Essay name: Devala-smriti (critical study)
Author:
Mukund Lalji Wadekar
Affiliation: Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda / Department of Sanskrit Pali and Prakrit
This essay represents an English study of the Devala-smriti—an ancient text attributed to sage Devala classified as belonging to the Dharma-Shastra branch of Indian literature which encompasses jurisprudence and religious law. This study deals with the reconstructed text of the Devala-smriti based on surviving references, emphasizing Devala’s unique viewpoints on social, religious, and philosophical aspects, particularly the Sankhya and Yoga philosophies.
Chapter 9 - The distinctive features of the Devalasmriti
4 (of 165)
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only in the visnu smrti & the present text. Though this topic is
treated by Manu etc. in their smrtis, they do not mention it, like
Devala & Visnu, while enumerating the virtues, in the above verses.
'Vinaya' alluded to by Devala, is generally referred to by words
'dama' &'indriyanigraha' in the other smrtis.
Though the virtues are mentioned by most of the smrtis, Devala
alone describes them as Dharmas amuccayah (the contituents of Dharma
elsewhere they are generally mentioned as 'samanyadharma' (the Dharmas
that are common to all). The comparative study, treated previously
indicates that Devala's enumeration of virtues is somewhat near to
that of Manu, Yajnavalkya & Visnu. It is also noteworthy that Devala
enumerates & also explains most of the virtues (8 to 49). Devala's
views about dana & sauca, can be understood from his treatment of
these topics, in the dana & dravyasuddhi chapters respectively.
The explanation of the word 'satya' only is not available.
(2) THE QUINTESSENCE OF DHARMA :
In a single verse (50), Devala declares the quintessence of
Dharma that whatever is adverse to oneself, should not be performed
in case of others. In other words, one should not be harmful or
troublesome to others. Similar views about moral behaviour are
found in other smrtis & in the Mahabharata The peculiarity
of Devala is that he designates this rules as 'the Dharmas arvas va'
(the quintessence of Dharma).
4 The present verse is a very famous one. It is found verbatim
as a quotation from 'smrti' in the pañcatantra 5. The pañcatantra