Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 15, 2025
When, therefore, all the declarations in the Vedas do not apply equally to all the ages, the saying that the declarations of the Vedas are true is only a popular form of speech indulged in for popular satisfaction. From the Srutis have originated the Smritis whose scope again is very wide.
Every one of them should be fifty years of age, possessed of a sense of dignity, free from envy, conversant with the Srutis and the Smritis, humble, impartial, competent to readily decide in the midst of disputants urging different courses of action, free from covetousness, and from the seven dreadful vices called Vyasanas.
Nor must you object that to do so would force on us another unacceptable conclusion, viz. that those Smritis, that of Manu e.g., which maintain Brahman to be the universal cause, are destitute of authority; for Manu and similar works inculcate practical religious duty and thus have at any rate the uncontested function of supporting the teaching of the karmakanda of the Veda.
But if conduct has no result, it follows that good conduct, as enjoined in the Smritis, is useless! Not so, we reply; for holy works enjoined by the Veda depend on conduct, in so far as a man of good conduct only is entitled to perform those works.
I shall also tell thee what is gold, whence it has come, and how it has come to be invested with superior attributes. Listen to me, O thou of mighty arms, as I discourse upon these topics. Know this as certain that gold is of the essence of Fire and Soma. Even these are the declarations of the Smritis. Churning the entire universe, a mass of energy was found. That energy is gold.
Moreover there are seven. The Smritis moreover declare that there are seven hells, called Raurava, and so on, to which evil-doers have to go. But how do they, if moving about in those seven places, reach the palace of Yama? On account of his activity there also, there is no contradiction. As their going to those seven places also is due to the command of Yama, there is no contradiction.
Nilakantha supposes this to refer to the origin of the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the various branches of the Srutis and the Smritis. Small divisions of time. The limbs that should be 'prominent' or 'elevated' in order to constitute an indication of beauty or auspiciousness are variously mentioned.
Thou art endued with very great might, being as thou art a hero of heroes. Thou art the Veda. Thou art the Smritis, the Itihasas, the Puranas, and other scriptures. Thou art the illustrious deity of every sacred shrine. Thou art he who has the Earth for his car. Thou art the inert elements that enter into the composition of every creature.
The qualities should, indeed, be regarded as the threads of the spider. Some say that the qualities in respect of such men are not lost. Some say that they are all lost. They, on the other hand, who say that the qualities are all lost rely on the Smritis. Reflecting upon both these opinions, one should judge oneself as to which of them is right.
Then the divine Self existent, indiscernible but making discernible all this, the great elements and the rest, appeared with irresistible power, dispelling the darkness. If the question as to the meaning of the Vedanta-texts were to be settled by means of Kapila's Smriti, we should have to accept the extremely undesirable conclusion that all the Smritis quoted are of no authority.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking