Chapter 4 - Methodology of Reconstruction

MEANING OF THE TERM 'RECONSTRUCTION' IN THE PRESENT CONTEXT:—The original texts of numerous smritis have been completely or partially lost. But the works on Dharmasastra, i.e. the digests & commentaries contain numerous quotations from the extinct smrtis. The earlier commentators & digest-makers had before them the original texts of such smritis. The quotations, occurring in the later works, (that might not have the original texts of some smrtis are also authentic & reliable, as they have quoted the sutras & the verses from the extinct smritis, on the basis of the earlier works, the digests & commentaries, on Dharmasastra. The collection of such quotations of a lost smriti from those works, & classification & arrangement of them, in accordance with the smrti-topics, dealt with in them, is meant by the term 'Reconstruction' in the present context. PROCEDURE OF RECONSTRUCTION : - 4 + } 1 * Y The original & complete text of Devalasmriti, is no longer existing. The printed Devalasmrti, of about 90 verses, is also a fragmentary & later work, ascribed to Devala. It deals mainly with the problem of re-admittance by purification of persons, associated with the Mlecchas. But the digests & commentaries on Dharmasastra, contain hundreds of quotations, pertaining to the varied topics of Dharma, from the lost original text of Devala. : :

DATA-COLLECTION: 87 (1) Hence the work of reconstructing the lost text of Devala, was undertaken by the researcher. The first necessary task was of collecting the quotations of Devala, quoted in the various worksthe digests & commentaries on Dharmasastra. Hundreds of quotations found in the works, right from the Mitaksara upto the Balambhatti were collected & noted down on the slips, with proper reference to the page-numbers & works, consulted. It was found that the two earliest commentators, namely Visvarupa & Medhatithi, do not mention or quote Devala. The variant readings, in case of the identical quotations, were also noted down on those slips of quotations. These slips, containing quotations, were alphabetically arranged to avoid repetition. About 2500 prose & verse quotations, of the present Reconstructed text were thus collected, from numerous printed & manuscript works on Dharmasastra. A list of such published & unpublished works, consulted for the purpose of the reconstruction of the present text, is given in the Appendix (Part IV, App. IV). CLASSIFICATION & ARRANGEMENT : (2) The next step was of classification & arrangement of the collected quotations. The alphabetically arranged slips of Devala-quotations, were then separated & classified first into three main divisions of acara, vyavahara & prayascitta After minute & repeated study of topics, treated in the collected quotations, they were classified even into the following twenty-two different prakaranas (divisions), of the three main adhyayas (chapters). } }

TABLE No.1 NAMES OF PRAKARANAS OF Reconstructed Text (1) Acaradhyayah- 1. Dharmasvarupam 2. Varnasramajatidharmah - - 3. Samskarah 4. Paribhasa 5. Ahnikam 6. Bhaksyabhaksyam 7. Desadharmah kaladharmasca 8. Danam 9. Dravyasuddhih 10. Asaucam 11. Antyestih 12. Sraddham am S (2) Vyavaharadhyayah theo 1. Rajadharmah 2. Atatayinah 1 SCAN 3. Sripundharmah 4. Dayavibhagah qu (3) Prayascittadhyayah - 1. Prayascittam - 2. Mlecchitasuddhih 3. Anugrahaprayascittam 88

89 4. Vratani 5. Tirthayatra Niher 6. Nihsreyas am (In a separate appendix (parisistam Devaloktam Jyotisan), the quotations of Devala, found in the digests & commentaries on Dharmasastra & Jyotisa, dealing with some topics of Jyotisa, are incorporated. They are sub-divided into the four prakaranas namely (1) Samskarah (2) Krsih (3) Grahacarah (4) Aristani in accordance with the subject matter treated in them). The standard smrtis those of Manu & Yajnavalkya & the digests & commentaries (that incorporated these quotations) were helpful in classifying & arranging the quotations into these various prakaranas While arranging the quotations, even in a particular prakarana, attempt was made to maintain proper order and sequence in the treatment of topics. The Mlecchitasuddhi prakarana of the third adhyaya, contains verses, dealing with the problem of readmittance of persons associated with Mlecchas. These are taken from the printed Devalasmrti. Some of them are also found quoted in the Dharmasastraworks. The printed text does not seem to have proper arrangement. Attempt is made to present the verses with a proper order & a systematic arrangement in the present text. Some verses from the printed text, are also added at proper places in the Reconstructed Text. FINALIZING OF READINGS : (3) When the classification & arrangement of the quotations into the various prakaranas, were complete, the readings of the text tealpana's

90. were to be finalized. The quotations were taken from numerous works on Dharmasastra & hence they were having variations in readings. The following three points were taken into consideration, while determining the readings of the text. 1 (1) The readings, that are grammatically correct are maintained, wherever they were found convincing. (2) The readings from the earlier works, that quoted sutras & verses, directly from the original smriti, were retained, as far as possible, as such readings are more authentic, than the readings of the later works. (3) The readings, followed by the majority of works, were also mostly accepted. The Scribal errors have been instantly corrected. Our suggestions for some readings of the text, are given in the brackets, while writing the reconstructed text. In the Part II-B, a table, containing (1) sloka numbers (2) sources (from where the quotations were taken) & (3) variants (in case of readings), is given. While mentioning the sources, the use of abbreviations (as explained in the Part II(A)), is made, for the sake of convenience & brevity. Thus the lost text of Devala-smriti is reconstructed as described above. 1 { y k "