01 Topics of Dharmaśāstra

Manifold are the topics that have been included under {{Dharmaśāstra|Dharmaśāstra}} from very ancient times. The {{Dharma-sūtras|Dharma-sūtras}} of Gautama, Baudhāyana, Āpastamba and Vasiṣṭha deal in greater or less detail principally with the following subjects: the several varṇas (classes), āśramas (stages of life), their privileges, obligations and responsibilities; the saṁskāras performed on an individual (from garbhādhāna to antyeṣṭi); the duties of the brahmacārin (the first āśrama); anadhyāyas (holidays on which Vedic study was stopped); the duties of a snātaka (one who has finished the first stage of life); vivāha (marriage) and all matters connected therewith; the duties of the gṛhastha (house-holder’s stage); śauca (daily purification of body); the five daily yajñas; dāna (gifts); bhakṣyābhakṣya (what food should one partake of and what not); śuddhi (purification of persons, vessels, clothes &c.); āśauca (impurity on birth and death); antyeṣṭi (rites on death); śrāddha (rites performed for the deceased ancestors and relatives); strīdharma (special duties of women) and strīpuṁdharma (duties of husband and wife); dharmas of kṣatriyas and of kings; vyavahāra (judicial procedure, and the sphere of substantive law such as crimes and punishments, contracts, partition and inheritance, adoption, gambling &c.); the four principal classes, mixed castes and their proper avocations; āpaddharma (actions and avocations permitted to the several castes in extreme difficulties); prāyaścitta (sins and how to expiate them); karmavipāka (results of evil deeds done in past lives); śānti (rites on the happening of portents or for propitiating the planets &c.); duties of vānaprastha (forest hermit) and saṁnyāsin (ascetic). All these subjects are not treated in any fixed or settled order in the {{sūtra|sūtra}} works. To take only one example, the subject of partition and inheritance occurs at the end of the {{dharmasūtra|dharmasūtra}} of Gautama, while Vasiṣṭha places the same subject in the middle of his work (17th chapter) and Āpastamba deals with those topics after finishing three-fourths of his work (in II. 6.14). Further, some works on {{dharmaśāstra|dharmaśāstra}} give very elaborate treatment of certain topics of which only faint traces are found in the ancient {{dharmasūtras|dharmasūtras}} and metrical {{smṛtis|smṛtis}}. Such topics are vratas (which may be looked upon as extensions of the subject of gifts), utsarga and pratiṣṭhā (dedication of works of public utility and of temples and shrines), tīrtha (sacred places and pilgrimages to them), kāla (auspicious times, festivals &c.).

A glance at the above list will convince anyone how the conception of dharma was a far-reaching one, how it embraced the whole life of man. The writers on {{dharmaśāstra|dharmaśāstra}} meant by dharma not a creed or religion but a mode of life or a code of conduct, which regulated a man’s work and activities as a member of society and as an individual and was intended to bring about the gradual development of a man and to enable him to reach what was deemed to be the goal of human existence.

From this standpoint various divisions of dharma were suggested. Dharma was divided into śrauta and smārta. The first comprised those rites and ceremonies with which the Vedic Saṁhitās and Brāhmaṇas were chiefly concerned, such as consecration of the three sacred fires, the Full moon and New moon sacrifices, the solemn soma rites &c. The smārta comprised those topics that were specially dealt with by the {{smṛtis|smṛtis}} and that concerned the various classes and stages of life.¹ The present work will concern itself principally with smārta dharma and śrauta dharma will be dealt with concisely in an appendix. Some works divide dharma into śrauta (Vedic), smārta (based upon {{smrtis|smṛtis}}) and śiṣṭācāra (the actions of the respected in society)². This classification is based on the three sources of dharma viz., śruti, smṛti and śiṣṭācāra, as observed by {{Baudhayana|Baudhāyana}}.³ Another and more comprehensive {{classifioation|classification}} says that dharma is sixfold, viz. dharma of {{Varnas|Varṇas}} (injunctions based on varṇa alone such as ‘a {{brāhmana|brāhmaṇa}} should never drink wine’ or ‘a {{brāhmana|brāhmaṇa}} should not be killed’), āśramadharma (such rules as ‘begging’ and ‘carrying a staff’ enjoined on a {{brahmacarī|brahmacārī}}), varṇāśrama-dharma (rules of conduct enjoined on a man because he belongs to a particular class and is in a particular stage of life, such as ‘a {{brāhmaṇa}} brahmacāri should carry a staff of palāśa tree), guṇadharma (such as protection of subjects in the case of a crowned king), naimittika dharma (such as expiation on doing what is forbidden), sādhāraṇa dharma (what is common to all humanity viz., ahiṁsā and other virtues).⁴ This classification appears to have been an ancient one. Medhātithi on Manu II.25 speaks of fivefold dharma (only omitting sādhāraṇa dharma from the abovementioned six) and quotes the explanations of them from the expounders of {{smṛtis|smṛtis}}. Hemādri (vrata-khaṇḍa p. 5) quotes 16 verses from the {{Bhaviṣyapurāṇa|Bhaviṣyapurāṇa}} on the six-fold dharma.⁵ It will be noticed from the above that all matters (except sādhāraṇa or sāmānya dharma) have {{varṇā|varṇa}} and āśrama as the pivots round which the whole of {{dharmaśāstra|dharmaśāstra}} revolves. It is therefore that in ancient {{smṛtis|smṛtis}} like those of Manu (I. 2 and 107) and Yājñavalkya (I.1) the sages are represented as asking the great expounders of those codes to impart to them instruction in the dharmas of {{varṇās|varṇas}} and āśramas.

Before embarking upon any treatment of {{varṇas|varṇas}} it would not be out of place to say a few words about dharmas common to all humanity. Our {{dharmaśāstra|dharmaśāstra}} works do not enter into any subtle or detailed examination of the principles of ethics or of the moral standard, nor are the concepts of duty, happiness or perfection subjected to any searching analysis.⁶ But this does not at all mean that the principles of ethics were passed over by {{dharmaśāstra|dharmaśāstra}} works or were not highly thought of by them. From very ancient times truth is exalted above everything else. Ṛgveda VII. 104.12 says⁷ “True speech and false speech run a race against each other. Soma protects out of the two what is true and what is very straight-forward and strikes down what is false”. The conception of ṛta in the Ṛgveda is a sublime one and is the germ of the later doctrine of the rule of dharma. The {{Śatapatha-brāhmana|Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa}} (S. B. E. vol.44 p.85) enjoins “therefore let a man speak naught but truth”.⁸ In the {{Taittirīyopaniṣad|Taittirīyopaniṣad}} (I. 11. 1), the teacher when taking leave of his pupil at the end of the latter’s studenthood places truth in the forefront of his exhortation and dharma next.⁹ In the Chāndogya (III. 17) there is an allegory of a Soma sacrifice on life, where the dakṣiṇā (fee to be paid) is fivefold viz. the five virtues of tapas (asceticism), dāna (charity), ārjava (straightforwardness), ahiṁsā (non-injury to sentient beings), satyavacana (truthfulness). The {{Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad|Bṛ. Up.}} remarks that truth and dharma are in practical life identical terms.¹⁰ One of the noblest prayers in all literature {{oocurs|occurs}} in the {{Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad|Bṛ. Up.}} (I. 3.28)

• ‘from falsehood lead me unto truth, from darkness lead me unto light, from death lead me unto immortality’.

The {{Muṇḍakopaniṣad|Muṇḍakopaniṣad}} says “only truth is victorious and not falsehood; the path of the gods is spread out by (the pursuit of) truth”. The {{Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad|Bṛ. Up.}} inculcates on all the great need of three cardinal virtues, viz. self-restraint, dayā (compassion or love for all sentient life) and dāna (gifts or charity).¹¹ The {{Chāndogya Upaniṣad|Chān. Up.}} says that the world of Brahman is free from all evil and only those who have lived as chaste students can enter the world of brahma. The {{Chāndogya Upaniṣad|Chān. Up.}} V. 10 sternly condemns five sins, viz, theft of gold, drinking spirits, murder of a {{brāhmana|brāhmaṇa}}, defiling of one’s guru’s bed and association with these, as the greatest sins and in V. 11. 5 Aśvapati exultantly declares that in his kingdom there were no grave sinners. The {{Kaṭhopaniṣad|Kaṭhopaniṣad}} (I. 2.23) insists¹² upon cessation from evil conduct, peace of mind and concentration as essential for the seeker after the Self. The {{Udyogaparva|Udyogaparva}} 43.20ff. speaks of the twelve vratas (vows or rules of conduct) for {{brāhmanas|brāhmaṇas}} and Verses 22-25 {{desoribe|describe}} at great length the characteristics of one who is dānta (self-controlled). Śānti 160 contains an eulogy of dama (self-control). Śānti 162.7 describes how satya has 13 aspects and verse 21 says that non-injury to all beings in thought, word and deed, good will and charity are the eternal dharma of the good.¹³ The {{Gautama-dharmasūtra|Gautama-dharmasūtra}} (VIII. 24-26) holds that dayā (compassion or love for all beings), kṣānti (forbearance), anasūyā (freedom from envy), śauca (purity of body, speech and thought), anāyāsa (absence of painful efforts or ambitions), maṅgala (doing what is commended), akārpaṇya (not demeaning oneself before others), aspṛhā (not hankering after sensual pleasures or the possessions of others)¹⁴ are the qualities of the soul and remarks that the person who has these eight qualities realizes non-difference from Brahma and reaches the world of Brahma, though he may not have all the other forty saṁskāras, while he who has all the forty {{samskaras|saṁskāras}} but is not possessed of these eight qualities does not reach the world of Brahma.¹⁵ Vasiṣṭha (X. 30) says that avoiding back-biting, jealousy, pride, egoism, unbelief, crookedness, self-praise, abuse of others, deceit, covetousness, delusion, anger and envy is the dharma of all āśramas and further (XXX. 1) he delivers a fine exhortation “practise dharma (righteousness) and not adharma; speak the truth and not untruth; look far ahead, not near; look at what is highest, not at what is not highest”. {{Āpastamba Dh. S.|Āpastamba Dh. S.}} (1. 8. 23. 3-6) calls upon all āśramas to eradicate faults that tend to destruction and to cultivate the opposite virtues (and gives long lists of both). This shows that in the scale of values mere performance of sacrifices and purificatory and other religious ceremonies ranked according to Gautama and other writers very low and the highest value attached to the moral qualities of the soul. There is no elaborate discussion of the questions as to why a man should tell the truth or abstain from hiṁsā (injury to sentient beings) and cultivate other high moral qualities. But it should not be supposed that no indications whatever are given of the reasons why this should be done. Two principles emerge if we closely examine the texts. In the midst of countless rules of outward conduct there is always insistence on the necessity to satisfy the inner man ({{antara-puruṣa|antarapuruṣa}}) or conscience. Manu IV. 161 says ‘assiduously do that which will give satisfaction to the antarātman’ (inner self); IV, 239 says ‘No parents, nor wife nor sons will be a man’s friends in the next world; but only righteousness’. ‘Gods and the inner man mark the sinful acts’ {{Vanaparva|Vanaparva}} 207-54 and Manu VIII.85, 91-92. Vide also {{Ādi parva|Ādiparva}} 74. 28-29, Manu VIII. 86, {{Anuśāsana|Anuśāsana}} 2. 73-74. The reason given for cultivating such virtues as dayā, ahiṁsā is based upon the philosophical doctrine of the one Self being immanent in every individual as said in the words ‘“tat tvam-asi”’. This is the highest point reached in Indian metaphysics and combines morality and metaphysics. That doctrine requires us to regard the goodness or badness of one’s actions from the standpoint of other individuals who will be affected by such actions. Dakṣa (III. 22) declares¹⁶ ‘“one who desires happiness should look upon another just as he looks upon himself. Happiness and misery affect one’s self and others in the same way”’. Devala says that the quintessence of dharma is that one should not do to others what would be disliked by one’s self.¹⁷ Therefore our texts lay down two seats of authority in morals viz., the revealed truth (śruti) that ‘“All this is brahma”’ and the inner light of conscience. Another reason for cultivating high moral qualities is found in the doctrine of the goals or ends of human existence (puruṣārtha). From very ancient times they are said to be four, dharma (right conduct), artha (economic interests), kāma (satisfaction of sexual, emotional and artistic life), mokṣa (liberation of the spirit). The last is said to be the supreme end and to be attained only by the few and the vast majority can only place it as an ideal to be attained in the most distant future. As regards the other three, there is a gradation of values. Kāma is the lowest of all and only fools regard it as the only end.¹⁸ The Mahābhārata says: “A wise man tries to secure all three, but if all three {{oannot|cannot}} be attained, he secures dharma and artha or only dharma if he has a choice of only one from among the three. A man of middling discipline prefers artha to the other two; dharma is the source of both artha and kāma”. The {{dharmaśāstra|dharmaśāstra}} writers did not condemn kāma altogether, they recognise that kāma has a place as a motive urging man to be active but they assigned it a low place. They recognised that a man shares with lower beings the impulses and emotions of sex, but that the satisfaction of these impulses is of lower values than the moral and spiritual ends proper for a developed human personality and therefore insist that it should be subordinated to artha and dharma. Gautama (IX. 46-47) says ‘one should not allow the morning, midday and evening to remain fruitless so far as dharma, artha and kāma are concerned. But among these three one should attach most importance to dharma’. {{Yājñavalkya|Yāj.}} I. 115 says practically the same thing. {{Āpastamba Dh. S.|Āp. Dh. S.}} (II. 8. 20. 22-23) declares that ‘a man should enjoy all such pleasures as are not opposed to dharma. In this way one secures both worlds’.¹⁹ In the Bhagavadgītā (VII. 11) Kṛṣṇa identifies himself with kāma that is not opposed to dharma. {{Kautilya|Kauṭilya}} says²⁰ ‘“one may enjoy kāma provided there is no conflict with dharma and artha, one should not lead a life of no pleasures”’ and then true to his role of a writer on {{arthaśāstra|arthaśāstra}}, he proclaims that ‘“his own opinion is that artha is the principal of the three, as dharma and kāma both spring from artha”’. Manu (II. 224)²¹ after setting out several views about which of the three is principal states it as his own opinion that one should strive for all the three, but adds that if artha or kāma is in conflict with dharma one should give up artha or kāma as the case may be. {{Viṣṇu Dh. S.|Viṣṇu Dh. S.}} (71.84) and {{Bhagavata|Bhāgavata}} I.2.9 say the same. The {{Kamasūtra|Kāmasūtra}}²² of Vātsyāyana defines the three and says that out of dharma, artha and kāma {{eacb|each}} preceding one is superior to each following one and that to the king artha should be the highest goal. This teaching shows that there are proximate ends or motives and ultimate ends or motives, that the ultimate ends are really the most valuable and athat the whole teaching of {{dharmaśāstra|dharmaśāstra}} points to this that all higher life demands discipline both of body and mind and requires the subjection of lower aims to aims of higher value. Manu II. 4 (like Aristotle in the first sentence of his Politics) says that the end of all activity is some presumed good. Manu further says (V.56) that the natural proclivity of all beings is to hanker after the satisfaction of the common and lower desires of hunger, thirst and sexual gratification and therefore no stress is to be placed on them but on the cessation or curbing of these. The {{Upaniṣads|Upaniṣads}}²³ recognise the {{distinoticn|distinction}} between what is beneficial (hita) and what is most beneficial (hitatama). {{Śāntiparva|Śāntiparva}} (288.20 and 330.13) declares that what conduces to the greatest good of beings is ‘satya’.

The {{Mitākṣara|Mitākṣarā}} on {{Yājñavalkya|Yāj.}} I. 1. remarks that ahiṁsā and other qualities are the dharmas common to all including even {{cāṇḍālas|cāṇḍālas}}. The qualities are variously enumerated and emphasis is laid upon different lists in different works. {{Śaṅkhasmṛti|Śaṅkha-smṛti}} (I. 5) says that forbearance, truthfulness, self-restraint and purity are common to all {{varṇas|varṇas}}. The Mahābhārata says that three are the best qualities among all beings viz., absence of enmity, truthfulness and freedom from anger²⁴ and in another place says that the best vrata (vow) for a man is threefold viz., he should feel no enmity (to others), should give and should speak the truth. Vasiṣṭha (IV. 4) says²⁵ that truthfulness, freedom from anger, generosity, ahiṁsā (non-injury) and procreation of offspring are the common dharma of all (varṇas). Gautama (X. 52) says that even the Śūdra has to submit himself to the dharma of truthfulness, freedom from anger and purity (of body and mind). Manu says that ahiṁsā, truthfulness, no wrongful taking of another’s possessions, purity and restraint of senses are in brief the common dharmas of all {{varṇas|varṇas}}.²⁶ Manu (IV. 175) calls upon all to take delight in truth, in dharma, in conduct worthy of an ārya and in purity. In the 3rd century B.C. the remarkable emperor Aśoka inscribed on stone in all parts of his empire the following list of virtues: compassion, liberality, truth, purity, gentleness, peace, joyousness, saintliness, self-control; which bear a close resemblance to Gautama’s list and even to a later list of St. Paul (vide Pillar Edicts II and VII in E. I. vol. II p.249 and p.272). {{Yājñavalkya|Yāj.}} (I. 122) mentions nine qualities as the means of securing dharma for all (from the {{brāhmaṇa|brāhmaṇa}} to the {{cāṇḍāla|cāṇḍāla}}²⁷). The Mahābhārata says that freedom from anger, truthfulness, sharing one’s wealth with others, forbearance, procreation (of children) from one’s wife (alone), purity, absence of enmity, straight-forwardness, maintaining persons dependent on one-self–these nine are the duties of all {{varṇas|varṇas}}²⁸. The {{Vāmanapurāṇa|Vāmanapurāṇa}} says that tenfold dharma is common to all and names these ten as ahiṁsā, satya. asteya, dāna, forbearance, restraint, quiescence, not demeaning oneself, purity, tapas.²⁹ Hemādri ({{vratakhaṇḍa|vratakhaṇḍa}} pp. 7-8) quotes several passages from the Brahma, Brahmavaivarta and {{Viṣṇudharmottara|Viṣṇudharmottara}} for several sādhāraṇa dharmas (virtues common to all {{varṇas|varṇas}} and āśramas). The {{Viṣṇudharmasūtra|Viṣṇudharmasūtra}} enumerates fourteen qualities as sāmānya-dharma.³⁰

The foregoing discussion establishes that all {{dharmaśāstra|dharmaśāstra}} writers attached the highest importance to moral qualities and enjoined them upon all with all the emphasis they could command; but as their main purpose was a practical one, viz., to guide people to right acts in everyday life, they dealt more elaborately with the acts, rites and ceremonies that each person had to do with reference to his station in society. They are therefore found principally concerning themselves with varṇāśrama dharma and not with sādhāraṇa dharma (i. e. duties common to all alike).

Āryāvarta

One important question that is very much canvassed in works on {{dharmaśāstra|dharmaśāstra}} is about the country or territory which should be called āryāvarta or which was a fit habitation for those who called themselves the followers of the Vedic religion. Therefore a few words on this subject would be quite relevant. The Ṛgveda shows that the centre of Āryan culture in the times of the Ṛgveda was the land of the seven rivers, viz. North-west India and Punjab. We find that the rivers from Kubhā (the Kabul river, in Ṛg.V.53.9; X.76.6), Krumu (the modern Kurram, Ṛg.V.53.9, X.75.6), Suvāstu (modern Swat, in Ṛg.VIII.19.37), the seven Sindhus (Ṛg. II.12.12, IV.28.1, VIII.24.27, X.43.3) up to the Yamunā (Ṛg.V.52.17, X.75.5), the Ganges (Ṛg.VI.45.31, X.75.5) and Sarayu (probably in modern Oudh, in Ṛg.IV.30.18 and V.53.9) figure in the Ṛgveda. Among the rivers of the Punjab the following are individually mentioned : Sindhu (Ṛg.II, 15.6 ‘“he made the Sindhu flow northwards”’, Ṛg.V.53.9, Ṛg.IV.30.12, Ṛg.VIII.20.25 where reference is made to the medicine in the Sindhu, in the Asiknī, in the seas and on mountains), Asiknī (Ṛg.VIII.20.25, X.75.5), Paruṣṇī (Ṛg.IV.22.2, V.52.9), Vipāś and Śutudri (Ṛg.III.33.1 where their confluence is spoken of), Vipāś alone in Ṛg.IV.30.12, Śutudri alone in Ṛg.X.75.5, Dṛṣadvatī, Āpayā and Sarasvatī (as very holy in Ṛg. III.23.4), Sarasvatī alone (Ṛg: VII.95, the whole hymn is addressed to it of which verse 2 says it springs from the mountains; Ṛg.VI.61 is another hymn addressed to it, v.10 of which says it has seven sisters), Gomatī (Ṛg.VIII.24.30, X.75,6), Vitastā (Ṛg.X.75.5). Gradually the Āryans spread southwards and eastwards. The Kāṭhaka S.X.6 speaks of Kuru-Pañcālas. In the Brāhmaṇas the centre of Āryan activities and culture shifted to the {{oountries|countries}} of the Kurus and Pañcālas and Kosala-Videhas. For example, the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa remarks that in the lands of {{Kurupañcālas|Kuru-Pañcālas}} speech is at its best.³¹ In Śat.Br. XI.4.1.1 Uddālaka Āruṇi is called a Kuru-Pañcāla {{brāhmana|brāhmaṇa}} and contrasted with {{brāhmanas|brāhmaṇas}} of the north (S.B.E. vol.44 p.51). Similarly the {{Kauṣītaki-brāhmaṇa|Kauṣītaki-br.}} (VII.6) remarks³² that those who want to learn (best) speech go northwards or wait upon him who comes from that direction. In the Śatapatha we have the story of Videgha Māṭhava who went beyond the country of Kosala-Videha, crossed the river Sadānīrā that came down from the Himālaya, and settled to the east of that river, where the country was a cultivated and civilized one in the times of that work, while in former ages it had been uncultivated (I.4.1.4-17, S.B.E. vol. 12 pp. 105-106). Even in the Buddhist Jātakas we see that being an ‘“udicca brāhmaṇo”’ was a source of great pride (vide Fick’s work p.40). The {{Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa|Tai.Br.}} speaks of the vedi of the gods as being in {{Kuru-kṣetra|Kurukṣetra}}.³³ Even in the Ṛgveda itself the country through which the rivers Dṛṣadvatī, Āpayā and Sarasvatī flowed is spoken of as the best spot (vide III.23.4). The {{Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa|Tai. Br.}} says that the {{Kurupañcālas|Kuru-Pañcālas}} go east in the winter and westwards in the last month of summer. In the times of the Upaniṣads also the {{Kurupañcāla|Kuru-Pañcāla}} country appears to have occupied a pre-eminent place. The {{Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad|Bṛ.Up.}} (III.1.1.) says that when Janaka, king of Videha, performed a sacrifice the {{brāhmanas|brāhmaṇas}} of {{Kurupañcāla|Kuru-Pañcāla}} flocked there in large numbers. Vide also {{Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad|Bṛ.Up.}} III.9.19. The {{Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad|Bṛ.Up.}} VI.2.1 and Chāndogya V.3.1 say that Śvetaketu went to the assembly of the Pañcālas. {{Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇa Upaniṣad|Kauṣītaki Br.Up.}} (IV.1.) names the countries of Uśīnara, Matsya, {{Kurupañcāla|Kuru-Pañcāla}} and {{Kāśivideha|Kāśi-Videha}} as centres of intellectual activity and in II.13 refers to two mountains one in the North and the other in the South (meaning probably Himavat and Vindhya). According to the Nirukta (II.2), the country of Kamboja was outside the limits of the country of Āryas, though the language spoken there seems to have been the same. The Mahābhāṣya lends support to this and adds that Surāṣṭra was not an Ārya country (vol.1, p.9). In the times of the Dharmasūtras great divergence of opinion prevailed on the question of the location of Āryāvarta. The {{Vasiṣṭha dharma-sūtra|Vasiṣṭha dharma-sūtra}} says: ‘Āryāvarta is to the east of the {{disappea rance|disappearance}} (of Sarasvatī in the desert), to the west of Kālakavana, to the north of the mountains Pāriyātra and Vindhya and to the south of the Himālaya’.³⁴ It then refers to two more views held by other authors viz., ‘“Āryāvarta is in the region between the Ganges and the {{Jumna|Yamunā}}”’ and ‘“where the black antelope roams about there is spiritual pre-eminence”’. The {{Baudhāyana Dharma Sūtra|Baud.D.S.}} (I.1.27) gives the same limits of Āryāvarta as Vasiṣṭha, substituting the word ‘{{vinasana|vinaśana}}’ for ‘{{adarsa|ādarśa}}’.³⁵ Patañjali in his Mahabhāṣya defines Āryāvarta several times in the same terms as Vasiṣṭha does.³⁶ The Dharmasūtra of {{Saṅkha-Likhita|Śaṅkha-Likhita}} gives somewhat similar limits by remarking ‘“spotless spiritual pre-eminence is to be found (in the country) to the east of the countries of Sindhu and Sauvira, to the west of the city of {{Kampill|Kāmpilya}}, to the south of Himālaya and to the north of Pāriyātra”’.³⁷ The extant {{Manusmrti|Manusmṛti}} (II. 22) makes Āryāvarta coterminous with the whole of India north of the Vindhya by saying that the territory between the Himālaya and the {{Vindbya|Vindhya}} and extending up to the eastern and western oceans is known by the wise as Āryāvarta. The second view (viz. Āryāvarta is the region between the Ganges and the {{Jumna|Yamunā}}) {{oocurs|occurs}} in {{Baudhāyana Dharma Sūtra|Baud. Dh. S.}} (I. 1.28). In the {{Taittirīya Āraṇyaka|Tai. Ar.}} II.20 special honour is shown to those who dwell between the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā. The third view (viz. Āryāvarta is the country where the {{blsok|black}} antelope roams about naturally) is the one given in most {{smptis|smṛtis}}. Both Vasiṣṭha (I. 14-15) and {{Baudhāyana Dharma Sūtra|Baud. Dh. S.}} (I. 1. 29-30) quote an ancient gāthā from the Nidāna work of the {{Bhallavins|Bhāllavins}}³⁸ to the effect that wherever the black antelope roams about in the country lying between the Sindhu in the west and the rising mountain in the east, there is spiritual pre-eminence. So this view is a very {{anoient|ancient}} one and probably [[15]] arose from some mythological account as is indicated by the commentary of Viśvarūpa on {{Yājñavalkya|Yāj.}} I.2 which quotes a prose passage of the {{Svetāśvataras|Śvetāśvataras}} ‘Sacrifice became a black antelope and wandered over the earth; dharma followed it in its wanderings’. This view of the limits of Āryāvarta is maintained by Śaṅkha (as quoted by Viśvarūpa on {{Yājñavalkya|Yāj.}} I.2), {{Vigṇudharma|Viṣṇudharma}}sūtra 84.4, Manu II. 23, {{Yājñavalkya|Yāj.}} I. 2, Saṁvarta 4, {{Lagbu-Harita|Laghu-Hārīta}} (I. p. 178), Veda-Vyāsa (I. 3), {{Brbat-Parāśara|Bṛhat-Parāśara}} (p. 56) and several other {{smṛtis|smṛtis}}. The {{Manusmrti|Manusmṛti}} (II. 17-24) defines Brahmāvarta as the country between the holy rivers Sarasvatī and {{Dṣṣad. vati|Dṛṣadvatī}},³⁹ says that the traditional mode of conduct observed in that country is called sadācāra, that the countries of {{Kuruksetra|Kurukṣetra}}, Matsya, {{Pañoala|Pañcāla}} and {{Sarasene|Śūrasena}} are styled {{Brahmarṣidesa|Brahmarṣideśa}} and are slightly less (in holiness) than Brahmāvarta, that Madhyadeśa is between the Himālaya and the Vindhya and to the east of Vinaśana and to the west of Prayāga, that Āryāvarta is the country between the Himālaya and Vindhya up to the eastern and western oceans, that that territory where the black antelope roams about naturally is the country fit for sacrifices and the countries beyond constitute {{mlecchadesa|mlecchadeśa}}, that men of the three higher {{varṇas|varṇas}} should endeavour to [[16]] live in these countries (viz. Brahmāvarta, {{Brahmarṣideśa|Brahmarṣideśa}}, Madhyadeśa, Āryāvarta &c.) while a śūdra, when distressed for his livelihood, may stay in any country whatever. The {{Viṣṇudharmasūtra|Viṣṇudharmasūtra}} (84. 4) says that the country where the system of the four {{varpas|varṇas}} is not established is to be known as {{Mlecche|Mleccha}} country and Āryāvarta is beyond that. This is explained by {{Apararka|Aparārka}} (p. 5) as follows: one who desires to practise Vedic religion should live in one of the four countries viz. Brahmāvarta and others; if that is not possible, then in a country where there is establishment of the four {{varṇas|varṇas}} and the black antelope roams about naturally; if both these cannot be had, then one should dwell in a country where at least one of the two ({{cāturvarnya|cāturvarṇya}} and black antelope) is found. The above discussion shows that in very ancient times the country south of the Vindhya was looked upon as beyond the pale of Aryan culture. {{Baudhāyana Dharma Sūtra|Baud. Dh. S.}} (I. 1. 31) says that the countries of Avanti, Aṅga, Magadha, {{Surāsýra|Surāṣṭra}}, Dakṣiṇāpatha, Upāvit, Sindhu and Sauvira are of mixed origin (i. e. not of pure Āryan ancestry), that a person who goes to Āraṭṭaka, Karaskara, Puṇḍra, Sauvīra, Aṅga, Vaṅga, Kaliṅga and {{Pr&nūna|Prānūna}} (?) has to offer a solemn sacrifice like the {{Sarvaprstha|Sarvapṛṣṭha}} and that for going to Kaliṅga the {{prayasoitta|prāyaścitta}} is an offering to {{Vaibvānara|Vaiśvānara}} Agni. The Mitākṣarā on {{Yājñavalkya|Yāj.}} III. 292 quotes a {{verge|verse}} of Devala to the effect: that if a man goes to Sindhu, Sauvīra, Saurāṣṭra, the border lands (or Mleccha countries), Aṅga, Vaṅga, Kaliṅga and Āndhra he has to perform the {{Upanayang sadskāra|Upanayana saṁskāra}} over again.⁴⁰ The Mitākṣarā adds a remark that this is so only if the man {{goos|goes}} to these countries for some purpose other than pilgrimage. Gradually however as Āryan culture spread over the whole of what is now called India the view of the sages about the countries pre-eminently Āryan had to be given up. Medhātithi on Manu II. 22 explains that Āryāvarta is so called ‘“because Āryas again and again spring up there and because the Mlecchas even if they overrun it from time to time do not abide there for long”’ and then makes the following very sensible observation (on II, 23) ‘“if a {{kṣatriya|kṣatriya}} king of excellent conduct were to conquer the {{Mlecohas|Mlecchas}}, establish the system of four {{Varnas|Varṇas}} (in the Mleccha country) and assign to {{Mlecohas|Mlecchas}} a position similar to that of {{candālas|cāṇḍālas}} in Āryāvarta, even that (Mleccha) country would be fit for the performance of {{saori. fices|sacrifices}}, since the earth is not by itself impure, but becomes impure through contact (of impure persons or things).”*⁴¹ As a result of the spread of Āryan culture eastwards and southwards and the frequent invasions of non-Āryan tribes on the north west, the countries on the rivers of the Punjab came to be looked upon in the whirligig of time as unworthy of the Āryas to live in. {{Karnaparva|Karṇaparva}} 43. 5-8 abuses those who live on the Sindhu and the five rivers of the Punjab as impure and {{dharmabahya|dharmabāhya}}.⁴²

Bharatavarṣa

Another word {{whiob|which}} is very often used, particularly in the {{Purāṇas|Purāṇas}}, to denote the territory where the ancient Vedic religion prevails is {{Bharatavarṣa|Bhāratavarṣa}} or Bhāratavarṣa. It occurs in the Hāthigumphā Inscription of Khāravela (2nd century B.C.) as Bharadhavasa.⁴³ The {{Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa|Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa}} says that Bhāratavarṣa has the ocean on the east, south and west and the Himālaya on the north.†⁴⁴ The {{Viṣṇupurāṇa|Viṣṇupurāṇa}} (II. 3.1) says the same and Matsya (114.10) and Vāyu define Bhāratavarṣa as stretching from Cape Comorin to the source of the Ganges.⁴⁵ Śabara (not later than 5th century A. D.) in his {{bhāṣya|bhāṣya}} on Jaimini (X. 1.35 and 42) shows that to him there was unity of language and culture from the Himālaya to Cape Comorin.⁴⁶ {{Paiṭhīnasi|Paiṭhīnasi}} as quoted in the {{Paribhāṣāprakāśa|Paribhāṣāprakāśa}} (p.58) says that dharma is fully developed (lit. four-legged) in the country from the Himālaya to Cape Comorin.⁴⁷ According to {{Mārkaṇḍeya|Mārkaṇḍeya}} (53.41), Vāyu (vol. I chap. 33.52) and other Purāṇas Bhāratavarṣa is so called after Bharata, son of Ṛṣabha, descendant of Svāyambhuva Manu; while Vāyu (vol. II, chap. 37.130) appears to strike a different note by saying that Bhāratavarṣa is so called after Bharata, the son of Duṣyanta and Śakuntalā. The Viṣṇupurāṇa says that after thousands of births a person secures life as a human being in Bhāratavarṣa and this land is called Karmabhūmi (the land of religious actions) for those who want to secure heaven and final liberation. The Vāyupurāṇa says almost the same and adds that in no land other than Bhāratavarṣa is karma prescribed for mortals.⁴⁸ [[18]] It is somewhat amusing to find that many of the countries of India that in modern times pride themselves on being most orthodox are declared by the {{Ādityapurāṇa|Ādityapurāṇa}} (as quoted in the {{Smṛticandrikā|Smṛticandrikā}}) to be countries unfit for habitation and to be {{suoh|such}} that a stay in them except for {{pilgrim age|pilgrimage}} entailed loss of caste and {{prāyaścitta|prāyaścitta}}.⁴⁹ The {{Ādipurāṇa|Ādipurāṇa}} (Ādityapurāṇa ?) as quoted in the {{Paribhāṣāprakāśa|Paribhāṣāprakāśa}} (p. 59) says ’ no one, whether a dvija or not, born in Āryāvarta should cross the three rivers, Sindhu, {{Karmanāśā|Karmanāśā}} or Karatoyā except on a pilgrimage’ and that if he does so, he should perform the penance of cāndrāyana.

All {{smṛti|smṛti}} writers and commentators generally restrict {{theniselves|themselves}} to the duties of {{varṇas|varṇas}} and āśramas as practised in Āryāvarta or Bhāratavarṣa, though in very rare cases (as in {{Yājñavalkya|Yāj.}} II. 192) they provide for the observance of the usages of even heretics.