Essay name: Devala-smriti (critical study)
Author:
Mukund Lalji Wadekar
Affiliation: Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda / Department of Sanskrit Pali and Prakrit
This essay represents an English study of the Devala-smriti鈥攁n 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 Devala-smriti based on surviving references, emphasizing Devala鈥檚 unique viewpoints on social, religious, and philosophical aspects, particularly the Sankhya and Yoga philosophies.
Chapter 10 - Philosophical aspect of the Devalasmriti
3 (of 75)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
htt - 2 AINA. 禄 836 the Dharma that consists of two fold purusartha namely abhyudaya
& nihsreyasa. According to him, the latter purus artha can be
attained by two fold path of Sankhya & Yoga. Buddha (1) 4 also,
1 like Devala, mentions Dharma to be a means of sreyas & abhyudaya.
Thus the elucidation of both Sankhya & Yoga, that constitute
the second purus artha, is relevant & necessary.
2) THE TWOFOLD PURUS膧RTHA :
Devala (2201-2209) maintains that purusartha i.e. and or aim
of human life is of two kinds namely (1) abhyudaya wordly
prosperity, (2) ni岣reyasa - spiritual uplift or final beatitude.
The first human end, that of abhyudaya was explained by the author
in the previous portion. This means that according to Devala,
one can secure worldly prosperity by following Dharma, explained
earlier. While the second purus artha can be acquired by two ways
namely by the path of Sankhya & that of Yoga. The fruit or aim
& end of both of them is the emancipation in the form of complete
cessation of the cycle of birth, death and the consequent
sufferings. Both these Sankhya & Yoga
-
-
are said to constitute
the second purusartha, namely nihsreyasa & hence both form
the part of the entire Dharma of human beings.
But it is remarkable that some terms (e.g.atyant膩bh膩va,
apavarga, abhyudaya & nihsreyasa etc.) are more current in the
1 Vaisesika system of philosophy. The division of purus膩rtha
into abhyudaya & nihsreyasa naturally reminds the Vaisesika
sutra (I.I) - 'Yato'bhyudayanihsreyas asiddhi岣� sa dharmah' &
F
