कल्पान्तरे विश्वासटिप्पन्यः

**Should dharma be difficult to perform? A deliberation on ’ anāyāsa’ **
by Dr. Satyan Sharma
Linkedin : satyansharma
X : @sharmasatyan
Medium : satyan-sharma.medium.com

Whenever we think of the scripturally ordained dharmas, the sheer detail with which they have been mentioned, makes them seem very difficult to perform. Such a view may discourage a layperson from accepting the teachings given in the sacred scriptures of Sanātana Dharma, such as the Dharmaśāstras. But is this view correct? Do the Dharmaśāstras intend to put us into great difficulties by asking us to perform our dharmas? This leads to another question; should dharma be difficult to perform? In this article, I shall try to find an answer to these questions based on what the *Dharmaśāstras *(along with their traditional commentaries) and Purāṇas say, or intend to say on this matter.

In the texts of Dharmaśāstras such as Manusmṛti, Yājñavalkyasmṛti and so forth, dharma has been divided into two main categories, that is, sāmānya (common) and viśeṣa (specific). The sāmānya is common to all humans, whereas the viśeṣa is for people who belong to specific categories. For example, a Brāhmaṇa householder is told to perform the dharmas specifically ordained for him, based on being both a Brāhmaṇa and a householder. Dharma means an activity, performing which, one will receive puṇya (unseen merit). So, when every human performs any of those sāmānya dharmas, he or she will receive puṇya, as per the Dharmaśāstras.

Apart from the other sāmānya dharmas, such as ahiṃsā (abstinence from violence which is not permitted by the scriptures), satya (speaking the truth which is also beneficial for others), and so forth, there is another dharma which finds mention in the Bṛhaspatismṛti, and also in various Purāṇas. This dharma is ’ anāyāsa'.

dayā kṣamā’’nasūyā ca
śaucānāyāsa-maṅgalam | akārpaṇyam aspṛhatvaṃ
sarva-sādhāraṇāni tu ||

Bṛhaspatismṛti, Saṃskārakāṇḍa, 489

Compassion, forbearance, absence of envy, cleanliness, ease, good conduct. Absence of miserliness, absence of covetousness, these are common to all.

Bṛhaspatismṛti defines anāyāsa as follows:

śarīraṃ pīḍyate yena
suśubhenāpi karmaṇā |
atyantaṃ tan na kurvīta
anāyāsaḥ sa ucyate ||

Bṛhaspatismṛti, Saṃskārakāṇḍa, 496

That action which, even though is very auspicious, causes pain to the body, one should not perform it at all, this is called ’ anāyāsa'.

yadārambhe bhavet pīḍā
nityam atyantam ātmanaḥ |
tad varjayed dharmyam api
so’nāyāsaḥ prakīrtitaḥ ||

Bṛhaspatismṛti, Saṃskārakāṇḍa, 497

That action, even if it be related to dharma, due to the performance of which, one definitely experiences a lot of pain, one should abstain from such action, thus is ’ anāyāsa’ declared.

What is being said is this; if while performing a very auspicious or dhārmika action, one experiences pain, one should not perform such an action. This seems to provide a general direction to what kind of dharmas one should perform while he or she is in a certain kind of a situation.

In the Gautamadharmasūtra, anāyāsa finds its place in a list of eight ātmaguṇas (inner qualities). These eight ātmaguṇas are so important, that without having these, even if one performs the fourty saṃskāras (rituals), one fails to attain mokṣa (liberation).

athāṣṭāv ātmaguṇāḥ||
dayā sarvabhūteṣu, kṣāntir, anasūyā, śaucam, anāyāso, maṅgalam akārpaṇyam, aspṛheti||
*yasyaite catvāriṃśat saṃskārā
na cāṣṭāv ātmaguṇā na sa brahmaṇaḥ *
sāyujyaṃ sālokyaṃ ca gacchati||
yasya tu khalu saṃskārāṇām ekadeśo’py, aṣṭāv ātmaguṇā,
atha sa brahmaṇaḥ sāyujyaṃ sālokyaṃ ca gacchati||

Gautamadharmasūtra, 1.8.23-26

Now eight inner qualities. Compassion for all beings, forbearance, absence of envy, cleanliness, ease, good conduct, absence of miserliness, lack of covetousness. The one who possesses these ~~fourty~~ saṃskāras, but not the eight inner qualities, does not attain the abode of Brahman and unity with Brahman. The one who possesses only some of the saṃskāras, but possesses the eight inner qualities instead attains the abode of Brahman and unity with Brahman.

Not just in the Dharmaśāstra-texts, even in some of the Purāṇas, anāyāsa finds a mention along with other qualities enlisted as sāmānya dharmas. For example:

ṛtukālābhigamanaṃ
svadāreṣu praśasyate| sarvvaloka-hitaiṣitvaṃ
maṅgalaṃ priyavāditā||
anāyāso mahotsāhas
titikṣānabhimānitā|
sāmānyaṃ sarvva-varṇānāṃ
munibhiḥ parikīrttitam||

Bṛhannāradīyapurāṇa, 22.27-28

Intercourse with one’s own wife
during her season is praised. Desiring the benefit of all beings, good conduct, speaking agreeable speech.
Ease, perseverance, forbearance, absence of pride.
These are common to all varṇas, as declared by Munis.

bhṛtyādi-bharaṇārthāya
sarveṣāñ ca parigrahaḥ| ṛtukāle’bhigamanaṃ
sva-dāreṣu mahīpate||
dayā samastabhūteṣu
titikṣānabhimānitā|
satyaṃ śaucam anāyāso
maṅgalyaṃ priyavāditā||
maitraspṛhā (maitry aspṛhā?) tathā tadvad
akārpaṇyaṃ nareśvara| anasūyā ca sāmānyā
varṇānāṃ kathitā guṇāḥ||

Viṣṇupurāṇa, 3.8.35-37

O King! (common dharmas) of all (are) arranging resources for maintaining the dependents and so forth.
Having intercourse with one’s own wife during her season.
Compassion for all beings, forbearance, absence of pride.
Truth, cleanliness, ease, good conduct, speaking agreeable speech.
Friendship, absence of covetousness, absence of miserliness.
Absence of envy, these are the qualities common to all varṇas.

In his commentary on Parāśarasmṛti, a Dharmaśāstra-text for the Kaliyuga, Mādhavācārya says:

ataḥ kalau prāṇināṃ
prayāsa-sādhye dharme pravṛtty-a-sambhavāt
sukaro dharmo’tra bubhutsitaḥ|
sa ca dvividhaḥ -
caturṇāṃ varṇānāṃ sādhāraṇo’sādhāraṇaś ca|
tatra sādhāraṇo bṛhaspatinā nirūpitaḥ-

dayā kṣamā’nasūyā ca
śaucānāyāsamaṅgalam| akārpaṇyāspṛhatve ca
sarvasādhāraṇe ime||

Parāśaramādhavīya, 1.16½-17½

“Hence, in the Kaliyuga, due to the impossibility of inclination in beings toward the dharma which requires effort,
the dharma which is easy to perform has been asked about here.
And it is of two types, of the four varṇas, common and uncommon.
The common has been stated by Bṛhaspati:

Compassion, forbearance, absence of envy, cleanliness, ease, good conduct, absence of miserliness, absence of covetousness, these are common to all.”

Places

In his commentary on Manusmṛti 2.24, where certain places have been suggested for the twice-borns to reside in, Medhātithi (~10th century CE) says:

sa tu nitya-kāmyānām
ukta-rītyā etad-deśa evānuṣṭhāna-sambhavād
adhikṛtānāṃ prāpta eva|

na hy etad-deśa-vyatirekeṇa kṛtsna-dharmānuṣṭhāna-sambhavaḥ|
tathāhi|
himavati tāvat kāśmīrādau śītenārditā
na bahiḥ sandhyopāsane’dhikriyante|
na ca yathāvidhi svādhyāya-sambhavaḥ
“prāg vodag vā grāmād upaniṣkramyeti”|
na hi hemanta-śiśirayor ahar ahar nadī-snānādi-sambhavaḥ|

Medhātithi ( Manusmṛti 2.24)

“The possibility of the residence in question exists
because it is only in the said places that the performance of the compulsory and optional rites is possible.
Apart from the said places, the performance Dharma in its entirety, is not possible.
For instance, in the snowy places, such as Kāśmīra, suffering from cold,
people are unable to perform sandhyā-worship outside;
nor is it possible to study the Veda in the proper manner, going out either to the east or to the north of the village;
nor is it possible to bathe in the river daily during the seasons of hemanta and śiśira.”

Similar direction is found in the Bodhāyanadharmasūtra (2.3.51) and Govindasvāmin’s commentary on it:

prabhūtaidhodaka-yava-sasamit-kuśa-mālyopaniṣkramaṇam āḍhyajanākulam
analasa-samṛddham ārya-jana-bhūyiṣṭham a-dasyu-praveśyaṃ grāmam āvasituṃ yateta dhārmikaḥ||

Bodhāyanadharmasūtra 2.3.51

A dhārmika person should strive to reside in a village
which cannot be attacked by thieves,
and which has an abundance of fuel, water, fodder, samit-wood, kuśā-grass, flowers and pasturage,
where there are many rich people, many active people
and many scholarly people.

At the end of his commentary on this, Govindasvāmin says:

“yatra hi dharmāśramā-virodhena
jīvanaṃ sukaraṃ bhavati
tatra dhārmiko nityaṃ nivased ity arthaḥ||”

“Where, (living) a life unopposed to (one’s) dharma and āśrama becomes easy to be effected, there should a dhārmika person always reside.”

Similar has been stated in Gautamadharmasūtra (9.65 or 1.9.65).

Manusmṛti (4.60-61) also prohibits a person, desirous of performing his dharmas properly, from residing in a place where such people live, who do not follow their dharmas. Hence, one way to practise anāyāsa along with the viśeṣa dharmas is to reside in a place where dhārmika people reside in abundance.(5)

It seems that the Dharmaśāstras expect the due performance of dharmas only from those who reside in such places where such performance is possible with some degree of ease.(5)

Inconvenience to tohers

Putting someone else in pain or inconvenience for the performance of a scripturally ordained action, also leads to undesirable consequences.

This idea has been portrayed in the *Mahābhārata *( Vanaparvan, chapter 207 onward) through the story of a Brāhmaṇa named Kauśika, who left his old aged parents without getting their permission, for learning Vedas. His parents suffered a lot of inconvenience because of such an action of his, and hence Kauśika incurred pāpa (unseen demerit).

Further, Manusmṛti 4.176 prohibits the performance of any scripturally ordained action which causes pain to others in general ( lokasaṅkruṣṭa dharma). This also agrees with the principle of anāyāsa via ahiṃsā. This further connects with dayā or compassion, because the one who possesses compassion, will never put anyone else in discomfort for the sake of achieving his or her own goals.

When one refrains from creating any discomfort for oneself and also for others, one is saved from many sorts of inconvenience. This further leads to a relatively stable state of mind.

teṣu sarveṣu yathopadeśam avyagro vartamānaḥ
kṣemaṃ gacchati||

Āpastambadharmasūtra 2.9.21.2

Being undisturbed, dwelling in all those ( āśramas) as per the teaching (of the scripture), (he) attains mokṣa.

The absence of disturbance is a prerequisite for the performance of other rituals, in order to attain the best desired result.

Similarly, anāyāsa (along with other seven inner qualities) is a prerequisite for the fourty saṃskāras to bear the desired fruit. Why is it so?

vedās tyāgaś ca yajñāś ca
niyamāś ca tapāṃsi ca|
na vipraduṣṭabhāvasya
siddhiṃ gacchanti karhicit||

Manusmṛti 2.97

Learning of Vedas, giving away something as dāna, following niyamas, and performing tapas’ (austerities), none of these bear the ultimate fruit if the performer (of these) has a wandering mind.

The wandering of mind could be caused by both physical and mental disturbances. So as to prevent oneself from effecting a wasteful effort, it is implied that one should first work on the sāmānya dharmas such as anāyāsa and so forth. What the Bṛhaspatismṛti means when it talks about pain in the body ( śarīra), is the pain in not just the physical body, but also one’s mental and emotional pain.

This is because in the traditional view, body consists of the gross physical body, the sense organs, mind and intellect. Hence the application of anāyāsa is not just on the physical body, but also on mind and intellect. If by the thought of or by the performance of a scripturally ordained activity, one’s mind gets burdened, making the person very uncomfortable, should the person go on and perform the said activity? If he or she performs it, it would be a violation of anāyāsa. This further implies that the scripturally ordained viśeṣa dharmas are to be performed only in the absence of such physical and mental burdens.

The emphasis on anāyāsa does not imply that one should not aspire to progress further with regards to fulfilling one’s duties as ordained by the scriptures. What is intended is that such a performance of those duties should not lead to discomfort or pain, be it physical or mental, either to oneself or to another person.

The negative nature of the term ’ anāyāsa’ should be kept in mind, that is, it is a negation of ‘āyāsa’ or effort.

titikṣā

In some of the verses cited above, titikṣā or tolerance and mahotsāha or perseverance also find mention along with anāyāsa. The term ’ mahotsāha’ appears as an adjective in *Amarakośa *(3.1.3), where the commentator Kṛṣṇamitra says that a ’ mahotsāha’ person is the one who is eager to accomplish a task which is very difficult to be accomplished ( dussādhye’pi tatparaḥ). Another commentator Bhānuji Dīkṣita says similar ( duḥsādhyakṛtye’pi sādhanaparasya). Kṣānti has been mentioned in the *Gautamadharmasūtra *(as cited above) along with an anāyāsa. To state its meaning, the commentator Haradatta cites a verse as follows:

ākruṣṭo’bhihato vā’pi
na krośen na ca tāḍayet|
aduṣṭo vāṅ-manaḥ-kāyaiḥ
sā titikṣā kṣamā smṛtā||

(Even when) one is verbally or physically hurt, (one) does not verbally or physically retaliate, (and remains) flawless in speech, mind and body, such tolerance is remembered as kṣamā.

In the Amarakośa (1.7.25), titikṣā and kṣānti are mentioned as synonyms ( kṣāntis titikṣā). So, when mentioned along with anāyāsa, mahotsāha could imply that one has taken up a task voluntarily and gladly, which is, in the eyes of others, very difficult to be accomplished. Titikṣā does not simply stand for tolerating pain with regards to a task, but primarily stands for the absence of retaliation, and in a sense falls within the sāmānya dharma called ahiṃsā.

In conclusion, it can be said that our Dharmaśāstras do not intend to put us into very uncomfortable situations. They want us to perform our own dharmas with ease. Such ease is not possible everywhere, which is why even Dharmaśāstras suggest that one should move to a place where practising his or her dharmas with ease is possible. It could be said that the Dharmaśāstras primarily expect from those, who can practise their dharmas with ease, that they should practise them without fail. Others, who are not so fortunate, should practise as much as possible. The dharma, quality or principle of ’ anāyāsa’ certainly guides us in these matters, and tells us that we should not force ourselves to successfully perform a scripturally ordained action.

Hence, dharma is not necessarily meant to be difficult to perform. Those who are unfortunately unable to perform their viśeṣa dharmas, should nevertheless try their best to perform the sāmānya dharmas as declared in the Dharmaśāstras.

**Source texts **

1. Amarakośa : The Nâmalingânus’âsana (Amarakosha) of Amarasimha with the commentary (Vyâkhyâsudhâ or Ramâs’ramî) of Bhânuji Dîkshit, ed. Pandit S ’ ivadatta. Pândurang Jâwajî, Bombay.

Amarakośa of Amarasimha, with the commentary of Ācārya Kṛṣṇamitra, ed. Satyadeva Mishra.

University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 1972. * *

2. Āpastambadharmasūtra : *Ápastamba-Dharmasútra with Haradatta’s Ujjvala’ *, eds. A. Maha’deva S’a’stri, K. Ranga’cha’rya. Government Branch Press, Mysore. 1898.

3. Bodhāyanadharmasūtra : The Bodhâyana-Dharma-Sûtra, with the commentary of Gôvindasvâmin, ed.

L. S’rînivâsâchârya. Government Oriental Library, Mysore. 1907.

4. Bṛhannāradīya Purāṇa : The Vṛihannáradíya Puráṇa, ed. Hṛishikeśa Śástrí. Giriśa Vidyáratna Press, Calcutta. 1891. * *

**5. Bṛhaspatismṛti **: Bṛhaspatismṛti (Reconstructed), ed. K. V. Rangaswami Aiyangar. Oriental Institute, Baroda. 1941.

6. Gautamadharmasūtra : Gautamadharmasūtrāṇi Hindīvyākhyāvibhūṣita-Haradattakṛta-Mitākṣarāvṛtti-Sahitāni, Ḍā. Umeśacandra Pāṇḍeya. Caukhambā Saṃskṛta Sīrīja Āphisa, Vārāṇasī. 1966.

7. Mahābhārata : Śrīmanmaharṣi Vedavyāsapraṇīta Mahābhārata (Dvitīya Khaṇḍa) [Vanaparva Aura Virāṭaparva], tr. Rāmanārāyaṇadatta Śāstrī Pāṇḍeya. Gītāpresa, Gorakhapura. Saṃ० 2023.

8. Manusmṛti : Manu-Smṛti With nine commentaries by Medhātithi, Sarvajñanārāyaṇa, Kullūka, Rāghavānanda, Nandana, Rāmacandra, Maṇirāma, Govindarāja and Bhāruci, Volume I (Adhyāyas 1-2), ed. Jayantakrishna Harikrishna Dave. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay. 1972. Manu-Smṛti With nine commentaries by Medhātithi, Sarvajñanārāyaṇa, Kullūka, Rāghavānanda, Nandana, Rāmacandra, Maṇirāma, Govindarāja and Bhāruci, Volume II (Adhyāyas 3-4), ed. Jayantakrishna Harikrishna Dave.

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay. 1975. Manu-Smṛiti With nine commentaries by Medhātithi, Sarvajñanārāyaṇa, Kullūka, Rāghavānanda, Nandana, Rāmacandra, Maṇirāma, Govindarāja and Bhāruci, Volume V (Adhyāyas 9-10), ed. Jayantakrishna Harikrishna Dave. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay. 1982.

9. Parāśaramādhavīya : Parâśara Dharma Saṃhitâ or Parâśara Smṛiti, with the commentary of Sâyaṇa Mâdhavâchârya Vol. I Part I, ed. Vâman Śâstri Islâmpurkar. Government Central Book Depôt, Bombay.

10. Viṣṇu Purāṇa : Viṣṇumahāpurāṇam of Maharṣi Vedavyāsa with Sanskrit commentary “Ātmaprakāśa” of Śrīdharācārya, (1-3 aṃśas) Vol. I, ed. Thaneshachandra Upreti. Parimal Publications, Delhi. 2003.

विश्वास-टिप्पनी

Obv. dharma requires sacrifice, punishment and tolerance of adversity in many cases.

Yes, the orders of the Gods should be fulfilled with joy and enthusiasm - mixed with duHkha. So, there is a mental component to anAyAsa which seems ignored here.

Also ignored - it can involve suffering to others. (classic eg. sItA parityAga, dharma-yuddha)