit - [Ṛgvedasaṃhitā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.samhita.rg.10.10.10) — Sanskrit - [Mānava Dharmaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.manu) — Manu & Bhṛgu, Sanskrit - [Bṛhaspatismṛti](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.uddhrta.brhaspati) — Bṛhaspati, Sanskrit - [Nāradasmṛti](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.narada) — Nārada, Sanskrit - [Mahābhārata](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v4.c63.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v4.c63.7) · Pramāṇa