History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c91.47
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c91.47
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v7.c91.47.1
The Bhaviṣya (Brāhmaparva I. 43-47) in a dialogue between Śatānīka and Sumantu) first enumerates the 18 dharma-śāstras from Manu to Atri, states that the Vedas, the śāstras of Manu and others and the aṅgas are promulgated for the three varṇas and not for the benefit of śūdras, that śūdras appear to be very much helpless; how can they be able to secure the four *puruṣārthas*? They are devoid of āgama (traditional lore); what traditional lore was declared for them by the wise among the brāhmaṇas for enabling them to secure the three viz. dharma, artha and kāma? Sumantu replies:¹⁴⁷⁶ listen to the Dharmaśāstras that were declared by wise men for the benefit of all four varṇas and specially for śūdras viz. the 18 Purāṇas, the life of Rāma of the Raghu race (i. e. the Rāmāyaṇa) and the Bhārata declared by Parāśara's son (Vyāsa), the compassionate Vyāsa composed a śāstra for the benefit of all four varṇas in which he comprehended the entire meaning of the Veda and the Dharmaśāstras; it is an unparalleled boat for all that are engulfed in *saṁsāra*. This makes it clear that the Purāṇas, the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa embody pristine traditions and thoughts and were deemed to have been composed as the instruments of the education and enlightenment of the common people.
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As a matter of fact we find that some Purāṇas like Agni, Matsya, Viṣṇudharmottara are encyclopaedic and include treatises on politics and government, on law, medicine, astronomy, astrology, poetry, music, sculpture &c. They illustrate India's life and character as a country and exemplify Bhārata's achievements, weaknesses and shortcomings. Two questions that arise are: (1) could the Purāṇas including the Vedic mantras quoted therein be read by the śūdras themselves; (2) supposing that Vedic mantras could not be read by the śūdras, could they, if they were able to do so, by themselves read the purāṇas without a brāhmaṇa's help. All writers of digests and commentaries were agreed that śūdras could not read or listen to the Vedic mantras contained in the Purāṇas (which being meant for the benefit of all varṇas contained Vedic mantras also), but only those that belonged to the three upper classes. Some writers, however, were agreeable to śūdras reciting Paurāṇika mantras in religious rites, relying on a passage of the Padmapurāṇa. But others like Kamalākarabhaṭṭa, author of the Nirṇayasindhu and Śūdrakamalākara, held relying on verses of the Bhaviṣya that Paurāṇika mantras alone were to be used by a brāhmaṇa in a religious rite for a śūdra, that the śūdra was only to listen to the reading of a purāṇa by a brāhmaṇa reader.
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There was a third view held by Śrīdatta and others that a śūdra could recite a paurāṇika mantra, but he should not himself read the Purāṇas and should only listen to the reading of Purāṇas by a brāhmaṇa. In the times of the Dharmasūtras the only mantras employed were mostly Vedic and therefore in the case of śūdras Gautama¹⁴⁷⁷ provided that the śūdras were allowed the alternative of saying ‘namah’ in place of a Vedic mantra. In the centuries preceding Christ the śūdras would naturally have been attracted to Buddha's teaching as it was addressed to all including śūdras. Comparatively early orthodox writers like Kumārila knew that the śūdras formed the largest number of professed Buddhists when he says¹⁴⁷⁸ 'the dicta of Śākya and others were all opposed, except a few relating to self-restraint, charity and the like, to all the fourteen sources of learning, were promulgated by Buddha and others that had strayed from the path of the three Vedas and did acts contrary (to the Veda) and that those dicta were presented by them to those who were deluded, who were outside the pale of the three Vedas, who mostly comprised the 4th varṇa (i. e. śūdra) and those that had lost caste'. Therefore, the learned brāhmaṇas who wanted to wean sections of the masses (including śūdras) away from Buddhist teachings composed new Paurāṇika mantras by the thousand and employed them in all religious rites like śrāddhas, vratas &c.
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It was, therefore, that earlier *nibandha* writers like Śrīdatta were prepared to allow śūdras to recite Paurāṇika¹⁴⁷⁹ mantras. But when centuries had elapsed after Buddhism had disappeared from India, orthodox brāhmaṇa writers like Kamalākara¹⁴⁸⁰ (who wrote his N. S. in 1612 A. D.) showed a stiffer attitude by confining śūdras merely to the listening to Purāṇas read by a brāhmaṇa and by not allowing them even to recite a Paurāṇika mantra. It may be noted that the Narasimhapurāṇa in laying down the duties of śūdras provides that they should listen to the reading of purāṇas by a brāhmaṇa (reader) and should worship Narasimha (*avatāra* of Viṣṇu). The relation of Śruti, Smṛti and Purāṇas and their spheres of application are summed up in the Nāradīyapurāṇa as follows:— "The Veda exists in different forms; there is the Veda which has the performance of sacrificial rites (as its sphere); smṛtis are the Veda for the householder's stage; both those are centered in (or supported by) the Purāṇas. Just as this wonderful world sprang from the ancient Being (God), there is no doubt that all this literature arose from the Purāṇas. I hold that the meaning (or purpose) of the Purāṇas is more extensive (or superior to) than the meaning (or purpose) of the Veda. All the Vedas always rest on the Purāṇas; the Veda is afraid of the man of little learning (with the thought that) that man may harm it.
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The Veda does not deal with the movements of the planets, nor does it contain correct calculations about the proper times (for religious acts), nor does it deal with the *tithivṛddhi* or *tithikṣaya*, nor with the determination of the *parvans* (amāvāsyā, pūrṇimā &c.) or eclipses. Determinations about these were formerly made in Itihāsa and Purāṇas. What is not seen in the Vedas is all noticed in the Smṛtis; what is not seen in both is declared in the Purāṇas. What is declared by the Vedas and what is declared by the auxiliary lores—it is Veda that is declared by Smṛtis and Purāṇas. The person who looks upon Purāṇas in any other light would be born as a lower animal'.¹⁴⁸¹ The Nāradīyapurāṇa¹⁴⁸² further states 'the merit acquired by those wicked men who speak about Purāṇas as *arthavādas* (mere laudatory¹⁴⁸³ or condemnatory statements) are destroyed and the wicked man who regards as *arthavādas* the Purāṇas that are the means of uprooting (the evil effects of) all acts, reaches Hell'.