Dandaviveka of Vardhamana (A Medieval Text on Hindu Criminology & Penology)

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The present treatise Dandaviveka is a medieval Nibandha work composed by Vardhamana Upadhyaya, based on primitive ideas. The Dandaviveka like the Indian Penal Code contains an exhaustive Chapter on 'General Exceptions to the ordinary law of punishment. The Indian Penal Code is the substantive portion of the codified criminal law of British. India. It contains twenty-five Chapters, of which five are introductory and relate to punishments, general exceptions. abatement, etc., and the remaining twenty are concerned with specific offences and their punishments. The Dandaviveka, on the other hand, contains seven Chapters only, of which the first is introductory, and the other six relate to six specified classes. of offences - Murder. Theft. Rape, Defamation, Assault, and Miscellaneous with their punishments.

Kurra Jithendra Babu is an advocatel by profession. He studied law at the Marathwada University in Aurangabad. A scholar in Sanskrit, English and Telugu, he extensively toured the country and contributed original work in subjects as varied as Epigraphy, Fortifications, Grammar, Dance and Prosody. He is a founder Director of Deccan Archaeological and Cultural Research Institute, Member-Salarjung Museum Board and Secretary, Vemana Foundation. He is an author of numerous Books including in Telugu Nizam Rashtra Andhra Mahasabhalu (2 Volumes), Hyderabad Samsthanam Praja Udvamalu, translated from Sanskrit to Telugu Rasendra Mangalam of Sidda Nagarjuna, Vayvahara Cintamani of Vachaspati Misra and Navanadha Sidda Saram of Rayasam Peraiah. also edited in English The Tragedy of Hyderabad by Mir Laik Ali and Science of Antiquity. A native of Munagala in the Nalgonda District, Telangana State.

Mithila is the region surrounded by rivers on three sides and by a mountain on the fourth. According to the Puranas the River Kauski flows on her east and the River Gandaki on her west. The River Ganga forms her southern boundary, whereas the Himalaya her northern. She has a unique distinction of contributing her mite to the advancement of Sanskrit learning right from the Vedic period. The forest on the banks of the Gandaki was known as Camparanya The Sakti-sangama-tantra says that "from the banks of the Gandaki (Gandakitiramarabhya) to the forest of Campa, the country is called Videha, also known as Thrabhukti". This "Gandaki-tira", according to D.C. Sircar, appears to licate the southern boundary of the country. Comparanya (modern Champaran) seems to be the northern boundary. The name Tirabhukti still survives in its modern form, Tirhut. The contribution of Mithila to Sanskrit learning is not limited to any one branch of it, rather most of its branches. flourished in this fertile land of erudition and imagination. In the field of Kavya-Sahitya, Nyaya, Navya Nyaya, Dharmasastra literature and as well poets, prose-writers, dramatists and rhetoricians of note hailing from Mithila have enriched the Sanskrit literature by their valuable contributions.
Mithila with her natural barriers and a compact social and cultural hierarchy has held her own through the millenniums against disruptive forces, and has shed lustre right from the Vedic times in all phases of human knowledge. Her literary history has no parallel for its antiquity, diversity and continuity. By far the greatest contribution, however, that Mithila has made to the philosophical literature of India is the Nyayadarsana or applied Logic with a very wide sphere of operation. This system is broadly divided into two distinct schools, ancient and modern. In the following pages of introduction Shri K. Jithendrababu shall attempt to give a brief account of the ample materials now available through further spadework on the history and bibliography of Gangeshopadhnyaya and Vandamana Upadhyaya and their contribution and the Nyaya-Nyaya or the modem school of Indian Logic in Mithila This modern school is commonly believed to have been founded by Gangesa Upadhyaya, who only consolidated it. The real founder is the great Udayanacarya, who had the supreme privilege of occupying the threshold to ring out the old and usher the new age by his monumental works. On the one. hand Udayana's Parisuddhi forms the last part of the surviving classics of the older school of the Nyaya popularly known as the Quadruplet or the Quintette, and on the other his Kusumanjali is up-till-now a textbook of the Navya-Nyaya. Fortunately all his works are now available in print except a major portion of the Parisuddhi.
The Mithilas were strong believers in varnasrama dharma and simple devotion to Hindu gods and deities. The three main figures, who have inspired and animated their souls throughout the ages, are Siva, Sakti, and Visnu. They valued them equally as capable of giving supernatural rewards. The threefold marks (yet visible) on the forehead of the Maithilas represented the following symbols - the horizontal lines marked with ashes represented their devotion to Siva; the vertical sandal paste in white represented their faith in Visnu and the dot of sandal-paste in red or of vermillion represented their veneration for Sakti.
Brahmanism and Buddhism flourished side by side in Mithila, though in the course of a few centuries the latter lost its hold on this soil. But the process of borrowing and intermingling never stopped. The Hindus borrowed from the Buddhists goddesses like Mahachinatara, Tara, Manasa, Chinnamasta symbolising the Sakti Cult. The Buddhists, on the other hand, absorbed Hindu gods, like Yaksesvara, Gandhari, Dhyana, Aparajita and others. It is true, the latest form of Vajrayana weakened Buddhist influence on every aspect of Indian life, but it is also true that it has left a permanent mark on the culture of India. The Hindu faith has absorbed the best of its ethics. A new respect for life, kindness to animals, a sense of responsibility and an endeavour after higher life have been brought home to Indian mind with renewed force. Thanks to Buddhist influences, the Brahmanical systems have shed those parts of their religion which were irreconcilable with humanity and reason.
While Buddhism was thus slowly disappearing from the land of its birth, it witnessed another great, though temporary, revival under the patronage of the Pala monarchs. Most of these rulers were devout Buddhists and innumerable pieces of art of this period have been discovered in Mithila and elsewhere.
These Pala kings were also responsible for new endowments to the Nalanda monastery and for the foundation of new monasteries such as Vikramasila, Odantapuri and Somapuri, which dominated the whole of the Buddhist world nearly for six centuries, from the 6th to 12th century A.D. i.e., till the advent of the Muslims, when the conquests of Bakhtyar Khilji in Eastern India (Bihar and Bengal) put finish to this long, long story.
In the sphere of religion the Maithilas were equally orthodox. The priestly and intellectual aristocracy was predominant. It set to itself to suppress any attempt at social or mutual emancipation outside its pale. Rigid rules for Sudras and other than non-Brahmanas were formulated and enforced. Elaborate treatises on religious rites, gifts, ritual for consecration of houses, temples, divine images, rules for performing sraddhas, philosophy of the Bhakti doctrines. and the duties enjoined to the followers of that doctrine, philosophical disquisition on sacrificial rites, religious duties of Sudras and women were written mostly by the same law-givers.

Mithila, the present north Bihar, by reason of its somewhat secluded position has been able to preserve a continuity in the evolution of Hindu culture, from very ancient times. The great Vedic Rsis, Yajnavalkya, Vashistha, Vishvamitra, Gautama, Kapila, etc., made Mithila their home and taught the eternal truth. The Shatapatha-Brahmana clearly tells us about the court of Jamaka where Brahmanas from different parts of the country used to throng Bradaruryakan which is a part of the Shatapatha, abounds in the references to Yaaralka'y philosophical discourses with Maitreya and Gargi. Later in the Epics and Puranas also, we find that Mithila maintained her position as a centre of great culture and ancient learning. In early Buddhist records there are evidences which easily support all that has been said above about Mithila. Although no connected history of Mithila is recorded during the earlier centuries of the Christian era, yet from literary evidences it is clear that though influenced by the very close contact of Buddhism, Mithila succeeded in retaining intact the fundamental truths embodied in Hindu culture which she continued and still continues to represent.
Of the two non-orthodox movements, Buddhism was much more powerful and wanted to throw out the very vital part of the Vedic civilisation, and accordingly, attacked the performances of sacrificial rites and rituals and the Varnashrama-Dharma, The Maithilas, who were a staunch orthodox people with the great ancient tradition behind them, could not tolerate the growing influence of Buddhism. They began to check its progress with the help of the traditional learning and reasonings. They also criticised the views set forth by the heterodox people by writing books. Mithila gave up for the time being her Adhyatmika pursuits for which she was once very famous, and concentrated her whole attention on the preservation of the ancient culture against Buddhism. As the Buddhistic attack was directed mainly against the sacrificial rites and rituals and the Varnashrama -Dharma, the Maithilas began to write books in support of these two aspects of Vedic culture. This led to the production of the vast literature on Nyaya, Purva-Mimamsa and Dharma-Shastra. As the opposition grew stronger and stronger, more and more efforts were made from time to time by Maithila scholars to criticise the Buddhist views and re-establish the ancient Vedic culture. There were great scholars on the Buddhist side who also began to reply to the criticisms levelled against them by the Maithila scholars, and wrote several standard works. This made the activities of the Maithila scholars still more intensive and they could easily preserve their own traditional civilisation. This religio-literary quarrel continued for several centuries, so that the Maithilas could retain their habit of literary pursuits and the link of the ancient civilisation, unaffected by any external forces. Another result of this was that even after the actual need of writing books against any heterodox religion had passed away the Shastrika learning could continue to flourish in Mithila, and they did not give up their scholarly pursuits. This is perhaps the reason why the systems of Purva-Mimamsa and Nyaya came to be so widely studied in Mithila. Although efforts were made in several other parts of the country to stop the influence of the non-orthodox culture by writing books and holding disputations, yet it appears that in Mithila, where the clash was much more vigorous, the study of the Purva-Mimamsa and Nyaya reached its very zenith. We find from the old records that during the reign of Rani Vishwesa Devi, the wife of Raja Padma Singha, the younger brother of Raja Shiva Singha, the patron of the poet Vidyapati Thakura, at the beginning of the fifteenth century, there was a big gathering of the Panditas in Mithila wherein some fourteen hundred Maithila Mimamsakas alone were invited. This is perhaps responsible for the fact that we find even today that there is hardly any other part of the country which singly has produced so many independent thinkers on Nyaya, Mimamsa and Dharma-Shastra as Mithila. We are thankful to the Buddhists for creating such an opportunity which perhaps otherwise would not have been possible. Thus, at the cost of the Adhyatmika pursuit of which also Mithila was once a great centre, the Maithilas were able to take a great share in re-establishing the traditional vedic culture once more in the country and establishing centres for the study of Mimamsa, Nyaya and Dharma-Shastra.
"Nyaya" is a word used often in Indian philosophy; like many another Sanskrit philosophical terms, it has several meanings. Its earliest meaning appears to have been "rule," "model" or "plan," the original type into which everything fits. When inference came to be recognized as a more or less orderly process it was called "nyaya," and there came to be progument about how many "members of the syllogism" were involved and what their nature was. The Nyaya system of philosophy was so named, evidently, because it devoted more attention to the inferential process than the other orthodox schools of Indian philosophy. It is reputed to have been founded by one Gautama, to whom the Nyayasutras, the earliest compilation of doctrine of the school, is attributed. Our knowledge of the date of the founding of the school is hazy, as presumably the doctrine as we get it in the sutras had developed over some years preceding its being written down. The sutras themselves appear not to have been cast into the form in which we now have them until about A.D. 200.
At somewhere near the same time, another school of Indian philosophy called the "Vaisesika" school came into existence. Evidently the school received this name because among the types of things it admitted in its metaphysical scheme there was an entity called a "visesa," literally a "particularizing" or "individualizing" thing. This sort of entity was only admitted by this particular school, and hence the school's name, The Vaisesikasutras, which are said to have been written by Kannada, like Gautama very probably a mythical personage, may have been cast into their present form a century or so before the present edition of the Nyayasutras.
The general aim of all systems of Indian philosophy is to help one achieve liberation from the bondage of life as we know it here on earth, and from the future returnings to this life which the Indian tradition accepted in its doctrine of transmigration. The various systems differ among themselves over what kind of help they can offer, and differing methods for achieving release are advocated. This leads to differing emphases among the schools, so that the school known as Yoga emphasizes constructive action of creation kinds, Purvamimamsa emphasizes traditional ritual observances, and some forms of Vedanta apparently emphasize a rather mystical sort of illumination. Nyaya and Vaisesika, from the first, emphasized in their turn the necessity of discovering the nature of the empirical world around us before we can know how to escape it.