History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c93.368

v7.c93.368

Kumārila holds that sūtra 7 of PMS I. 3 is an adhikaraṇa by itself and is concerned with the authoritativeness of sadācāra (the customs and usages of śiṣṭas). His position as elaborated in the Tantravārtika is that those usages alone are authoritative that are not opposed to express Vedic texts, that are practised by śiṣṭas under the belief that they are right conduct (*dharma*) and for which no visible motive (such as pleasure or the satisfaction of desires or the acquisition of wealth) can be predicated. Śiṣṭas are only those that perform the religious rites and duties expressly enjoined by the Veda. The practices traditionally handed down from generation to generation that are observed by śiṣṭas (as defined above) with the conviction that they form part of Dharma must be regarded as Dharma and as leading to heaven. The Tantravārtika remarks that practices do not become authoritative merely by the fact that no visible motive or purpose can be postulated for them; but they become so only when they are observed by śiṣṭas as part of Dharma.²⁰⁵⁷ Many activities such as agriculture, service or trade, that are the means of securing wealth and pleasures and such actions as eating sumptuous food, drinking, sleeping on soft beds, possessing a charming house or garden, all of which are common to Āryas and Mlecchas are not deemed by any one to be part of Dharma and it does not follow that because a few actions of śiṣṭas are accepted as Dharma, all their actions are to be looked upon as Dharma. Kumārila quotes the advice that a man should follow the path by which his father, grand-father and other ancestors went, provided it is the path of the good, following which he will not come to harm.²⁰⁵⁸