Page:The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 4-1875.djvu/134

 April, 1875.] ANCIENT INDIA ACCORDING TO MANTI 121 GLIMPSES OF OLD INDIA AS SEEN THROUGH THE PAGES OF MANTJ. BY THE HON'BLE Ma. JUSTICE J. B. PHEAR, CALCUTTA The scheme of the Dharma which we commonly term the Institutes of Manit, is as follows : — The divine sages (whoever they may have been) approach Manu, described as the greatest and most sublime of mortals, as he is recbning absorbed in the contemplation of God, and ask Kini to apprise them of the sacred laws which are to be observed by all classes in their several degrees, and also the duties of the mixed classes. It is evident that an advanced stage of social development must have been reached before a request of such a shape as this could have been preferred. Mann at once proceeds to explain the crea- tion of the world, commencing with a descrip- tion of the nature of God, then narrating the production, or manifestation in a corporeal form, of B rah ma, -who first made the heaven above, and the earth beneath ; and afterwards the great soul, consciousness, and the five percep- tions,* altogether seven divine principles. He goes on to say that Brahma assigned to all creatures distinct names, distinct acts, and distinct occupations, as they had been revealed in the pre-existing Veda ; next that he milked out the three primordial Veda* from fire, air, and the Snn ; gave divisions to time, distin- guished between right and wrong, and assigned to every vital soul occupation and quality, which remained to it for ever through all forms of existence. In these passages, as they stand in Sir W. Jones's version of Man a, there is nolittk- inconsistency ; and the last of them assumes the doctrine of transmigration of souls, which is not expressly enunciated until tho end of the lustra. Bat by the kindness of Babu RajendraUla Mitra 1 have bean famished with a translation of the 28th sloka, which under the gloss of Kulluka Bhatta amounts merely to a declaration of the permanency of species in animal nature, what- ever be the specific character of the soul which animates the individual. Manu next declares that Bra lima, having made all creatures and liim, Mann, was ab- sorbed in the Supreme Spirit ; and lie concludes by saying that Brahuia enacted the code of laws, and taught it to him: that ho, Manu, • Smelling, hearing, eyeing, feeling, tasting. t The figures in these references ore respectively tha taught it to B h r i g a, and that Bhrigu would repeat it to the sages. Thereupon, Bhrigu takes up the discourse and gives a fresh dissertation on the scheme or i of creation and on natural philosophy, in which is manifested some knowledge of the revolution of the Moon and of the Earth : and a curious speculation on the relation between ether the cause of sound, air the cause of scents and touch, light, water, and earth. This ended, Bhrigu addresses himself to the enunciation of the Sasfrd in eleven chapters. The contrivance thus adopted for giving an ante-creation authority to the law, and to make out that it is the word of God dating from be- fore all time, is not without ingenuity. But, by strange inadvertence., both Manu and Bhrigu betray the, relatively speaking, modern character of their stand-point, by appealing to the author- ity of the wise (p. 3, 17)t, and to the recognized validity of good usage based on immemorial customs (15, 110). In truth, it is not difficult to perceive, even through the English translation, that the Dharma S&stra of Mann, as we now have it, is the work of many hands, done at various dates. Interpolations, repetitions, and additions seem to be apparent in all parts of the book. Its value, however, in regard to my present purpose is not greatly affected by this circumstance ; for it probably may be assumed, without much risk of error, that inasmuch as the character of the book is dogmatic, and not in any degree historical, the facts of society which are disclosed in it, and which sustain the fabric of instruction and commandment, did not materially differ from those which the last com- piler or editor saw around him. I shall therefore suppose that such a picture of civilization and oniditions of society as can be got from its pages will more or less correspond with a real original, and may be taken as rudely representing an India of a comparatively early period. The philosophy of the tirao to which the book may be thus referred, with respect to the origin of all things, is a strange mix- ture of refined abstraction and absurdity, Re- turning to the first page, we find that Manu ntnnl>er of tho pigo and verse in tho quarto edition of Sir W. Jones's Tnuitlat ion of Manu, ITS**.