Smritis Down the Ages: An Overview - Swami Kritarthananda

Freedom, the Goal of Life

Every true Hindu knows that his/her real nature is the pure Atman, the free soul; that he/she is not bound by any law. Notwithstanding all our limitations, the ultimate goal of our life is to attain this freedom and to go beyond all laws. The brave Hindu mother, like the great wise queen Madalasa of yore, reminds her child, of the free nature of his soul. Swami Vivekananda echoed this great truth about our real nature in the following lines, thus converting the Vedanta philosophy into a practical solution to the problems of life:

Let eyes grow dim, and heart grow faint And friendship fail, and love betray Let fate its hundred horrors send And clotted darkness block the way. All nature wear one angry frown To crush you out, still know, my soul You are divine. March on and on Nor right nor left but to the goal.1

Man is free in his real nature. But judging by the conflicts and struggles going on in human life one is led to think that life is like a perpetual bondage. This is visibly true. Though the soul is free by nature, due to some inexplicable reason the thread of life has been wound in the wrong way resulting in a mess. We have to come out of this complicated state to prove that we are free by nature and cannot be bound by any chain—golden or iron. But who has put the chain round us? Ironically enough, it is we ourselves who have forged every link of the chain that binds us. Hence it is we who can set ourselves free by unwinding the thread of life. To be more explicit, we have exploited our freedom through lethargy, lack of discipline, and engagement in useless pursuits or gossips, and thus have fallen into such a lawless, chaotic state of life. So, the only remedy for the commoners is to discipline themselves by imposing certain laws which govern every detail of their day-to-day life. To put it otherwise, the road to freedom from laws is paved by the imposition of strict laws!

It is interesting to know, there are many people who will not refrain from doing something illegal had there not been the fear of rigid law enforced on them. Not so, however, with really great souls. They do not need laws. Still, they discipline themselves. And what is the difference in behavior when they too are confronted with critical situations? Swami Vivekananda gave his terse answer in these two lines of a poem:

‘When the soul is stirred to its inmost depth Great ones unfold their best.’²

Indeed, only great ones will unfold their best while the rest will unfold their ‘worst’! So it stands to reason that we can go beyond laws only through laws.

Smriti, the Controller of Civilization

Smritis are as old as civilization. As man started to live in groups of families and societies, there came the need to formulate various norms or codes of conduct to enable each member of the society to live in harmony with others. In Vedic parlance it was called ritam, which sounds almost like ‘rhythm’ in English, both the words pointing to the eternal harmony or state of equilibrium in the universe.

In Hindu civilization the importance of Smritis is immense. Even though the Shrutis are the primary scriptures whereas the Smritis are of secondary importance, in reality Shrutis and Smritis are complementary to each other. As a lofty ideal without a concrete, practicable path is of no use, so also a beautiful path without a definite goal is like an anchorless boat in the sea. The Shrutis (Vedanta) give us the principle, the real nature of God, the unity and solidarity of the universe, and the relationship between the individual soul and God. When we realize our relationship with God, our outlook undergoes a radical change. We divinize our relationship with the world as our relation with God also gets renewed. Not only so, we start looking upon ourselves in a different light. The Smritis come forward to guide us to achieve our desired goal of life. If Shrutis form the goal, Smritis are the means to achieve that. Human life, in the words of Swami Viveka-nanda, is a constant struggle to get in tune with the inner freedom. It is a sadhana, constant practice, to get at the desired end of life.

Keeping in mind spirituality as the ultimate goal of life, the best brains of India engaged themselves in writing the most precious scriptures that give us directions on how to proceed toward the final goal of life through legitimate satisfaction of our worldly wants. Through such clear instructions the authors of various shastras (scriptures) hinted that it is possible for the people of the world to reach the final goal of life provided they go by the scriptural injunctions.

Smritis Change with Time

Another point we learn from the study of Smritis is that we must adjust ourselves suitably to the changing time, situation, and temperament instead of sticking indiscriminately to one particular injunction at all times. This will remind the devotees of Sri Ramakrishna of a simple instruction he gave to the Holy Mother: ‘Whatever is appropriate at a particular time, do that at that time; whatever is befitting in dealing with a particular person, deal with him in that manner; and what is needful at a particular place, do that there.’

However simple it may sound, this instruction gives us a deeper insight into the way we should follow our scriptures. First we have to make ourselves as flexible as possible according to the changing situation or people. The rule of thumb for the present age has been beautifully conveyed by this instruction. It may be mentioned in passing that this valuable instruction can also be treated as one of the scriptural injunctions for the present age.

Origin of Smritis

We now come to discussion of the Dharmashastras in the conventional sense. The Smritis form a part of the Dharmashastras. According to Manu, Dharmashastra and Smriti are synonymous³. The dictionaries give a huge list on the meanings of the word ‘dharma’. It means ordinance, usage, duty, right, justice, morality, virtue, religion, good works, function or characteristic. The word ‘dharma’ is derived from the root dhri meaning to hold, support, or nourish. So Dharmashastras lead us along the way of virtue, morality, justice, etc., and remind us of our duty and legitimate right as citizens so that by following the injunctions meticulously we get ourselves properly nourished.

As the Smritis are purely based on Vedantic principles, it should be borne in mind that, among many other important points, their central aim is to train man to take up all moral and ethical responsibilities of his actions on his own shoulder instead of passing the buck on to the priest class, or an unknown deity, or others. In fact this is an important step to maturity in human life. Vedanta asks man to take up the responsibility for all his doing as well as undoing, and, at the same time, muster up courage to face the consequences boldly and single-handed. In modern times, western psychotherapy has undergone a revolutionary change with the discovery of a mental healing process called logotherapy by the renowned Jewish psychologist Dr. Viktor E Frankl. In this process the patient is made aware of his problems and then asked to face them boldly after judging them—all by himself⁴. This process is based on the Vedantic truth that it is man who has to find out the solution to his own problems. This, however, does not preclude taking necessary initial help from experts or from our scriptures. And the Smritis come in handy for that.

Smritis Down the Ages

The Smritis treat the subject under discussion in three broad classes, namely, achara, vyavahara, and prayaschitta, mostly in verse form. A few of them, like the Dharmasutras of Gautama, Apastamba, Baudhayana, and the Manusmriti date back centuries before the Christian era. Yajnavalkya-, Parasara-, and Narada Smritis were written in the first century of the Christian era. Most of the other Smritis can be dated between the period 400 AD and 1000 AD.

Among the Smritis, Manusmriti is said to be the oldest in chronological order. The two epics, namely, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are also treated as Smritis. It needs mention here that the Mahabharata is treated as the scripture demonstrating all the four means, namely, dharma, artha, kama, and moksha, to reach the ultimate goal of life⁵.

Next in order comes the Yajnavalkya Smriti. It contains 1010 verses in total. This is more systematic than Manusmriti. As mentioned before, he divided his work into three sections named—achara, yvavahara, and prayaschitta—avoiding repetitions. He is distinguished for his concise treatment. This Smriti maintains an intimate relationship with the Shukla Yajur Veda. Again, several verses in it echo certain passages in the Brihadaranyaka Upanisad.

The Smriti of Parasara is an ancient one. The Garudapurana gives a summary of this Smriti in 39 verses. This Smriti is divided into twelve chapters, covering a total of 592 verses on achara and prayaschitta only. Corroborating the injunctions of Manusmriti it says that uncooked food, milk, or oil brought from a Shudra’s house and cooked in a Brahmana’s house could be consumed by a Brahmana.⁶

Parasara was quite a practical man. He wanted people to save themselves first from various inhibitions like disease, calamity, etc., and then care for dharma. Sri Ramakrishna’s famous statement ‘religion is not for the empty stomach’ points to this fact. Parasara was very lenient in points of adherence to the strict rules of dharma in times of difficulty.⁷

The Naradasmriti contains certain significant points on behavioral science known as vyavahara-matrika. It deals in recovery of debts, partnership, gifts, marital relations, property partition, inheritance, etc. The printed Naradasmriti contains 1028 verses. They maintain certain differences of opinion from the Manusmriti. Narada allows remarriage of women while Manu disapproves it. But Narada is much more systematic in his dealings than Manu in matters such as division of property, classification of the law of gifts, etc.

There follows an unending list of Smriti writers. They steered humanity down the ages to successful ways of living. It is clear from these Smritis that the manners and customs are in consonance with the climatic changes, psychological beliefs, faiths, and temperaments of people of a particular era. Family culture also plays an important role in this context.

Observation

From the foregoing discussion, certain important conclusions emerge. In the first place, contrary to the common belief, Smritis are not just law-books. They convey many other ideas like rituals, practice of spirituality in day-to-day life, readiness to change oneself according to time, place, or circumstances, that is, flexibility in spirit, and so on. It also follows as a corollary to such discussions that even some of the Karma-kanda or Samhita portions of the Vedas may come under the purview of the Smritis. In fact many of the Smriti texts perfectly tally with the ritual portion of the four Vedas.

By the word Shruti is generally meant the Jnana-kanda or the Vedanta which clearly gives us the knowledge of the goal or the principle that has to be kept aglow in our heart. But in order to reach that goal there are certain processes, and these processes are innumerable according to individual temperaments and geographical situations. Whichever scriputre makes us familiar with the path, the practice, may unhesitatingly be ascribed the status of the Smritis. Judging by this standard, the most popular scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, though known as the essence of the Upanisads, is looked upon as a Smriti. The epics Ramayana and Mahabharata come under the same class as already cited.

In the second place, Smritis may have differences in their views on local customs, but they do not look down upon each other. On the contrary, a careful study takes us to the conclusion that some of them are even complementary to each other while some others modify the earlier Smritis. Problems arise only when we try to force the customs of one people on the people of a totally different culture. Swami Vivekananda had this point rooted in his mind. So, in formulating the monastic codes of conduct for the Ramakrishna Order of monks he stressed upon the observance of the local customs of the various provinces even though he was dead against the superstitions in the name of local customs. His purpose was not to hurt any people’s feelings as regards their age-old culture.

Thirdly, customs at one period of time may also become obsolete at later times due to various factors. Swamiji cited in his lectures the Vedic scriptures to point out that there was a time when the best bull would be offered to the Brahmin guests in a family. But in later periods bulls came to be used in ploughing and hence killing of cows got restricted by the imposition of religious taboo. Even the well-known ritual of Asvamedha Yaga in the Vedic age points to the same fact. If we keep this point in mind then we can easily shed a lot of our worries over the conflicting views of different Smritis.

Again, in another place, Swamiji, while mentioning the horrible injunctions thrust by the scriptures upon the people of lower caste by means of diabolical punishments, refers to the later scriptures which soften their voices in regard to punishments on the low-born people. Even later, it was said in the scriptures that if a Sudra listens to the Vedic chanting, he should rather be encouraged. So is the case with the birth of a girl-child. In the view of some scriptures girls or women were looked upon as the gateways to hell. Manu said that the family in which women are worshipped is a veritable haven of joy for the gods, while where it is not so, all the works done with good purpose become futile⁸. Not only so, but even as Swami Vivekananda pointed out from the Maha-nirvanatantra, the girl-child should also be brought up and educated with great care.⁹

Finale

Great men are born in all ages in all countries to show the path to the common people in tune with their age-old tendencies, inheritance, etc. Swami Vivekananda, as we all know, took birth out of deep compassion for the suffering humanity. But he, as rightly pointed out by Sri Ramakrishna, can be easily singled out from other great men in certain respects. His sole purpose was to convert the whole humanity into Rishihood—a state of deep wisdom and spiritual introspection which Swamiji himself was. Once we reach even near this level we will find our own way to salvation. Until then we cannot but depend helplessly on the priesthood or the intelligentsia for any decision in our life. That is why Swamiji wanted us to interpret the meanings of the scriptures by ourselves instead of swinging helplessly between the conflicting opinions of the commentators.

Swamiji did not live a sufficiently long span of life to write a detailed Smriti for this age. But to some of his intimate disciples and friends he gave some concrete ideas for a new set of codes of conduct for the present age. From the study of his life and works we can have at least a rough idea of some of the rules of thumb he laid down for the posterity. They are as follows:

• Religion is not for the empty stomach. Until some of the desires of man get satisfied, all his efforts for a pious or religious life are but sham.

• Rigorous self-discipline is necessary to raise oneself to higher levels of thought. This involves inculcation of culture and literacy.

• Sacrifice is the mother of all success. Even in organizational work one has to check the upsurge of an excessive ego and have the spirit of listening to others’ opinions patiently.

• Right type of education—secular as well as spiritual—has to be imparted. Then each individual will successfully solve his/her own problems irrespective of others’ help.

• Caste system, which is as old as civilization and formulated by our wise forbears on the basis of inborn, inherent inclinations, may continue for some time more with the exclusion of privileges for the upper class. If privilege cannot be dispensed with at all, it should be for the backward and under-privileged class.

• This is high time to practice the principle of the basic unity and solidarity of all as preached in the Vedanta.¹⁰

• We must have the spirit to learn even from a person of lower lineage. Sri Ramakrishna’s statement: ‘As long as I live, so long do I learn’ has come down to us in various expressions from the pens of Smriti authors like Manu.

• According to the authors of Smriti, charity (danam) is the one great work to be done in the Kaliyuga. Of this gift there are four types shown in our scriptures. The highest is the imparting of spiritual knowledge; the next in order is secular knowledge; the third is the saving of others’ life in distress; and the last is giving food and drink to hungry and thirsty people. Swamiji insisted on proceeding step by step, from the lower to the higher rungs. The activities of the Ramakrishna organization of monks are based on this fourfold charity while this very concept of charity in its turn is based on the dynamic philosophy of atmano mokshartham jagat hitaya cha. This means to stretch out a helping hand to others in such a spirit that it leads to one’s own liberation.

But Swamiji did not stop merely by preaching. With the deep confidence and wisdom of a Rishi he proclaimed: ‘I will inspire men everywhere until the world shall know that it is one with God¹¹.’ Let us all feel the fiery spirit of Swamiji within our hearts and help to transform this world into a veritable habitat of great Rishis.

References

1. [CW 8:163]
2. [CW 8:163]
3. [Shrutistu vedo vijneyo dharmashastram tu vai Smritih (Manusmriti II:10)]
4. The interested readership is requested to refer to the book Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl for further study.
5. [Mahabharata, Adi parvan, 2:83, 62:23]
6. [Cf. Manusmriti 4:223; Parashara, Ch.10]
7. [Cf. op. cit. Ch.7; last 3 verses]
8. yatra naryastu pujyante ramante tatra devatah / yatraitastu na pujyante sarvastatraphalah kriyah // [Manusmriti 3:56]
9. kanya pyevam palaniya shikshaniya tiyatnatah.
10. shraddadhanah shubham vidyam adaditavaradapi / antyadapi param dharmam striratnam dushkuladapi // [Manusmriti 2: 238].
11. [CW 5 (1973): 414]

© "The Vedanta Kesari" (December 2002) published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004. Website: www.sriramakrishnamath.org. Reprinted with permission.

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