History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c93.331

v7.c93.331

Śāstra is meant to give definite rules as stated by Patañjali,²⁰³⁶ and therefore all Śāstrik works try to reduce options to the minimum and assign to apparently conflicting passages separate and definite provinces of application (*Viṣayavyavasthā*). Sometimes, the options are so many that commentators give up the task of assigning them different scopes e. g. the Mit. on Yāj. III. 22, after quoting the conflicting passages on impurity on birth and death, for kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras from Parāśara, Śātātapa, Vasiṣṭha and Atri gives up the effort to bring order because it would be of no use as people do not accept the dicta of these in practice.