Vyasa Smrti (व्यासस्मृति:)

Vedanga is a class of works regarded as auxiliary to the four Vedas and designed to aid in the correct pronunciation and interpretation of the text and the right employment of the Mantras in ceremonials. The Vedangas are six in number—Shiksha (the science of proper articulation and pronunciation), Chandas (the science of prosody), Vyakarana (grammar), Nirukta (etymological explanation of difficult Vedic words), Jyotish (astronomy) and Kalpa (ritual or ceremonial). The Kalpasutra is fourfold namely, Shrautasutra, Grhyasutra, Dharmasutra and Shulvasutra. The Dharmasutra containing the Do’s and Don’ts of the social life got enlarged as the Dharmashastra or Smrti literature in later years. The Trimuni of Indian Nyaya (Law and Order) are: Narada, Brihaspati and Katyayana.

If the Vedas and the Upanishads give the basic philosophy of Hinduism, the Dharmashastras, comprising the Smrtis, the Puranas and the Nibandhas (digests), give the rules and regulations that guide a Hindu in his personal and social life.

The word Smrti in a technical sense refers to the secondary scriptures like the Manusmrti and others which remind one, of the great spiritual truths contained in the Vedas.

परिचयः ॥ Introduction

According to Swami Harshananda, Vyasa—also known as Krishna Dvaipayana and Vedavyasa—is the reputed author of the epic Mahabharata and also the Puranas. However, the Vyasasmrti as available now in print is a work of another Vyasa who might have lived during the period 200-500 AD. He might have been a contemporary of other writers of smrtis like Brihaspati and Yajnavalkya. This Smrti is found in the collection of Smrtis by Jivananda and also in the Anandashrama collection. The two texts are same with a few variations.

अध्यायसारः ॥ Chapter Contents

It is in four chapters and contains about 250 verses. Vyasa is said to have declared the Smrti in Benares. The contents briefly are: extent of the land where the dharmas described here apply; relative authoritativeness of the Shruti, Smrti and the Puranas; mixed castes; the sixteen samskaras; duties of a brahmacharin; duties of a wife; nitya (daily rites), naimittika (occasional rites) and kamya (rites for specific future fruition) karmas of a householder; eulogy of the householder stage and of gifts.

Other well-known writers on the dharmashastra often quote verses as of Vyasa. These are mostly from the Mahabharata. There are also verses not found in the epic. These verses—about 200 in number—deal with the topic of vyavahara or common laws. Quite a few legal matters bearing on gifts of land, procedures in lawsuits and division of ancestral property are dealt with in these verses. The topic of shraddha (obsequial rites) is also touched upon.

Chapter	First Heading	Last Heading	Number of Verses
One	धर्माचरणादेश-प्रयुक्त-वर्ण-षोडश-संस्कार-वर्णनम् (dharmācaraṇādeśa-prayukta-varṇa-ṣoḍaśa-saṃskāra-varṇanam) i.e. description of sixteen sacraments for each class according to the scriptures	ब्रह्मचर्याधिकार: (brahmacaryādhikārah) i.e. do’s and dont’s of the Brahmachari	41
Two	विवाहविधिवर्णनम् (vivāha-vidhi-varṇanam) i.e. description of the marriage ritual	स्त्री-अधिकार: (strī-adhikārah) i.e. rights of women	56
Three	सस्नानादि-विधि-पूर्वाह्न-कृत्य-वर्णनम् (sasnānādi-vidhi-pūrvāhna-kṛtya-varṇanam) i.e. description of daily rites	गृहस्थाह्निक: (gṛhasthāhnikah) i.e. description of the Grihastha ashrama	71
Four	गृहस्थाश्रम-प्रशंसा-पूर्वक-तीर्थ-धर्म-वर्णनम् (gṛhasthāśrama-praśaṃsā-pūrvaka-tīrtha-dharma-varṇanam) i.e. eulogy of the Grihastha ashrama along with description of pilgrimage, duties etc.	गृहस्थाश्रम-प्रशंसादि-वर्णन: (gṛhasthāśrama-praśaṃsādi-varṇanah) i.e. eulogy of the Grihastha ashrama	72
		Total number of verses	240

प्रथमाध्याय: ॥ First Adhyaya

The story begins with that Vedavyasa was living happily in Varanasi when the munis (thoughtful sages) asked him the duties of all varnas (castes). So, he began his discourse by explaining where the Vedic dharma can prevail (verse 3) and so on. According to him, Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas are twice-born i.e. they can chant Gayatri and thus, they should follow the Shrutis (Vedas), Smritis and Puranas (verse 5). The Shudra can practice dharma but without chanting the Vedic mantras, and words like svadha, svaha, vashat etc. (verse 6). He then extols different types of lower castes resulting from inter-caste marriages. One should purify oneself by a bath after talking to them and watch the sun after seeing them (verse 12). This is followed by the mention of sixteen sanskaras i.e. rituals from birth to death (verse 15) to be followed by different castes in various ways. Vedavyasa then details the do’s and dont’s of the Brahmachari.

द्वितीयाध्याय: ॥ Second Adhyaya

The second chapter with 56 verses deals with the second, Grihastha ashrama detailing the qualities of the bride and groom, marriageable castes, marriage ritual, duties of the wife and life of a widow. The relationship of the husband and wife is best expressed in the following verse 27:

छायेवानुगता स्वच्छा सखीव हितकर्मसु । दासीवादिष्टकार्येषु भार्या भर्तु: सदा भवेत् ॥ chāyevānugatā svacchā sakhīva hitakarmasu | dāsīvādiṣṭakāryeṣu bhāryā bhartuh sadā bhavet ||

Meaning: The wife should always chastely follow her husband like a shadow. She should be like his friend in welfare activities, should obey him like an attendant and the husband should always financially support her.

तृतीयाध्याय: ॥ Third Adhyaya

Vyasa begins this chapter with the three kinds of karma i.e. action namely, nitya, naimittika and kamya with regards to the householders. According to him, a Brahmin who does not study the Vedas is a Shudra (verse 11).

चतुर्थाध्याय: ॥Fourth Adhyaya

The last chapter starts with the eulogy of the domestic life that there is no duty higher than that of the householder.

गृहाश्रमात् परो धर्मो नास्ति नास्ति पुन: पुन:॥ gṛhāśramāt paro dharmo nāsti nāsti punah punah || (4.2)

It then continues with the duties of the husband and how he should conduct himself in the house especially regarding the donations to Brahmins (verse 15 onwards). Vyasa seems to be a champion of the Brahmins as he states:

ब्राह्मणात् परमं तीर्थं न भूतं न भविष्यति॥ brāhmaṇāt paramaṃ tīrthaṃ na bhūtaṃ na bhaviṣyati || (4.12)

He defines Acharya to be one who maintains the daily fires, is an ascetic and teaches Vedas along with Kalpa and Upanishads:

अग्निहोत्री तपस्वी च वेदमध्यापयेच्च य:। सकल्पं सरहस्यं च तमाचार्यं प्रचक्षते॥ agnihotrī tapasvī ca vedamadhyāpayecca yah | sakalpaṃ sarahasyaṃ ca tamācāryaṃ pracakṣate || (4.43)

उपसंहार: ॥ Conclusion

The consulted edition of the text comprising of 240 verses states itself to be a collection of the essence of all duties of an individual fulfilling all the conditions of a Smrti.

इति व्यासकृतं शास्त्रं धर्मसारसमुच्चयम्। iti vyāsakṛtaṃ śāstraṃ dharmasārasamuccayam | (4.1)

Vyasa dealt with rules of procedure and the several titles of law (vyavahara-padas) and his doctrines closely agreed in most respects with those of Narada, Katyayana and Brihaspati. He seems to represent a middle stage in the evolution of the rights of the widow to succeed to her deceased husband. Thus, it can be safely concluded that he flourished about the same time as Yajnavalkya and Brihaspati i.e. between the second and the fifth century AD.