स्मृतिमीमांसा- Smrti Mimamsa

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Though humble the present collection is a rigorous exercise in providing the interested readers with the essentials of oriental conventions with special reference to India on a variety of issues and problems which may be taken as a holistic approach to things Indian. Preceded by a general conceptual framework of Dharmasastra the book attempts to cover topics from Varnasrama to Hindu jurisprudence via Panchamahayajna, Ancestor worship and Law of inheritance. Topics like social justice, Arthasastra and Indian Constitution and Human ideals are only substantiations of the Indian concept of jurisprudence whereas pilgrimage is a category by itself in depicting the speciality of the peculiarity that Indian way of life stands for. Techniques of sastric interpretation and communicative Sanskrit and its utility along with conventional research methodology are purely meant for the readers to intimately acquaint them with the Indian style and provide them withy a scope for comparison with the West. The effort of the author will be construed as worthy if constructive criticism pore over the further development.

The Author:The auther besides being an eminent scholar in Oriental Studies and Professor of Dharmasastra (25 years in Sri Jagannath Sanskrit University,Puri) is known for his unquenchable thirst in not only allied areas but areas beyond that horizon. To his credit he has authored 27 books and 65 research papers in noted Journals and lives the life of a student quite true to the Indian tradition of an ideal Acarya.

The literature of Smrti falls into three periods. The first is that of the Dharmasutras and of the Manusmrti. It is a period dating from the sixth century BC to first century AD The second period starts from the first century AD to eighth century AD In this period most of the versified Smrti-texts have been composed. The third period covers over a thousand years from seventh century AD This period bears the records of commentators and the nibandhakaras. In order to assess the Smrti tradition in general one has to take into account those three periods. If we move to assess this tradition on the basis of the Smrti, namely, Vedic school, Puranic school and Tantric school, in the long span of time these three schools gave rise to regional schools of Smrti of which Eastern school (pracya) is one. For the first time in the history of India, the Eastern school of Dharmasastra is referred to in the bhasya of Sabaraswami on Purvamimamsa (1.3.8). This school is constituted comprising three regions i.e. Mithila, Gauda and Utkala. After the integration of Orissa by Anantavarman Chodaganga Dev (C. 1077-1147 AD) for the first time in Utkal School, Acarya Satananda composed two Smrti treatises, namely, Satananda-samgraha and Satanandaratnamala which are not discovered so far. Late Mahamahopadhyaya Sadasiva Mishra, in the first half of twentieth century, has written Kalyapadharmasarvasa and late Pandit Kulamani Mishra has composed a commentary, named Suksma on Gautama-dharmasutra in the year 1989 AD which are taken to be the latest nibandha and tika respectively.

1. The Smrti Tradition:

Just before considering the Smrti tradition of Orissa, we may take a look at the Smarta tradition in general. The tradition has its genesis In the Sutra period as Smarta sutra along with its Srauta or Vedic counterpart. But it outgrew the simple Srauta practices and developed a well defined Vedic Smarta tradition through the elaborate formulations in Smrtis. In course of history the Smarta tradition has been enriched by the Puranas and Tantragamas, so that we now have the Vedic Smartas, the Vaisnavas Smartas, the Saiva Smartas and the Tantrik Smartas, all of whom follow the Smarta tradition each within the fold of his own religion.

From the Vedic Smarta tradition, based on the enunciations of Dharmasutra and Smrti, we get accounts of the following: varnasrama and varnasrama dharma, gunadhanna, i.e. rajadharma including law and administration, naimittika dharma (based on occasions), including prayascitta, and the genral principles of dharma. We are indebted to the Puranas for the different rites, determination of time (kola), installation (pratistha), sraddha and the importance of holy centres (Ksetra mahatmya). The tantric tradtion includes initiation (diksaprakarana) and modes of worship including nyasa, mantra, mudni, etc.

2. The criteria:

The criteria for a full scale Smrti school are the six components that can give it completeness.These components are the Srautasutra dealing with Vedic sacrifices, i.e. yajna, etc., the Grhyasutra, for domestic rites, the Dharmasutra for dharmic code of conduct, the Sulbasutra for construction of Vedic altars, a Smrti for complete guidance and an authentic aranyaka. These cover the entire activities of man in society. In response to the stated criteria the Orissan Smarta school possesses the following:

(i) Katyayana Srautasutra

(ii) Paraskara Grhyasutra

(iii) Samkha-Likhita Dharmasutra

(iv) Katyayana Sulbasutra

(iv) Yajnavalkya Smrti

(v) Brhadaranyaka Upanisad

The Srauta, Grhya and Sulba sutras followed in Orissa are in accordance with the Vajasaneya Kalpa, which has been accepted in the Orissan Smarta tradition. Sambhukara Vajapeyi's Srautapaddhati (c. 13th century AD) and Ramachandra Vajapeyi's Kundakrti (c. 14th centuryAD) are the earliest nibandhas that set up the model of Katyayana's Srautasutra and Sulbasutra respectively. All nibandhas beginning with Sankhadhara's Smrtisamuccaya (c.13th century AD) in their relevant sections based upon Paraskara grhyasutra.

**Contents and Sample Pages**