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Åspects of Brahmanıcal Influence on the Faina Niythology
1/3 for meeting domestic expenses and the reinaining 1/3 for being equally divided among all the brothers and sisters. Thus freeing himself from the worldly obligations a twice-born man should renounce his home and hearth to take to the life of a recluse 82
Other Samskāras, as enumerated above, are to our knowledge, without their parallels in the Brahmanıcal mode of life. Those, in fact, refer to the different stages through which a man has to pass after the renunciation of the world and worldliness till his attainment of Finahood We, liowever, close our survey of the present topic without dilating upon the remaining rites anymore
The Puranas on the Ethical and Philosophical Planes
Our study of the Brahmanical cpic-Purānic works reveals that the conservation of moral values bas been the main concern of the epic-Purāņıc authors In fact, the epic-Puranic teachings stand for the preservation of human values and culuvation of all such qualilies as make man worth his name All the definitions of Dharma as embodied in the MBh point to the same truth For, we are told that non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, kindness, control of the senses and straightforwardness of heart are the undisputed characteristics of Dharma 83 The imperativeness of preserving society through the strict observance of moral and ethical laws has been stressed over and over again. Dharma, according to other expositions of the topic, was ordained for the well-being of the creatures, therefore, that which leads to the well-being of all creatures) is Dharma 84 And further "that which is frec from
82 MP 38 150-166 83 अहिंसा सत्यमस्तेयमानश स्यं दमस्तथा । पार्जव चैव राजेन्द्र निश्चित धर्मलक्षणम् ।
|--MBh XIII 22.18 84 garufu wargt gati य. स्यात् प्रभवसयुक्त स धर्म इति निश्चय ॥
-Ibid , XII 109.12
