The Dharmashastras are bound to shock the sensibilities of
many educated modern men and women. These scriptures belong to an age when people conducted
their lives based on certain beliefs, values, traditions and assumptions. It is not
fair to judge them based on our present day values and social norms. On the
positive side Hinduism marched ahead while these law books lost their
relevance and fell aside into the dustbin of history. The books have become
relics of the past while Hinduism assimilated new currents of thought and
transformed itself into a progressive, evolving and expanding religious
tradition.
Dharma is a very elaborate concept of Hinduism which we have
described
elsewhere. Its principal aim is to preserve the world order (Rta), by
maintaining its overall structure, basic values and innate harmony. According to
Hinduism, one of the main functions of the Divinities is to protect the creation
by maintaining the Dharma in all the worlds. The rules of Dharma are not
universal. They are bound to time and space and are subject to perennial change.
They are also not applicable to all human beings or the entire creation. At the
highest level of human or divine existence, when man transcends his animal
nature and the qualities of the three gunas, there are actually no laws to
govern him, because in the transcendental planes there are no bounds, only
awareness, understanding and an overwhelming sense of love and understanding. In
truth, he governs himself, very much like God, out of a sense of self
responsibility and lack of desires.
The Dharama Shastras were meant for people who were driven by
the illusory world, who would engage in desire oriented actions and needed to be
regulated for the purpose of maintaining or preserving the moral, social and
political order. They were composed to emphasize the importance of leading a
virtuous and divine oriented life on earth and remain on the side of God for a
better tomorrow and harmonious today. Unlike the Vedas which are believed to be
divine in origin, the Dharma Shastras represented the collective wisdom of
intellectuals, scholars, politicians and law makers who created them. Some
of them had their own reasons to support a belief system that ensured the
continuation of their family names and privileges and at the same time kept the
lower castes and the women at the bottom of the oppressive, feudal and religious
hierarchy.
In the name of God and religion, in a society that believed
in the laws of karma and the possibility of a better life through reincarnation,
the Dharma Shastras attempted to achieve this rather complicated task on an
ongoing basis. They laid down elaborate rules to deny a vast majority of the
people the right to live a decent life and made provisions at the same time for
the continuation of a system which, from present day values, was extremely
racial and arrogantly inhumane. Interestingly, although a vast majority of the
people were not aware of these law books, because they were not allowed to read
and study, they somehow remained subservient to these laws and accepted them as
their lot. In this regard they were like the the medieval farmers of Russia or
Europe, who willingly subjected themselves to the feudal structure and the laws
of the Church that perpetrated it.
Some of the laws prescribed in the Dharama Sutras are
therefore bound to offend the sensibilities and sentiments of many modern day
Hindus, who have been brought upon the values of equality, individual liberty
and social justice. Many verses in these scriptures stand in contrast to these
fundamental values that define many democratic societies today and characterize
the free world. Readers are requested to consider these scriptures from an
academic or historical point of view to understand the times they represent. To
consider them as the authoritative text books of present day moral or
social values of Hinduism would be an anathema. They belong to a
particular time frame and represent certain social and moral values most of
which are irrelevant today.
Some critics of Hinduism use these texts as an opportunity to
denigrate Hinduism and divide Hindu society. But to judge Hinduism based upon
these texts is like judging present day Europeans based upon the medieval
incidences of persecutions or the Americans on the basis of the slavery system
that was practiced in North America in the 18th or the 19 the century. Hinduism
has been an ever evolving religion. It accepts change as the central quality of
creation, and an awareness of it as the principal motivator of self realization.
In the process of its evolution, Hinduism has shaped itself into a wonderful
religion of the highest human vision. This has become possible because embedded
in its core is the basic truth that religious philosophy is the product of man's
highest wisdom and that, as the times change and as man becomes increasingly
self aware and intuitively intelligent, his philosophy of life and the scope of
his vision would also change.
Hinduism has come a long way from the days of untouchability
and social inequality of the ancient and medieval periods to its present day
unique status. Despite of its sordid past in the social sphere, today Hinduism
has been able to resolve the inconsistencies and anachronisms of its past in a
dignified and refined way, discarding the worst and keeping the best the
religion represents. In this regard, the credit goes to the untiring work of
many eminent social reformers and noble souls, who have sculpted a wonderful
religion out of Hinduism through their contact with the Divine nature of man and
their awareness of the wisdom of Truth. They are active even today, preparing
Hinduism for the coming generations, who would be scientifically more aware and
spiritually more demanding. The silent revolution within Hinduism has been still
going on, despite of attacks from within and without, to embrace the future that
is shaping itself in the womb of the earth. Hinduwebsite salutes all those who
are trying to redefine Hinduism and making it more relevant to the problems of
the present day complex world.
By V.Jayaram
27th May, 2002
Suggested Further Reading
Part I
Apastamba
Gautama
Part II
Vashishta
Baudhayana
