Dharmashastra : Einführung und Überblick

1. Einleitung


von Alois Payer

mailto: payer@payer.de


Zitierweise / cite as:

Payer, Alois <1944 - >: Dharmashastra : Einführung und Überblick. -- 1. Einleitung. -- Fassung vom 2003-11-05. -- URL: http://www.payer.de/dharmashastra/dharmash01.htm -- [Stichwort].

Erstmals publiziert:  2003-11-05

Überarbeitungen:

Anlass: Lehrveranstaltung 2003/04

Unterrichtsmaterialien (gemäß § 46 (1) UrhG)

©opyright: Dieser Text steht der Allgemeinheit zur Verfügung. Eine Verwertung in Publikationen, die über übliche Zitate hinausgeht, bedarf der ausdrücklichen Genehmigung der Herausgeberin.

Dieser Teil ist ein Kapitel von: 

Payer, Alois <1944 - >: Dharmashastra : Einführung und Übersicht. -- http://www.payer.de/dharmashastra/dharmash00.htm

Dieser Text ist Teil der Abteilung Sanskrit von Tüpfli's Global Village Library


0. Übersicht



1. Lernziele der Lehrveranstaltung


Gegenstand der Vorlesung sind die Lehrwerke über dharma, "the privilegies, duties and obligations of a man, his standard of conduct as a member of the Âryan community, as a member of one of the castes, as a person in a particular stage of life" (P. V. KANE).

Lernziele sind:

  1. sozial- und religionsgeschichtlich: ein Überblick über die wichtigsten Inhalte von dharma

  2. literaturgeschichtlich: Einführung in die wichtigsten Werke der Literaturgattung Dharmashâstra, ihre Überlieferung, ihre Spezifika und ihr gegenseitiges Verhältnis

  3. forschungsgeschichtlich: Darstellung einiger der wichtigsten indisch-scholastischen und westlich-orientierten Forschungsansätze


2. Grundlegende, begleitende Literatur


2.1. Grundlegende systematische Quellensammlung



Abb.: Titelblatt eines Bandes

Dharmako´sa / ed. by Laxmanshasri Joshi. --.Wai : Prajnapathashala Mandal

Vol. 1: Vyavâhrakânda. -- 1937 - 1941. -- 3 parts. -- 2000 S.
Vol. 2. Upanisatkânda. -- 1950 - 1953. -- 4 parts. -- 2000 S.
Vol. 3. Samskârakânda. -- 1959 - 1985. -- 6 parts. -- 4000 S.
Vol. 4. Râjanîtikânda. -- 1973 - 1979. -- 6 parts. -- 3500 S.
Vol. 5. Vaenâsramadharmakânda. -- bisher 2 partsa. -- 1988 -  . -- bisher 1600 S.

Geplant sind 40 Bände.

In diesem Werk wird der Inhalt aller gedruckten Dharmashâstras zusammen mit den Kommentaren systematisch angeordnet im Originaltext geboten. Man findet so zu jedem Thema alle diesbezüglichen Texte. Ein unentbehrliches Meisterwerk.


2.2. Grundlegende enzyklopädische Darstellung


Kane, Pandurang Vaman <1880 - 1972>: History of Dharmasastra : (ancient and mediaeval, religious and civil law). -- Poona : Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. -- 5 Bde in 7. -- teilw. 2. ed. -- 1962 - 1975

DIE Darstellung schlechthin. Zeugt vom unfassbar umfassenden Wissen des indischen Autors.

Im Epilogue zu Vol. V,2 macht P.V. Kane einige autobiographische Bemerkungen zur Entstehung dieses monumentalen Werks. Da diese autobiographischen Bemerkungen eines der größten Sanskritgelehrten der Neuzeit ein unschätzbares historisches Zeugnis sind, werden sie hier vollständig wiedergegeben:

"EPILOGUE

Many friends and well-wishers of the author and some readers of the volumes of the History of Dharmasastra have often ( personally and by correspondence) pressed him to furnish some biographical details about himself, about the circumstances in which he launched on this undertaking, about the preparations he made, about the time and labour that this undertaking cost him and also what money it brought to him ( a few asked even this ) .

To write an autobiography is a most difficult and delicate matter. In an autobiography one has often to use the words ' I ', ' Me ', 'My' etc. and the writer is liable to be charged with egotism. If he is very frank about his own failings and faults, he may be accused of exhibitionism. I do not propose to say much about my parents or my ancestors or about my marriage and family life or my likes and dislikes. I had my own share of anxieties, troubles and sorrows, but I shall not say much about them, since the blessings that were showered on me far outweighed the anxieties and sorrows. A brief account of some aspects of my long life may, I hope, be of some interest and help to those who have to face problems similar to those that I had to face.

I was born on 7th May 1880 in a village called Pedhem or Parasnrama [ because it has a large and famous temple of Parasurama, as avatâra of Visnu and the patron saint of several brahmana sub-eastes ( such as the Citpâvana ) ] near Chiplun in the Ratnagiri District at my maternal uncle's house.

My father belonged to a priestly family in a village called Murdem near Khed in the Ratnagiri District. My father had learnt by heart a great deal of the Rgveda and was being trained for priesthood till the age of 18. He did not like the profession of a priest and left for Poona to learn English along with a friend of his boyhood, the late Shankar Balkrishna Dixit, who later on became famous for his Marathi work on Indian Astronomy which was admired by Dr. Thibaut. Mr. Dixit and my father gassed the Matriculation Examination of the Bombay University in 1873. My father studied for the Pleader's examination held in those days by the Bombay High Court, passed it and began to practise as a Taluka lawyer at Dapoli in the Ratnagiri Distinct from 1878. Besides Vedic lore, my father studied the principal Upanisads  and the Gita and had many of the former by heart. He practised as a lawyer for about forty years, then retired and passed away in 1925.

We were nine children, six brothers and three sisters. I was the eldest of the sons and one sister was older than myself.

In my early boyhood my father taught me some elements of astrology and advised me to commit to memory the verses of Amarakosa ( of which I had 400 by heart before I was 12 years of age ).

In 1891 I joined the 8. P. G. Mission's English High School at Dapoli and passed the Bombay University's Matriculation Examination in 1897 and stood high among the successful candidates. While at school, I began to suffer from hyper-acidity, consequent acute stomach pains and vomiting at the age of 16 and had to leave school for nearly a year.

At the time when I passed the Matriculation there was an epidemic of , Bubonic Plague in Bombay and Poona, where there was high mortality. My father was not willing to send me (whose health was already delicate ) to those places where alone College education could then be bad. So he asked me to study law under him. I studied it for two weeks, but being repelled soon by the dry study of law, 1 wrote a letter to Dr. Machichan, who was then Principal of the Wilson College in Bombay ( and reputed to be very kind), conducted by the Scottish Mission, asking him whether I could be enrolled as a student in absentia. He asked me to send Rs. 36/-, a term's fee, get myself registered as a student and stated that as the epidemic was at its height the University might condone absence. The Bombay University later on did so. I did not attend College in the first term.

The epidemic abated, I joined College in June and appeared for the first year's examination of the Bombay University in November 1898 (which was then called the Previous Exam.) and was awarded a scholarship of Rs. 175 and a prize of Rs. 100 for being the first among the students whose second language was Sanskrit. This was the first lucky accident in my life. Life is a mysterious business. It is full of lucky incidents or chances and one must be able to take advantage of them by one's own efforts. There have been many such incidents and disinterested friendships in my life and I have hardly ever had an enemy to my knowledge in the whole of my rather long life. The ailment of my boyhood pursued me at college, pursues me even now and has become worse, but I did not allow myself to be much disturbed by it, controlled my diet and led a regular and strict life. At the second year's examination in Arts ( called Intermediate ) I was awarded a scholarship of Rs. 180 (lump sum ) for standing first among students taking Sanskrit as a second language. Two years afterwards I appeared for the B. A. examination in 1901 and was awarded the Bhau Daji Prize for proficiency in Sanskrit and stood first among the students of the Wilson College. An idea about how delicate I was in 1901 when I was 21 years old may be had from the fact that though I was 5 feet 4 inches in height, I weighed only 98 pounds.

After the B. A. examination I was a Daksina Fellow at the Wilson College for two years and lectured to the first two years' classes at the Wilson College on Sanskrit about three hours a week. In 1902, I passed the First LL. B. examination in the First class and in 1903 the M. A. examination and was awarded the Zala Vedanta Prize of Rs. 400. The peculiarity of this prize is that the paper set is in Sanskrit, the answers are to be written in Sanskrit in three hours, the chief examiner was to be a Sastri who was proficient in Sankara Yedanta and had studied it under the old traditional methods. As my father had yet to spend for the education of several sons he asked me either to enter the Education Department as a High School teacher or to become a lawyer in a subordinate court.

I did not like the latter idea and applied to the Director of Public Instruction, Poona, for appointment as a teacher in a Govt. High School. Here again Dr. Machichan helped me by recommending me highly to the D. P. L I was appointed a teacher in the Govt. High School at Ratnagiri in August 1904 on a salary of Bs. 60 per month raised to Bs. 65 per month after a few months ( having been an M. A, with five scholarships and prizes in Sanskrit). I was at the Ratnagiri Govt. High School for three years. I appeared for the S. T. C. (Secondary Teacher's Certificate ) Examination held by the Department in 1905 and stood first in the whole of the Bombay Presidency (including Sind in those days ).

In the same year I submitted an essay on ' Aryan Manners and Morals as depicted in the Epics' for the Y. N. Mandlik Gold Medal of the Bombay University and was awarded a prize of books worth Bs. 150. For this essay I read both the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Till now I have read the Mahabharata thrice and I have yet got the notebooks of extensive extracts, particularly from the Mahabharata. In the next year I appeared for a Departmental Examination for Honours in Teaching and secured first class in ' Logic in relation to teaching'. The same year ( 1906 ) I submitted a paper on ' the History of Alankara Literature' for the V. N. Gold Medal again and was awarded the medal.

At the end of this year I lost my younger brother by T. B. I was transferred at my own request to the Elphinstone High School in Bombay as 5th assistant on Rs. 75 in April 1907. There were over 40 teachers in that High School and about 750 students from the 4th to the 7th standard. I was made Head Sanskrit teacher (there were three teachers of Sanskrit and 12 classes in Sanskrit). Towards the end of 1907 the post of Assistant to the Professor of Sanskrit at the Poona Deccan College ( on Rs. 125 p. m.) fell vacant and I applied for the post. But I was not appointed and another person who was an M. A. in Sanskrit, bat had won no prize, scholarship or medal in Sanskrit at any examination from the Matriculation to the M. A. and who was 9th Assistant in the Elphinstone High School (where I was 5th assistant) was appointed to the post, because he was a favourite student of the D. P. I. when the latter was Principal of the Deccan College. I sent a protest through the Principal of the High School. I was informed that a competent authority in Sanskrit had recommended that the person chosen was superior to me in Sanskrit and when I requested the D. P. I. to let me know the name of the competent authority I was informed that my letter was an impertinent one and deserved no reply. This added insult to injury. This happened in December 1907. I decided to appear for the 2nd LL. B. examination in November 1908 and then to leave Govt. service. My supersession created a great deal of criticism in the Department and almost all persons sympathised with me and helped me in various ways. I appeared for the 2nd LL. B. examination in November 1908 and passed it. This created an impression in the Education Department that I meant serious business.

Therefore, as a sop to my injured feelings, I was appointed to act as Professor of Sanskrit at the Elphinstone College from February to April 1909 in place of Prof. S. B. Bhandarkar who had been deputed on some Govt. work. I reverted to the High School at the end of April 1909 and to cast about where to practise as a lawyer. I was not practise as a lawyer in subordinate courts and decided that, if I left service, I would practise on the Appellate side of the High court, where it is a battle of wits and of hard work and one had not to do what a lawyer practising in the subordinate courts had to do. At that time, the late Mr. Daji Abaji Khare was almost at the top of, the Appellate side Bar (called Vakils of the High Court). He had some large estates at Dapoli (my native place) and knew my father and myself. I approached him for advice. He told me that I must have with me at least two thousand rupees in cash, if I wanted to practise in the High Court and to stick to it. I had then not a pie with me and my father who was already sixty years old and had to educate other sons, declined to help.

In less than two years from June 1909 I brought out two school books and one annotated book in Sanskrit (the Sahityadarpana ) for College students and was also appointed an examiner in Sanskrit at the Previous and Intermediate Arts Examinations. I thus collected two thousand rupees, resigned from Govt service at the end of June 1911 and applied for a Sanad ( after paying Rs. 500 as fee for enrolment as a Vakil of the High Court of Bombay) with a certificate of good moral character from Mr. Khare and was enrolled as a Vakil of the High Court on 5th July 1911 when I was in my 32nd year.

Work was slow in coming and the first two years were rather bleak. Having not much to do, I appeared for the LL.M. examination in Hindu and Mahomedan law in 1912 and passed it From 1911 to about 1918 I brought ont every year some book or books such as the Kadambari of Bana in three parts with ample notes, the Harsacarita in two parts, and the Uttararamacarita. I also conducted a private law class for coaching students for the High Court Vakil's examination ( in which 60 percent marks were required for passing). This brought in a steady income of about Rs. 100 per month for four years from 1913 to 1917 and, what was more important, this task of teaching single-handed the vast field of law made me proficient in all complicated legal topics. In the meantime, in 1913 I was appointed Wilson Philological Lecturer to deliver six lectures on Sanskrit, Prakrit and allied languages for a lump sum of Rs. 750.

In 1913 I became an ordinary member of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society and a life member ( by paying a lump sum of Rs. 500 ) in January 1915. At the beginning of 1915 I was appointed by the Bombay University a Springer Research Scholar for two years on a salary of Rs. 100 per month, the subject of research being 'Ancient Geography of Maharastra' (part published in JBBRAS, Vol. XXIV for 1917, pp. 613-657). In 1916 I worked as Honorary Professor of Sanskrit at the Wilson College, when Prof. S. R. Bhandarkar, who was permanent Professor, fell ill, I lectured for three hours a week to B. A. classes on the most difficult part of Ramanuja's Bhasya on Vedantasutra.

In 1917 June I was appointed as a Professor of Law in the Govt. Law College at Bombay. This was again a case of an unexpected event. The Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court had recommended for a vacancy in the law college two names from among the Vakils on the Appellate side Bar of the High Court, one a very senior gentleman and myself who had less than six years' practice The senior gentleman for some reason ( not given out) refused at the last moment and on 20th June, the day on which the Law College was to open, I received a wire in the Vakil's room from Government stating that Govt. proposed to appoint me as a Professor of Law from that day and that if I agreed I should see the Principal. This was a comfortable job, the salary being Rs. 350 a month and the duties light viz. three or four hours per week in the evening from 5-45 p.m. to 6-45 p. m. I was Professor of Law for six years ( 1917-1923 ). Hardly any Vakil with less than six years' practice on the Appellate Side of the High Court had been appointed before me as Professor of Law.

I had undertaken about 1911 an edition of the Vyavaharamayukha with explanatory notes on the advice of Prof. S. R. Bhandarkar who was one of the General Editors of the Bombay Govt,'s Sanskrit Series. But, owing to fluctuations in my own fortunes, I had neglected the work and had almost decided to give op the undertaking altogether. The Bombay Govk's Sanskrit Series came to be transferred by Govt. to the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute that had been started in Poona in 1917. The authorities of the Institute pressed me to carry oat my undertaking. I agreed and began to read the vast Dharmasastra Literature for that purpose. The edition of the Vyavaharamayukha of Nilakantha ( text based on three printed editions and eight mss., an Introduction of 47 pages and exhaustive notes) was published in 1926 by the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona. In the brief Preface to that edition of 1926, I announced that I had undertaken to write the History of Dharmasatra Literature.

Dr. R. G. Bhandarkar had expressed a desire to donate his large library of thousands of books to some Institute that would properly house them, take care of them and make it a centre of Sanskrit studies. Dr. Belvalkar, Dr. Gune and several others supported the idea and about thirty people including myself contributed Rs. 500 each for the purchase of a big vacant plot of 30 acres in Poona and, after setting aside nearly half of the purchased plot for the Institute to be named after Dr. B. G. Bhandarkar, distributed the rest among the original contributors as plot-holders. The public and Govt. supported the Institute and the famous Tatas donated money to construct a suitable building. The first project undertaken was the publication of the critical edition of the Mahabharata. Govt. made grants, transferred the Bombay Sanskrit Series to the Institute, the Chief of Aundh promised a lakh of rupees for the Mahabharata edition with pictures and later the Nizam of Hyderabad contributed a large sum for building a guest-house for scholars from India and abroad.

The first volume of the History of Dharmasastra, which was published in 1930, deals with the chronology and relative importance of famous and less known writers and works and covers 760 pages. As I regarded myself as one of the original founders of the B. O. B. I. and as I was a successful lawyer on the Appellate side of the High Court, I offered the volume to that Institute for publication without any agreement about payment. The Preface to the first volume makes it clear that I intended to finish the whole history in two volumes and that even at that time I suffered from a painful complaint (duodenal ulcer) which has dogged my footsteps throughout up to this day.

The second volume of the History of Dharmasastra covering 1368 pages (including about 300 pages on Srauta ritual, not included in the original plan ) was published in June 1941 (i. e. eleven years after the publication of the first volume ), when I was already 61 years old and pursued by an implacable ailment.

The third volume containing 1088 pages was published in October 1946 and deals with only three topics 'Rajadharma, Vyavahara, and Sadacara' (customs and customary law). On account of the 2nd world war there was paper shortage and the finances of B. O. B. I. were at a low ebb. I had therefore to advance three thousand rupees to the B. O. B. I. and had to purchase paper worth several hundred rupees for expediting the printing, in view of the fact that I was in my 67th year and that my physical condition was causing anxiety.

The 4th volume is spread over 926 pages, was published in October 1953 ( when I was in my 74th year ) and deals with Pataka ( sins ), Prayascitta ( expiation ), Karmavipaka ( fruition of evil deeds), Antyesti ( rites on death) , Asauca ( impurity on death and birth ), Suddhi ( purification ), Sraddha, Tirthayatra ( pilgrimages to sacred places ).

The ( fifth and ) last volume deals with numerous topics, as the Table of Contents will show. The first part of 718 pages dealing with Vrata ( sacred vows, observances and festivals ) and Kala was separately published in 1958 (as I had then an attack of heart trouble, and it was thought that I might not survive, being more than 78 years old at that time). The second part now printed deals with Santis, Puranas in relation to Dharmasastra, causes of the disappearance of Buddhism from India, Tantras and Dharmasastra, Sankhya, Yoga, Tarka and Dharmasastra, Purvamimamsa and Dharmasastra, Cosmology, doctrine of Karma and Punarjanma, dominant characteristics of our Indian culture and civilization and future trends. This volume has been in the press for over five years and has involved an enormous amount of varied reading and writing for over eight years from 1933.

In describing how and in how many years the H. of Dh. developed, I have not said anything about the environment in which I had to work. From about 1918 I began to have good work as a lawyer. I not only conducted cases in the Bombay High Court, but I appeared before the District Courts of the mofussil in several districts such as Khandesh, Nagar, Poona, Sholapur, .Satara, and Batnagiri I owe a great deal to my college friends, to my students that passed the High Court Vakil's examination after attending my private law class and to Mr. M. K. Athavle of Sangli and Mr. C. H. Saptarishi of Ahmednager for sending me much legal work.

I took part in many of the intellectual activities in Bombay and Poona. I was a member of the Senate of the Bombay University from 1919 to 1928, I have been throughout a member of the Regulating Council of the Bhandarkar Institute and of its other bodies. I was closely connected for over 40 years with the Marathi Granthasangrahalava of Bombay in various capacities and with the Brahmanasabha of Bombay in many capacities as Chairman of the Managing Committee, a Trustee for 21 years and Adviser from 1918 to this day.

I had argued gratis several cases for some societies and individuals. Mr. Javdekar, lawyer of Dhulia, espoused the cause of people who had grievances against the Indian Railways. I conducted many such railway cases and cases of poor and helpless people. One of these latter was that of a poor untonsured brabmana widow who had been prevented by the priests in the temple of Vithoba at Pandharpur from offering worship to the image by placing her head at the feet of the image ( because she was untonsured ) as all Hindus, male or female, of all castes were allowed to do. I had to go to Pandharpur thrice at my own expense and spent in all seven days in court. The court decided in favour of the widow. The case is referred to in the History of Dharmasastra, vol. II p. 593 and the arguments are set out on pp. 587-593 of the volume.

Another case that I conducted gratis is that of the Deccan College, Poona. This College was started by Govt bat a Parsi Baronet, Sir Jamsetji, made in the early sixties of the 19th century a munificent donation of about two lakhs with the stipulation that it was to be maintained as an educational Institution for ever on the lines already laid down. The British Govt. on the suggestion of an Indian Minister wanted to close the College and made a contract for sale of the site and buildings for a Parsi Public School. Some of the Old Boys of the College such as Prof. S. G. Sathe and Dr. Belvalkar consulted me what to do, though I was not an old boy of the Deccan College. I first suggested that a member of the Bombay Legislative Council should ask a question whether the Deccan College was not an Institution held in trust by Govt. The Govt replied that it was a trust property, but that Govt. would approach the District Court of Poona for permission to sell it for the purpose of a public school Govt. applied to the District Court at Poona for permission to sell it for the purpose of a public school. I appeared for the old Boys' Association and requested that the Association should be made a party to Govt's application. The Court allowed the application. I had agreed not to charge any fees. I suggested that Mr. M. B. Jayakar, who had a great regard for me and was a very successful advocate in Bombay (who later became a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in England), should be briefed in the matter. The Association said that they had not money enough to pay Mr. Jayakar's heavy fees. I requested Mr. Jayakar not to charge any fees. He complied with my request and the whole case took about 15 working days in court, besides many days of preparation. Mr. Jayakar, having once agreed to work without fees, put his heart and soul in the matter and the District Court in a long judgement of about ninety typed pages held that the Deccan College was a trust and could not be sold. Govt. went in appeal to the High Court of Bombay, but by that time a popular Ministry with the late Mr. B. G. Kher as Chief Minister had come to power and compromised the matter by agreeing to conduct the Deccan College as a Research Institute for Vedic studies and classical Sanskrit, Ancient Indian History etc. The Association made Mr. Jayakar and myself Honorary members of the Old Boys' Association. I have been on the Managing Council of the Deccan College Research Institute since 1938 to this day.

In 1944 I was appointed by the Bombay University Sir Lallubhai Shah Lecturer and delivered four lectures on Hindu customs and modern laws. The lectures have been published in book form by the University.

In 1927 at the time of the Ganapati festival in Bombay, a mela ( party of worshippers ) of the Mahar caste (held untouchable ) approached the authorities of the Brahmanasabha for permission to come for darsan of the image installed by the Sabha and stated that they would be content if they were allowed to come as . near the image as Parsis, Christians and Moslems would be allowed to do. I was then Chairman of the Managing Committee and called a meeting of the Committee to decide whether the request should be granted. In the Committee the voting was exactly half for and half against. I had to give a casting vote for granting permission, since I was of the opinion that the request was a very modest one and in view of the changing times should be acceded to. A suit was filed in the Bombay High Court by certain orthodox people against the Brahmanasabha, against myself as Chairman of the Managing Committee and the Secretary for a temporary injunction restraining us from bringing the Mahar Mela inside the building where the image was and for a declaration that the Sabha through its office-bearers had no right to do what had not been previously done. It must be said to the credit of the members of the Sabha that in a meeting of the general body of members my action was supported by a very large majority. There was great excitement and it was feared that violence might result. The High Court refused to grant a temporary injunction and later the suit was withdrawn by the members seeking legal relief. Our Constitution has abolished untouchability but that was in 1950 and this excitement arose in 1927.

I have been a member of the Managing Committee of the Bombay Asiatic Society for about 45 years, a Vice-President and one
of the editors of the Journal of the Society for many years. I contributed many long articles to the Journal of the Society and to the Annals of the Bhandarkar Institute. In 1946 at my request Dr, B. C. Law, a great scholar, whom I had never seen but who had become an admirer of my books, donated Bs. three thousand ( for purchase of books for the Society ) and donated five thousand rupees for founding a medal called P. V. Kane Gold Medal to be awarded once every three years to a scholar who had done substantial research in subjects in which I was interested.

On 7th May 1941, in honour of my 61st birthday 'A volume of studies in Indology' was presented to me edited by Dr. S. M. Katre and Prof. P. K. Gode and published by Dr. N. G. Sardesai of the Oriental Book Agency, Poooa. My friends and admirers bad formed a Committee with Dr. V. S. Sukthankar as Chairman and invited papers. Many contributions came in, of which 74 are contained in that work, mostly written by Indian scholars ( a few by scholars from abroad also ).
In 1942 the British Govt conferred on me the title of Mahamahopadhyaya and the Allahabad University conferred on me the Honorary Degree of D. Litt. In 1946 I was asked to preside over the All India Oriental Conference held at Nagpnr. In 1947 Mr. B. G. Kher, then Chief Minister of the Bombay State, pressed me to become Vice-chancellor of the Bombay University for two years and I agreed after some hesitation owing to my age ( about 68 ). There was no salary attached to the post nor was there any sumptuary allowance nor any other allowance. In the years 1947 to 1949 I had three matters on my hands, my legal practice, the History of Dharmasastra and the work as Vice-Chaneellor ( which was heavy in those days, sometimes three hours a day ). Mr. Kher pressed me to remain Vice-Chancellor for three years more, offered to make it a salaried post of 2000 Bs. per month and requested me to give up practice as Advocate. The then Governor of Bombay) Sir Maharaj Singh, as Chancellor, also pressed me, but for various reasons ( the foremost being that the work on the History of Dharmasastra would make slow, progress if I spent five or more hours a day in the University ) I declined. The Session of the All India Oriental Conference was held in Bombay in 1949. I was Chairman of the Reception Committee. On my request the Saknntala of Kalidasa was performed in Sanskrit with songs, the director being Mr. K.C.M. Bbatavdekar who is a fine-looking and tall man, an excellent actor, a good Sanskritist and a singer. It was a great success. Emboldened by this success I suggested that other Sanskrit dramas should be put up on the stage. Mr. Bhatawdekar and Mr. P. P. Joshi, two enthusiastic workers of the Sanstritie Samiti (Cultural Committee) of the Brahmanasabha at Bombay, worked hard and at different times and in different places ( Delhi, Bombay, Uj jain, Poona ) put up on the stage ten Sanskrit dramas, Sakuntala, Mrcchakatika, Ratnavali, Venisamhara, Uttararamacarita, Mudraraksasa, Vikramorvasiya, Malavikagnimitra, Svapnavasavadatta and Sangita Saubhadra ( translated into Sanskrit by Mr. S. B. Velankar, Indian Postal Service, from the original Marathi by Anna Kirloskar ). These performances became very popular. The sale of tickets yielded 150,000 Rs. out of which about thirty thousand were saved after meeting all expenses as a fund to fall back upon when they performed one of these plays at different places.

The International Congress of Orientalists was held in Paris in 1948. The Indian Govt sent a delegation of three, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan as leader and Dr. S. K. Chatterji and myself as two members. In 1951 the International Congress met in Istanbul and the Indian Govt. sent a delegation consisting of myself ( as leader ), Dr. R. C. Majumdar and Prof. Siddiqui. At this conference I sponsored a resolution that the Unesco should make a substantial grant to the project of a Sanskrit Dictionary on Historical Principles undertaken by the Decean College and it was unanimously passed by the Conference and subsequently Unesco made a grant of 5000 dollars to the Decean College. In 1954 the Session of the International Congress of Orientalists was held at Cambridge to which the Govt of India sent a delegation consisting of myself ( as leader ), Dr. S. K Chatterji and Dr. R. N. Dandekar. From Cambridge I went at my own expense to U. S. A. and visited the Library of the Congress in Washington for two days, the University of Princeton, Harvard University and the University of Rochester, where my younger son was studying for the Ph. D. degree in Atomic and Nuclear Physics. The Governing Body of the London School of Oriental and African studies of the London University was pleased to nominate me as an Honorary Fellow, I being the only Indian among the present 25 Honorary Fellows of the School. In December 1953 I presided over the session of the Indian History Congress at Waltair.

In November 1953 the President of India was pleased to nominate me as a member of Parliament i. e. of the Rajyasabha (Council of States) and when my term expired on 1-4-58 I was again nominated for six years. While in Parliament I worked on several committees such as the Committees for considering the Hindu Adoption Act, the Hindu Marriage Act, the Hindu Succession Act. I pressed on the Govt. that they should start a Central Institute of Indian Studies. This has been now accepted in principle and a committee has been appointed to suggest a constitution and other matters. I have also been a member of the Central Sanskrit Board. On 15th August 1958 the President of India was pleased to grant me a certificate of merit and an annuity of Rs. 1500 a year. In August 1959 the President was pleased to nominate me as National Professor of Indology for five years on a substantial salary, the only condition being that I should carry on research as I have been doing. I resigned from Parliament in September 1959, because as I held an office of profit under Govt, I had to do so according to law. In 1960 the University of Poona conferred on me the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters.

From the beginning of 1955 I did not take any fresh legal work and by March 1956 I got all my cases disposed off. Since April 1956 I have systematically refused all pressure to accept briefs. Since April 1956 I have devoted my time to Parliamentary work (till September 1959 only) and to the last volume of the History of Dharmasastra.

I had substantial legal work from 1919 to about 1949. For the benefit of those who made inquiries and of those who desire to pursue literary studies while working as lawyers, I shall briefly state how I saved time for literary work. The High Court worked for five days in the week. I always utilized all holidays for literary work, Saturday and Sunday have always been my busiest days. There were always two Benches ( sometimes three Benches also ) on the Appellate side of the High Court. Often ten appeals were placed on the board for each Bench every day, since the practice of the Court has been that if an Advocate had two matters, one in each of the different courts and he was engaged in one court, his case in the other court was kept back till he became free. So when an advocate had even one appeal in one court and that too very low down in the list, even then he had to be present in court from the beginning, since appeals lover down on the Board might be taken up by the Court if the lawyers therein were available. Most lawyers when free spent their time in chitchat in the Advocates' room. I spent such time in the Library for preparing my briefs that were likely to be taken op in the next few weeks. I hardly ever read my briefs at home. Therefore, I could devote every day some hoars in the morning and evening to my work on Sanskrit studies. I always worked for eight or nine hours a day and sometimes ten to twelve hours from 1911 to 1948, except when I was not in Bombay. I have never slept or even taken a nap by day from 1904 to 1958; even when I went to see a drama at night and came home at 2 A.M. I awoke at 6 A.M. and slept a little earlier on the following night. After the mild heart trouble in 1958, I tried sleeping a little by day, but not being used to such a thing I gave it up in a few months. For fifty years I have been taking morning walk for about one hour on the Chowpati sea face in Bombay and at the Hanging Gardens since 1912, but stopped going to the Hanging Gardens from about 1956.

That I had duodenal ulcer was discovered by x-ray therapy about 1925. Some doctors advised an operation. Others opposed it. I consulted the then most eminent surgeon in Bombay, Dr. G. V. Deshmukh, and he advised me not to go in for it. Again in 1937 when I undertook a trip in European countries for three months, I consulted in Vienna an eminent German doctor who advised me to continue my dietetic methods and not to undergo an operation, when I was nearly 58 and the disease was of very long standing.

A few words about my method of collecting materials for my History of Dharmasastra. I have about a hundred note-books, some of them subjectwise and some with pages marked from A to Z, in which I noted important pages and passages extracted from the works read. For example, I have a big oblong notebook ( leather bound ) of about 500 pages devoted to Puranas only.

As regards the writing of the History of Dharmasastra my method was as follows: I wrote in my own hand a first draft, collected a hundred pages or so and then carefully read those pages. Sometimes I tore off several pages and prepared a new draft. I cannot type well, having had no time to cultivate the habit of using a typewriter. Then I got the matter typewritten by an excellent typist, Mr. G. B. Barve, who was my neighbour and who could decipher my bad writing tolerably well and paid him his usual charges. I sent to the Press only the handwritten original of the first volume. It was from the 2nd volume onwards that I got one or two copies typewritten (two when there was danger of bombing Bombay in 1942 ) and sometime afterwards I read the typed copy myself and put in the diacritical marks. This was sent to the Press in Poona I examined three ( rarely four ) proofs of all forms myself, bat the press had directions to send a copy of the third page proof to a good Sanskrit scholar in Poona who was to read it and make corrections (not in the matter but only as to diacritical marks, spelling, stops etc. ) and to send the corrected proof to me and I incorporated his corrections (if accepted by me) in my own copy of the third proof, which was sent to the Press as the final proof. The Indexes to all the five volumes were prepared by me. The Indexes to volumes I-IV alone come to 289 pages. The total printed pages of all works written and printed by me and of the numerous papers that I contributed to the Journal of the Bombay Asiatic Society, the Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Institute and to other Journals would come to at least twenty thousand pages. To the typewriters of vol. II to V, I paid about 2500 rupees out of my own pocket and about 600 rupees to the correctors of the page proofs ( of volume II to V ). I went to places that had collections of Sanskrit Mss. such as Poona ( very often ), Baroda, Benares ( several times ), Madras (several times), Tanjore and Ujjain at my own expense for reading several mss. and getting copies made of a few of them. In our country, there are no large libraries like those in Europe and U. S. A. So I had to spend money on securing micro-films of certain articles in foreign journals and copies of certain Mss. I have no accounts of the travelling charges bat about making copies of some mss. and microfilms I can say that they came to about 200 rupees. The Press was in Poona and I was in Bombay and the proofs ( along with the original copy at the time of the despatch of the first proof ) had to be sent by post for about 35 years ( sometimes one form, sometimes two and rarely three at a time ). Besides, the original ms. had always to be sent in small packets ( of from 50 to 100 handwritten or typed pages ) by registered bookpost. No accounts are kept of this but probably Bs. 400 would be a very modest estimate. The honorarium paid ( and to be paid ) to me for all the five volumes is given in the table below :

For the information of those who have already inquired or might inquire hereafter about the cost of History of Dharmasastra, a table is appended.

Volumes Year of publication Cost of Printing, paper, binding Honorarium
I 1930 4814-12 2433-0
II, pts. 1 and2 1941 8828-12 4239-0
III 1946 8605-12 2256-0
IV, part I and 2 1958, 1962 25.000-0 (approx.) 7000-0 (approx.)
    77.143-12 18802-0

 
3900 copies of volumes II-V are unbound as follows:—

  Copies unbound
Vol II, parts 1 and 2 1000
Vol. III 800
Vol. IV 1000
Vol. V, pt. I 1100
  3900 copies


The charges for binding these 3900 copies at Rs. 2/- ( per copy) would be Rs. 7,800 ( 3900 x 2 ).

Thus the cost of the whole series would be Bs. 84,943-13-0 ( 77,143-13 + 7,800 ). It must be mentioned that the Executive Board of the B. O. B. I. paid me Rs. three per page as to Volumes I, II and IV and only Rs. two per page for vol. III and propose to pay me Rs. four per page for Vol. V, leaving me to bear all expenses for typewritten copy, for correction of one proof by a third person, all postage, travelling expenses and for copies of mss. and microfilms.
The usual method in India as regards Histories or Encylo-pcedias in several volumes ( manning into thousands of pages ) is to appoint a Director or Chief Editor ( on a salary of Rs. 1500 per month ), an Assistant Editor ( on a salary of Rs. 600 or Rs. 750 per month ) and to pay contributors at Rs. five or so per page, beside an office and a staff of clerks and typists. The Director's salary on the usual scale for one year alone would come to Rs. 18,000. The payments made and to be made to me for writing a work of over six thousand pages spread over 37 years come practically to one year's salary for a Chief Editor ( or rather, less by Rs. 3700 which were spent for typewriting, correction, and copies etc. as stated above ). I do not like this distasteful task. I had, however, to write about this matter because I wanted to dispel the queer notions about my profits that some people appear to entertain and made inquiries. It is owing to one individual's sacrifice that all the volumes ( containing over 60CO pages ) can be sold by the Bhandarkar Oriental Institute for only Rs. 180. If the usual method had been followed, these 6000 pages would have had to be priced at Rs. 400 or more.

I could not arrange or plan my life. I had to oscillate between education, literature and law, between Government service and an independent profession like that of law. I have, however, lived a very active, full and varied life for over sixty years. Thinking over the vast Sanskrit literature and the labour and time that I had to spend on one branch of it, I am inclined to close this Epilogue with two lines from Browning's poem " The last ride together "

' Look at the end of the work, contrast
The petty done, the undone vast.'"

[Kane, Pandurang Vaman <1880 - 1972>: History of Dharmasastra : (ancient and mediaeval, religious and civil law). -- Poona : Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. -- Vol. V, part II. -- 1962. -- Epilogue, S. I - XVII]


2.3. Beste Kurzdarstellung



Abb.: Julius Jolly <1849 - 1932>

Jolly, Julius <1849 - 1932>: Recht und Sitte (einschließlich der einheimischen Litteratur). -- Straßburg : Trübner, 1896. -- (Grundriss der Indo-arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde ; Bd. 2, H. 8)

Als Kurzdarstellung bis heute unübertroffen.

"JULIUS JOLLY 1849-1932

Julius Jolly contributed extensively to Indian law and medicine.

Julius Jolly was born on 28.12.1849 in Heidelberg, the son of a well known physicist. Jolly studied comparative linguistics, Sanskrit and Iranian languages in Berlin and Leipzig. His thesis for the doctorate was Die Moduslehre in den alt-iranischen Dialekten ("Moods in Ancient Iranian Dialects"). Jolly was professor in Wuerzburg from 1877 onwards. He read comparative linguistics and Sanskrit. He retired in 1922 but continued to give lectures in Wuerzburg till 1928. He died on 24.4.1932.

Jolly visited India in 1882/83 as Tagore professor of law in Calcutta. He delivered twelve lectures which were published under the title Outlines of an History of the Hindu Law of Partition, Inheritance and Adoption, 1885. Jolly made extensive use of legal commentaries, many of which were available only as manuscripts.

He contributed to Grundriss der Indo-arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde. ("Encyclopedia of Indo-Aryan Research") a volume on Recht und Sitte, 1896. This book later was revised by Jolly and translated by Balakrishna Ghosh in 1928 under the title "Hindu Law and Custom" (volume 2 of The Greater India Society Publications). Jolly discussed the sources, family law and heirship, law of things and obligations, offences and penalties, court procedure and customs and traditions. Jolly made use of both texts and old travel accounts. The presentation was lucid and reliable.

[Jolly, Julius <1849-1932>: Hindu law and custom / by Julius Jolly ... Authorised translation by Batakrishna Ghosh ... -- Calcutta : Greater India Society, 1928. -- 341 S.]

Jolly edited the law books of Vishnu, Narada, and Manu and translated the former two for the "Sacred Books of the East". He also contributed numerous papers on Indian law to various journals. In 1922, Jolly became co-editor of the "Journal of Indian History". He published a new critical edition of Kautilya's Arthashastra in collaboration with R. Schmidt in the "Panjab Sanskrit Series", 1923/24. He also wrote a number of papers on the Arthashastra, its author and antiquity.

In 1901, Jolly contributed Indian Medicine to "Encyclopedia of Indo-Aryan Research".

[Jolly, Julius <1849-1932>: Medicin. -- Straßburg : Trübner, 1901. -- 140 S. -- (Grundriss der Indo-arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde ; 3,10)]

This still is one of the most complete and reliable studies of the history of Indian medical literature. In the first chapter Jolly discussed medical literature from recent times to the exorcist hymns of the Atharvaveda and the magic rites of the Kaushikasutra. Greek and later Persian and Arab influences on Indian medicine were detected. The introduction of quicksilver and opium was due to Arabs. On the other hand, many Indian medical treatises were translated into Arabic. The second chapter deals with doctors and therapy. Folk medicine had in Jolly's opinion, influenced medical treatises and dreams and omens were important in diagnosing illnesses. Herbal medicines were most important. A correct diet was considered vital for the proper treatment of diseases. The third part deals with theories about illnesses and the fourth with evolution and gynaecology. The last three chapters discuss various types of physical and mental diseases, and their treatment.

Jolly was made an honorary doctor of medicine of Goettingen Univerisity and Oxford University.

[Quelle: German Indologists : biographies of scholars in Indian studies writing in German ; with a summary on Indology in German speaking countries / Valentina Stache-Rosen. - 2., rev. ed.. - New Delhi : Max Mueller Bhavan, 1990. - 271 S. : Ill. -- (Dialogue / Goethe Institute Max Mueller Bhavan, New Delhi ; 1990). -- ISBN 81-85054-97-5. -- S. 110f.]


3. "Dharma"


Dharmashâstra bedeutet Lehrwerk (shâstra) über den Dharma. Dharma ist einer der am schwierigsten zu übersetzenden Begriffe der indischen Kulturen.


3.1. Normative Definition



Abb.: Dayanand Saraswati, 1874

Als Beispiel einer neueren normativen Defintion von "dharma" diene die von Dayanand Saraswati (1842 - 1883), des Begründers der Hindureformbewegung Arya Samaj:

"I accept as dharma whatever is in full conformity with impartial justice, truthfulness and the like (virtues); that which is not opposed to the teachings of God as emoodied in the Vedas.

Whatever is not free from partiality and is unjust, partaking of untruth and the like (vices), and as opposed to the teachings of God as embodied in the Vedas—that I hold as adharma."

[Autobiography of Dayanand Saraswati / Swami Dayananda Sarasvati. Edited with an introd. and notes by K. C. Yadav. - 1. paperback ed.. - Gurgaon : Hope India, 2001. -- ISBN 81-7871-002-1. -- S. 83]


3.2. Empirische Definitionen


1. Wörterbuch

dharma
  1. Gesetz, Recht
  2. Sitte
  3. Pflicht
  4. Tugend
  5. Eigenart, Merkmal ,Attribut

All diese Bedeutungen lassen sich von der Verbalwurzel ableiten, von der "dharma" gebildet ist: dh*r "festhalten, erhalten". Danach ist dharma "das, was festhält, was erhält; das Feste"

2. Pandurang Vaman Kane <1880 - 1972>: History of Dharmasastra : (ancient and mediaeval, religious and civil law). -- Poona : Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. -- 5 Bde in 7. -- teilw. 2. ed. -- 1962 - 1975

dharma =  "the privilegies, duties and obligations of a man, his standard of conduct as a member of the Âryan community, as a member of one of the castes, as a person in a particular stage of life"

[a.a.O., Vol. I,1. -- S.9]

"... the conception of dharma ... embraced the whole life of man. The writers on dharmasâstra meant by dharma not a credd or religion but a mode of life or a code of conduct, which regulated a man's work and activities as a member of society and as an individual and was intended to bring about the gradual development of a man and to enable him to reach what was deemed to be the goal of humen existence."

[a.a.O., Vol. I,2. -- S. 2]

3. Patrick Olivelle


Abb.: Patrick Olivelle [Bildquelle: http://www.soas.ac.uk/Religions/comeandmeet/2001/olivelle.html. -- Zugriff am 2003-11-03]

"Dharma includes all aspects of proper individual and social behavior as demanded by one's role in society and in keeping with one's social identity according to age, gender, caste, marital status, and order of life. The term dharma may be translated as "Law" if we dp not limit ourselves to its narrow modern definition as civil and criminal statutes but take it to include all the rules of behavior, including moral and religious behavior, that a community recognizes as binding on its members.

The subject-matter of the Dharmasûtras, therefore, includes education of the young and their rites of passage; ritual procedures and religious ceremonies; marriage and marital rights and obligations; dietary restrictions and food transactions; the right professions for, and the proper interaction between, different social groups; sins and their expiations; institutions for the pursuit of holiness; king and the administration of justice; crimes and punishments; death and ancestral rites. In short, these unique documents give us a glimpse if not into how people actually lived their lives in ancient India, at least into how people, especially Brahmin males, were ideally expected to live their lives within an ordered and hierarchically arranged society."

[Dharmasûtras : the law codes of Âpastamba, Gautama, Baudhâyana, and Vasistha / annotated text and transl. Patrick Olivelle. -- Delhi : Motilal Banarsidass, ©2000. -- ISBN 81-208-1739-7. -- S. 1]


4. Dharma als eines der Lebensziele (purushârtha)


dharma steht im Zusammenhang der vier Ziele, die ein Mensch (Mann) nach indischer Anschauung hienieden verwirklichen soll:

Jedes dieser vier Lebensziele ist mit jedem anderen verknüpft, sodass ein richtiges Verständnis "des" vollen altindischen  Menschenideals nur bei gleichzeitiger Berücksichtigung aller vier möglich ist.


5. Dharmasûtra als Bestandteil eines Kalpasûtra


Theoretisch sind Dharmasûtras Bestandteil der vedischen Literatur, genau genommen eines Kalpasûtra, Ritualsûtra, einer vedischen Schule.

"The Four Vedas have been transmitted in various shâkhâs or "branches", or as we usually call them, in "schools". The many Vedic schools developed from a very early time onwards, i.e. from the post-Rgvedic period when the Mantra texts such as the AV [Atharvaveda] and YV [Yajurveda] were composed and collected. A particular school represents the Brahmin community of a particular area, tribe, or small kingdom, or rather chieftainship. Each local school followed a particular form of ritual and pronunciation, as opposed to those of the neighboring areas. Thus, the early territory of a Vedic school usually coincides with that of a particular tribe or subtribe."

[Quelle: Witzel, Michael <1943 - >: The development of the Vedic canon and its schools : the social and political milieu. -- In: Inside the texts, beyond the texts : new approaches to the study of the Vedas ; proceedings of the International Vedic Workshop, Harvard University, June 1989 / Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Harvard Univ. Ed. by Michael Witzel. -- Columbia, Mo. : South Asia Books, 1997. -- (Harvard oriental series : Opera minora ; 2). -- ISBN 1-888789-03-4. -- S. 259]

Zu einem vollständigen Kalpasûtra gehört

Jedoch sind nur das

als Bestandteile eines Kalpasûtra überliefert.


Abb.: Willem Caland (1859 - 1932)

Zur ersten Orientierung diene folgende Übersicht von Willem Caland (1859-1932):


Abb:: Übersicht über die Hauptwerke vedischer Literatur

[Quelle der Abb.: Glasenapp, Helmuth von <1891-1963>: Die Literaturen Indiens von ihren Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart / Helmuth von Glasenapp ; mit Beiträgen von Heinz Bechert und Hilko Wiardo Schomerus.  -- Stuttgart : Kröner, ©1961. -- (Kröners Taschenausgabe ; Bd. 318). -- S. 46f.]

Neue Darstellung zu den vedischen Schulen:

Witzel, Michael <1943 - >: The development of the Vedic canon and its schools : the social and political milieu. -- In: Inside the texts, beyond the texts : new approaches to the study of the Vedas ; proceedings of the International Vedic Workshop, Harvard University, June 1989 / Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Harvard Univ. Ed. by Michael Witzel. -- Columbia, Mo. : South Asia Books, 1997. -- (Harvard oriental series : Opera minora ; 2). -- ISBN 1-888789-03-4. -- S. 257 - 345


6. Quellen des Dharma


Gautama 1.1-4:

1. vedo dharmamûlam 1. Wurzel des Dharma ist der Veda
2. tad-vidâ*m ca sm*rti-'sîle 2. und die Tradition und Sitte der Vedakundigen
3. d*r*s*to dharma-vyatikrama*h sâhasa*m ca mahatâ*m na tu d*r*s*târthe 'vara-daurbalyât 3. Bei großen Personen [der Vergangenheit] findet man Übertretung des Dharma und Gewalttätigkeit. Diese beiden dienen aber nicht als Beispiel wegen der Schwäche der Späteren
4. tulya-bala-virodhe vikalpa*h 4. Wenn Bestimmungen gleicher Kraft einander widersprechen, herrscht Option.

Gautama 28.53 (letztes Sûtra)

53. iti dharmo dharma*h 53. Der so von Gautama formulierte Dharma ist der Dharma

Âpastamba I.1.1-3

1. athâta*h sâmâyâcârikân dharmân vyâkhyâsyâma*h 1. Nun werden wir deswegen die Dharmas erklären, die zum durch Übereinstimmung festgehaltenen Verhalten gehören
2. dharma-jña-samaya*h pramâ*nam 2. Kriterium für dieses Verhalten ist die Übereinstimmung derer, die den Dharma kennen
3. vedâ's ca 3. und die Veden

Âpastamba 1.20.5-9

5. anasûyur du*spralambha*h syât kuhaka-'a*tha-nâstika-bâla-vâde*su 5. Ohne neidisch zu murren soll er schwer zu täuschen sein von den Worten von Betrügern, Boshaften, Ungläubigen und Toren
6. na dharmâdharmau carata âva*m sva iti. na deva-gandharvâ na pitara ity âcak*sate 'ya*m dharma 'yam adharma iti 6. Nicht gehen Dharama und Un-Dharma herum und sagen: "Das sind wir." Nicht sagen Götter, Gandharven oder die Manen: "Dies ist Dharma, dies ist Un-Dharma."
7. yat tv âryâ*h krîyamâ*na*m pra'sa*msanti sa dharmo yad garhante so 'dharma*h 7. Was aber die Âryas loben, wenn es gatan wird, das ist Dharma, was dsie tadeln, das ist Un-Dharma.
8. sarva-janapade*sv ekânta-samâhitam âryâ*nâm v*rtta*m sa*myag-vinîtânâ*m v*rddhânâm âtmavatâm alolupânâm adâmbhkânâ*m v*rtta-sâd*r*sya*m bhajeta 8. Er soll sein Verhalten nach dem Verhaltensmuster richten, über das in allen Gegenden die Âryas einstimmig übereinstimmen, und zwar die Âryas, die recht erzogen sind und sich recht verhalten, Alte sind, sich selbst im Griff haben, ohne Gier und Heuchelei sind.
9. evam ubhau lokâv abhijayati 9. So gewinnt er beide Welten [die irdische und die himmlische].

Manu I.1-4.58-60.102-103.116.119

1. manum ekâgram âsînam abhgamya mah*r*saya*h
pratipûjya yathâ-nyâyam ida*m vacam abruvan ║
1. Zu Manu, der einspitzig konzentriert dasaß, gingen die großen Rishis, verehrten ihn formgemäß und sprachen folgende Worte:
2.  bhagavan sarva-var*nânâ*m yathâvad anupûrva'sa*h
antara-prabhavâ*nâm ca dhrmân no vaktum arhasi ║
2. "Ehrwürden, du bist dazu fähig und sollst uns in angemessener Form und rechter Reihenfolge die Dharmas aller Stände und der aus Standesmischung Entstandenen nennen.
3. tvam eko hy asya sarvasya vidhânasya svayambhuva*h │
acintyasyaprameyasya kârya-tattvârtha-vit prabho ║
3. Denn du allein, Herr, kennst den wahren Sinn der Pflichten in dieser ganzen unfassbaren, unermesslichen, aus sich selbst existierenden Ordnung."
4. sa tai*h p*r*s*tas tathâ samyag amitaujâ mahâtmabhi*h │
pratyauvâcârcya tân sarvân mahar*sîñ chrûyatâm iti ║
4. So von diesen Edlen befragt, hat der unermesslich kraftvolle Manu all diese großen Rishis ehrherbietig begrüßt und ihnen geantwortet: "Hört!"
Es folgt die Schöpfungsgeschichte usw.
58. ida*m 'sâstra*m tu k*rtvâ 'sau Mâm eva svayam âdita*h │
vidhivad grâhayâm âsa marîcy-âdî*ms tv aha*m munîn
58. "Nachdem Brahmâ dieses Lehrwerk geschaffen hatte, hat er es selbst zuerst nur mir [Manu] ordnungsgemäß beigebracht, ich aber habe es Marîci und den anderen Weisen beigebracht.
59. etad vo 'yam bh*rgu*h #Sâstra*m 'srâvayi*syaty a'se*sata*h │
etad dhi matto 'dhijage sarvam e*so 'khila*m muni*h
59. Dieser Bhrigu wird euch dieses Lehrwerk vollständig zu Ohren bringen. Dieser Weise hat es nämlich vollständig von mir gelernt."
60. tatas tathâ so tenokto mahar*sir manunâ bh*rgu*h │
tân abravîd *r*sîn prîtâtmâ 'srûyatâm iti ║
60. So von Manu geheißen hat der Weise Bhrigu frohen Herzens zu all diesen Rishis gesprochen: "Hört!"
...
102. tasya karma-vivekârtha*m 'se*sâ*nâm anupûrva'sa*h │
svâyambhuvo manur dhîmân ida*m 'sâstram akalpayat ║
102. Um die Aufgaben des Brahmanen zu klären und auch die der restlichen Stände ihrer Rangordnung entsprechend, hat der aus dem Aus-sich-selbst-Existierenden entstandene weise Manu dieses Lehrwerk errichtet.
103. vidu*sâ brâhma*nenedam adhyetavya*m prayatnata*h │
'si*syebhya's ca pravaktavya*m samya°n nânyena kenacit
103. Dieses Lehrwerk soll ein gelehrter Brahmane eifrig studieren und seinen Schülern recht verkünden, nicht aber irgend jemand anderer.
...
107. asmin dharmo 'khilenokto gu*na-do*sau ca karma*nâm │
catur*nâm api var*nânâm âcâra's caiva 'sâsvata*h
107. In diesem Lehrwerk wird der Dharma lückenlos dargelegt und auch die Vorzüge und Fehler der Tätigkeiten der vier Stände, ebenso die ewige Verhaltensnorm.
....
119. yathedam uktavâñ châstra*m purâ p*r*s*to manur mayâ │
tathedam yûyam apy adya mat-sakâ'sân nibodhata
119. Erfahrt auch ihr Rishis heute von mir [Bhrigu] dies genau so, wie es Manu in der Vergangenheit auf meine  Frage hin im Lehrwerk verkündet hat.

Wir finden also zwei grundsätzlich verschiedene Behauptungen über die Quellen des Dharma

  1. Veda und Tradition (z.B. Gautama, Âpastamba)
  2. göttliche Offenbarung des Lehrwerks (z.B. Manu)

Vgl. zu den Quellen des Rechts:

Exkurs: Blaise Pascal <1623 - 1662>: Pensées 294 -- URL: http://www.payer.de/dharmashastra/dharmash01a.htm. -- Zugriff am 2003-11-22


7. Wer darf Dharmashâstras studieren


Oben habe ich die Stelle Manu I, 103 zitiert:

103. vidu*sâ brâhma*nenedam adhyetavya*m prayatnata*h │
'si*syebhya's ca pravaktavya*m samya°n nânyena kenacit
103. Dieses Lehrwerk soll ein gelehrter Brahmane eifrig studieren und seinen Schülern recht verkünden, nicht aber irgend jemand anderer.

Danach schaut es auf den ersten Blick so aus, als ob nur ein gelehrter Brahmane das Dharmalehrwerk manus studieren dürfte und nicht ein Angehöriger des Wehrstandes (Kshatriya) oder Nährstandes (Vaishya). Die Sachlage ist aber nicht so einfach, wie ein Blick auf Manu II, 16 zeigt:

16. ni*sekâdi-'sma'sânânto mantrai yasyodito vidhi*h
tasya 'sâstre 'dhikâro 'smiñ jñeyo nânyasya kasyacit
16. Nur derjenige darf als für das Studium dieses Lehrwerkes autorisieret gelten, für den die vedischen Riten von der Empfängnis bis zur Bestattung vorgeschrieben sind. jemand anderes ist dazu nicht autorisiert.

Das bedeutet, das zum Studium der Manusmriti nur Männer der oberen drei Stände (des geistlichen Standes, des Wehrstandes und des Nährstandes) autorisiert sind.

Dazu der Kommentator Medhâtithi <1020 - 1050 n. Chr.> , Manubhâsya zu Manu II, 16 [S. 769]:

"[Manu I, 103] lautet »[Nur] ein gelehrter Brahmane soll dieses Lehrwerk studieren«. Das ist eine deskriptive Aussage (arthavâda). Weil dort das Suffix tavya [in adhyetavya] vorkommt, könnte irgendjemand diese Stelle irrtümlich als Vorschrift (vidhi) auffassen. Der vorliegende Vers [Manu II, 16] dient dazu, die Vermutung auszuschließen,  dass mit Manu I, 103 das Studium des Lehrwerks durch Kshatriya und Vaishya ausgeschlossen werden soll, und er zeigt, dass Kshatriyas und Vaishyas das Studium es Lehrwerks zusteht.

EINWAND: Wie kann jemand zu Taten autorisiert sein [wie ein Shûdra oder eine Frau], wenn ihm die Autorisierung zum Studium und zum Verstehen des Lehrwerkes verwehrt ist? Wenn nämlich die genaue Form einer vorgeschriebenen Handlung nicht gekannt wird, kann man diese auch nicht ausführen, und ohne dass man das Lehrwerk studiert, kann man seinen Inhalt nicht kennen, und nicht ist jemand, der zum Veda nicht zugelassen ist, zum Studium des Lehrwerks autorisiert.

ANTWORT: Das ist wahr. Aber auch durch Belehrung durch jemand anderen erhält man ausreichende Erkenntnis. Ein Shûdrakann von einem Brahmanen abhängig sein, oder ein Brahmane mag es für Bezahlung tun; ein solcher Brahmane wird den Shûdra lehren, dass er das tun soll, nachdem er jenes getan hat. Deshalb folgt daraus, dass ein Shûdra zur Ausführung von Werken verpflichtet ist, nicht dass er das Lehrwerk studieren und kennen darf, denn wie bei Frauen ist die Ausführung der Werke aufgrund von Vertrauen auf frmde Autorität hin möglich: den Frauen hilft nur das Wissen ihrer Gatten, weil sie mit diesen verbunden sind. Nicht verlangen die auf die Werke bezüglichen vedischen Texte, dass man diese Texte kennt. Nur für diejenigen Männer ist das Vertrauen auf sich selbst der Grund zum Handeln, für die die Vorschrift gilt, dass sie den Veda studieren müssen. Diese Vorschrift gilt nur für die Männer, die den drei Ständen angehören. Auch bei diesen folgt, dass sie das Lehrwerk studieren und kennen sollen, nicht daraus, dass sie verpflichtet sind, seinen Inhalt zu kennen; dies folgt vielmehr daraus, dass sie durch zwei andere Vorschriften verpflichtet sind: der Vorschrift, einen Lehrer zu bestimmen, und der Vorschrift, den Veda zu studieren."


Zu Kapitel 2: Forschungstraditionen