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Vishnu Smriti (IAST: Viṣṇu Smṛti) is one of the latest books of the Dharmaśāstra tradition in Hinduism. The text has a strong bhakti orientation, requiring daily puja to the god Vishnu. It is also known for its handling controversial subject of the practicing sati (the burning of a widow on her husband’s funeral pyre). A Varanasi pandit, Nandapandita, was the first to write a commentary (bhashya) on the Vishnu Smriti in 1622, but the book was not translated into English until 1880 by Julius Jolly.[1]
Source, authority and dating edit
It is commonly agreed upon that the Vishnu Smriti relies heavily on previous Dharmashastra texts, such as the Manusmriti and Yajnavalkya smrti. Precise dating eludes scholars, with limits being placed anywhere between 300 BCE and 1000 CE or even more ancient.[2]
Olivelle shows that the text was old from following arguments : 1) the centrality of written documents and events which occurred in the Common Era being cited within the text, 2) the vocabulary used 3) the fact that the Vishnu Smriti is the only Dharmaśāstra to mention satī or to deal comprehensively with tīrthas.
Structure edit
The Vishnu Smriti is divided into one hundred chapters, consisting mostly of prose text but including one or more verses at the end of each chapter. The premise of the narration is a frame story dialogue between the god Vishnu and the goddess Earth (Prithvi). This frame story remains present throughout the text, unlike many Dharmaśāstras where the simple expounding of laws takes over for the majority of the books.
The text begins when Vishnu realizes that Earth is submerged underwater. He dives in to rescue her, lifting her up out of the water and exposing her surface. Earth is grateful but worries who will continue to support her in the future. Vishnu then assures her that she should not worry because, “Good people who take delight in the conduct of the social classes and the orders of life who are totally devoted to the śāstras, O Earth, will support you. The task of caring for you is entrusted to them.” (1.47). Having been comforted, the Earth continues, asking, “Tell me, O Eternal One, the Laws of the social classes and orders of life.” (1.48-1.49). From this question, Vishnu then launches into his teachings of dharma.[3]
Content edit
The following is a breakdown of the subjects discussed in each of the 100 chapters of the Vishnu Smriti:[4]
- I—Vishnu and the Goddess of the Earth
- II—The Four Castes
- III—Duties of the King
- IV—Weights and Measures
- V—Criminal and Civil Law
- VI—Law of Debt
- VII—Writings
- VIII—Witnesses
- IX-XIV—Ordeals
- XV-XVIII—Inheritance
- XIX-XX—Funeral Ceremonies
- XXI—Funeral Oblations
- XXII-XXIII—Impurity
- XXIV-XXVI—Women
- XXVII-XXXII—Sacraments
- XXXIII-XLII—Crimes
- XLIII—Hells
- XLIV-XLV—Transmigration
- XLVI-LVII—Penances
- LVIII-LXX—Duties of a Householder
- LXXI—Rules for a Snātaka
- LXXII—Self-restraint
- LXXIII-LXXXVI—Śrāddhas
- LXXXVII-XCIII—Pious Gifts
- XCIV-XCV—The Hermit
- XCVI—The Ascetic
- XCVII—Meditation on Vishnu
- XCVIII-C—Conclusion
Notes edit
- ^ Olivelle 2007: 149-150.
- ^ Those who argue that sutras from the Kathakagrhya and metrical verses were added later place the text's original composition at somewhere between 300 BCE and 100 CE, followed by a more current, edited version which appeared between 400 and 600 CE.
- ^ Olivelle 2007: 155-156
- ^ "The Institutes of Vishnu (SBE07) Index". Sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
References edit
- Patrick Olivelle. "The Date and Provenance of the Viṣṇu Smṛti." Indologica Taurinensia, 33 (2007): 149-163.
- The Institutes of Vishnu. Trans. Julius Jolly. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1880. [1]