Devala-smriti (critical study)
by Mukund Lalji Wadekar | 1982 | 67,394 words
This essay represents an English study of the Devala-smriti—an ancient text attributed to sage Devala classified as belonging to the Dharma-Shastra branch of Indian literature which encompasses jurisprudence and religious law. This study deals with the reconstructed text of the Devalasmriti based on surviving references, emphasizing Devala’s unique...
1.2. The quintessence of Dharma
[Full title: (A) The distinctive religious features of the Devala-Smriti; (I) Dharma; (2) The quintessence of Dharma].
In a single verse (50), Devala declares the quintessence of Dharma that whatever is adverse to oneself, should not be performed in case of others. In other words, one should not be harmful or troublesome to others. Similar views about moral behaviour are found in other smrtis & in the Mahabharata The peculiarity of Devala is that he designates this rules as 'the Dharmas arvas va' (the quintessence of Dharma). 4 The present verse is a very famous one. It is found verbatim as a quotation from 'smrti' in the pancatantra 5. The pancatantra
073 is an old work, that had become famous even during the 6th century A.D. 6. The present verse, to be so much popular even during the period of the Pancatantra, must be of a date, quite earlier than it. This fact reflects upon the antiquity of the present verse & the work of Devala, from which probably the pancatantra might have borrowed this verse.