History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c91.334

v7.c91.334

VI. Smrtis like those of Gautama (IX. 47, 68, 73), Manu (IV. 176, 206, X. 63), Yājñavalkya (I. 156, III. 312-313), while asking the people to honour the Vedas and learned brāhmaṇas laid great emphasis¹⁶⁵² on *Ahiṁsā*, truthfulness, charity, selfrestraint, sexual purity and other virtues for persons of all the four varṇas, just as Buddha and early Buddhist works did for his followers. The sentiment in Manu V. 45 and the Viṣṇu-dharma-sūtra 51 68 'he, who kills harmless animals (like deer) merely for the sake of his own pleasure, never increases nor prospers in happiness, whether living or after death,' finds a parallel in Dhammapada 131. Even the Ṛgveda solemnly says (X. 85 1) 'the earth is supported by Truth, the sky is supported by the Sun'. The Muṇḍaka Up. exhorts 'Truth alone is victorious, not falsehood' (III. 1. 6)