History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.t2.981

v4.c63.t2.981

The chapter on Kalivarjyas can be employed as a very effective answer to those who trot out the theory of the 'unchanging East'. Social ideas and practices undergo substantial changes even in the most static societies. Many of the practices, that had the authority of the Veda (which was supposed to be self-existent and eternal) and of such ancient smṛtis as those of Āp., Manu and Yāj., had either come to be given up or had become obnoxious to popular sentiment. This fiction of great men meeting together and laying down conventions for the Kali age was the method that was hit upon to admit changes in religious practices and ideas of morality. The Kalivarjya texts are also a complete answer to those who hold fast to the notion that dharma (particularly *ācāradharma*) is immutable and unchangeable (*aparivartanīya*). This chapter on Kalivarjya unmistakably shows how the most authoritative dicta of the Veda and of ancient sages and law-givers were set aside and held to be of no binding authority because they ran counter to prevailing notions and furnishes a powerful weapon in the hands of those who want to introduce reforms in the incidents of marriage, inheritance and other matters touching modern Hindu society. One can further see how some practices still persist in spite of the prohibitions in the Kalivarjya texts viz. marriage with one's maternal uncle's daughter, sannyāsa, agnihotra and even śrauta animal sacrifices (rarely).