History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c71.s1.178

v5.c71.s1.178

as stated by Gaut Dh S. X 66-67 and Yāj. I. 121¹¹⁷. When Manu IV. 80 says ‘let him not explain to a śūdra the sacred law (*dharma*) nor impose upon him a *vrata*’ all that is meant is, according to the Mıt on Yāj III. 262, that it applies only to a śūdra who does not wait upon or serve higher varnas Similarly, when Gaut IV. 20 says that those born in the inverse order are outside the pale of the sacred law, the meaning is that *samskāras* like upanayana are not to be performed on them. The mystic syllable ‘om’ is said by Āp Dh S (I 4 13 6) to be the door to heaven and was to be employed before the recitation of any Vedic passage The Yogasūtra (I. 27) avers that *om* (called *praṇava*) is expressive of the idea of God and that the repetition of *om* and revolving the meaning of it in the mind lead to concentration.¹¹⁸