History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c71.s1.665

v5.c71.s1.665

There is a well-known and oft quoted verse which defines *svarga* as follows:⁴⁰⁶ that happiness which is not mixed up with pain, which is not immediately afterwards overwhelmed (by pain) and which is present whenever desired, is denoted by the word *svaḥ* (or *svarga*). The Prakaraṇa-pañcikā of Śālikanātha,406a one of the early works of the Prabhākara Mīmāṁsā school, affirms that in such sentences as 'one desirous of heaven should perform the Jyotiṣṭoma' the rite is simply commended by Vedic passages, which are no more than *arthavādas*, as a means of securing long-enduring happiness which is free from the taint of all kinds of sorrow and which is present at the mere desire of the enjoyer. The Śāntiparva expressly states 'The wise do not regard the other world as directly seen by anyone; one has to entertain faith (in the existence of the other world) because otherwise one may run counter to the Vedas.'⁴⁰⁷ The Brahmapurāṇa and the Viṣṇupurāṇa speak in the same strain as Śabara that *svarga* is what causes happiness to the mind, that *naraka* is the opposite of it and that meritorious deeds and wicked deeds are designated as *svarga* and *naraka* respectively and that *svarga* and *naraka* are really states of the mind characterised by happiness and pain respectively.⁴⁰⁸