History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c93.363

v7.c93.363

Kumārila (pp. 194-196 of Tantravārtika) holds that the passages quoted by Śabara on I. 3. 3 are not really opposed to Veda at all and that the proper subject for discussion under I. 3. 3-4 is the authoritativeness in matters of Dharma of the schools²⁰⁵⁴ of Sāṅkhya, Yoga, Pāśupata, Pāñcarātra and Śākyas and he holds that all these are outside the pale of the three Vedas and are to be discarded as unauthoritative, although they contain a few matters such as ahiṃsā, truthfulness, self-control, charity and compassion, that agree with Śruti and smṛti. It will have been seen from the above that Kumārila was aware of the emphasis placed by Buddhists on some moral values but he differed from them in many other matters, that he was ready to admit that Buddhist works had some value and he did not preach that they should be burnt or destroyed. Therefore, it appears that his attitude was far from being one of total hatred and persecution of the Buddhists, as alleged by Taranatha cited above on p. 1010 n. 1645