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124
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
bring man near to the divine nature even in this world, and to beatitude in the next; while unbelief was deadly sin; and whoever, in reliance upon heretical books, questioned the divine authority of the revealed Veda and of the Dharma Sastra was to be treated as an atheist, and driven from the society of the virtuous (p. 18, 11).
The jealous care with which the study of the Veda was reserved to those privileged to use it, and the reverence with which it was to be approached and taught, accorded naturally with the sacred and exalted character thus ascribed to it. It was the especial function of the Brahman to master, to dwell upon, and to study the holy book; the two other twice-born classes, however, were also privileged to have direct access to it. The strictest precautions were taken against the possibility of any free interpretations being arrived at even by these (p. 32, 116). Self-teaching was forbidden, under penalty of the severest future punishment. And only those who sought knowledge with a right (p. 31) spirit were allowed to receive instruction. It was sin to teach for pay (p. 72, 156); knowledge should be imparted gratuitously, as the gift of God, to those only who were worthy of it. A Sûdra might not be taught either temporal or divine knowledge, on pain of damnation both of teacher and pupil (p. 99, 80). And if by any means a Sûdra acquired knowledge of the Veda, and presumed to teach, his pupil became involved in deadly sin (p. 72, 156). A woman also might not be taught. It was settled law that she had no business with the texts of the Veda (p. 247, 18).
Throughout the earlier part, and even in the body, of the Institutes, the Dharma Sástra of Manu is spoken of as the inspired exponent of the Vedas almost of equal (see p. 18 et al.) authority with them, and constituting with them the repository of all knowledge; but in the last chapter of the book is a passage (p. 359, 109) wherein the Vedangas, Mimaisa, Nyaya, Dharma Sústru, and Puranas are called the extended branches of the Vedas; and it is expressly directed that questions not capable of being solved by reference to the revealed law of the Veda shall be settled by a synod of Brahmans properly instructed and informed in this body of learning. In this list the Dharma Sastra, probably of Manu, occupies only the fourth place. Also
[APRIL, 1875.
in another (p. 207, 139) passage Manu and Vasishtha are spoken of as former lawgivers, and it can hardly be doubted that by the time the Institutes had taken their present form, there existed a philosophical and religious literature which was not all considered equally orthodox. There were also "heretical books" (p. 18, 11, and p. 72, 156), and even Sûdra teachers, which called for authoritative denunciation.
The religion inculcated in the Dharma Sástra, which probably we may safely assume to have been the active religion of the bettereducated classes, was in its essential features of an advanced and exalted character. The outlines of it may be sketched as follows:After death comes a future state of existence, for which there is a region of bliss, and regions of torment. (See p. 74, 172, et ubique, and p. 165, 53.) In one verse (p. 99, 87) twenty-one different hells are named. Every man's future destination is matter of individual responsibility solely. Alone he must traverse the valley of the shadow of death. "In his passage to the next world," says the Sastra (p. 119, 239), "neither his father nor his mother, nor his wife nor his son, nor his kinsmen will remain in his company: his virtue alone will adhere to him. Single is each man born, single he dies; single he receives the reward of his good, and single the punishment of his evil deeds; when he leaves his corpse like a log, or a lump of clay, on the ground, his kindred retire with averted faces; but his virtue accompanies his soul. Continually, therefore, by degrees let him collect virtue, for the sake of securing an inseparable companion; since with virtue for his guide he will traverse a gloom how hard to be traversed!"
Happiness or misery in the next world follow by a strict law of retribution as a consequence of the life spent in this (p. 345, and p. 355, 81). Merit and right conduct meet with immediate reward. The righteous man enters at once upon everlasting beatitude (p. 352, 54). The evil doer passes for a space into the regions of torment, and having there undergone his assigned punishment is born again into this world in some living form, animal or human, varying with the circumstances of his former misdoings.
The mode in which the process of transition is explained, involves some minute analysis. The living body is constituted (p. 346, 12) of a
