History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.t2.602.4

v4.c63.t2.602.4

343 provides that when a conqueror reduces a country to subjection he should preserve intact whatever customs, laws and judicial procedure, and family usages are handed down from generation to generation therein (provided they are not opposed to śāstras and, as the Mit. says, he should not cause confusion by imposing the usages of his own country on the conquered country). Yāj. II. 192 (like Manu and Gaut.) provides that the varying usages and conventions of śreṇis (guilds of artisans), naigamas (traders), heretics and associations (of soldiers and the like) should be respected by the king in the same way as he honours the usages of learned brāhmaṇas. About the latter Yāj. II. 186 says that the king should sedulously enforce the conventions of learned brāhmaṇas which are not opposed to the dictates of the Veda and smṛti (such as about pastures, water-courses and wells and the preservation of temples) and he should also enforce his edicts that are not opposed to Veda and smṛti (such as making provision for travellers and prohibiting the sale of horses to an enemy &c.). Kauṭilya prescribes¹⁶⁶⁸ that the king should follow as regards inheritance and partition the customs that are in vogue in a country, a caste, a *saṅgha* (company or guild) or a village. Devala¹⁶⁶⁹ and Bṛhatparāśara (X. p. 281) have a verse very similar to Yāj. I. 343. The Mahābhārata remarks that there is no custom or practice that can be said to be beneficial to all alike¹⁶⁷⁰.