History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c71.s1.244

v5.c71.s1.244

This maxim is taken from the bhāṣya of Śabara and is a favourite device with all Dharmaśāstra writers from Viśvarūpa downwards to justify any statement of the smṛtis however illogical or exaggerated it might appear to be. The Pr. T. (pp. 544-545) quotes ¹⁶² the Mit. about the two śaktis of sin and its remarks on Yāj III. 298 and does not approve of them, relying on the words of Bṛhaspati that no decision should be arrived at on the bare words of the śāstra, but it should also be supported by reasoning and that the words 'slayers of women' do not refer to adulterous women but to innocent women (such as the wives of one's enemies). Nārada (sāhasa, verse 11) holds that those who are punished by the king with a fine of the first or second (madhyama) kind can be allowed to associate with other members of society but those who are awarded the highest fine should not be spoken to by others 162a. Those who take the view of the sinner's inability to associate with other men even after undergoing penance rely also upon Vedānta-sūtra III. 4. 43 (bahis-tūbhayathāpi smṛterācārācca). The Par. M. very rightly points ¹⁶³ out that the sūtra refers to those who after going in for life-long celibacy abandon the duties of that stage of life (āśrama) and that it does not refer to householders and quotes a verse of Kauśika in support. The Smṛti-muktāphala (Pr., pp. 867-868) refers to this discussion contained in the Par. M. The Pr. M. (p. 7) appears ¹⁶⁴ to hold that the great Śaṅkarācārya explained Vedāntasūtra III 4. 43 after reading Yāj III 226 as 'kāmato vyavahāryastu' and that those who fell from the vow of life-long celibacy (either as naisṭhika brahmacārins or as sannyāsins) were to be excommunicated (and not to be associated with) The printed editions of the bhāṣya contain no express quotation of Yājñavalkya's verse, but from the fact of his quoting Atri's verse it is possible to hold that Śaṅkarācārya understood Yājñavalkya as the Pr. M. says he did.