Talk:Dharmasāstra:Smṛtis are not independent works
By Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swami
There is a wrong impression about the Dharmasāstras even among those who treat them with respect. They think that the rules and duties of the Smṛtis were formulated by their authors on their own. They call these authors “lawgivers” who, in their opinion, laid down “laws” that reflect their own views. Further, they think that the Dharmasāstras were composed in the same way as our Constitution.
Such a view gives rise to another idea. We keep amending the Constitution whenever we find that it stands in the way of certain measures being introduced. It is asked, on the same logic, why the Dharmasāstras too should not be changed according to the beliefs and ideas of the present times.
People ask me: “Why should not the śāstras be changed to suit the times? The government changes its laws, does it not?” They sing my praises and tell me: “You are like the sages, the authors of the Smṛtis. If only you make up your mind, you can change the Smṛtis to suit our times.” In effect, what they respectfully suggest is this: “Please change the śāstras as we would like them to be changed.”
If the Smṛtis really represent the views of the authors, there is nothing wrong in what these people think about them and about what they want me to do about them. But those who want the Dharmasāstras changed do not seem to know that they (the Smṛtis) do not reflect the view of the sages who composed them. What the authors of the Smṛtis have done is to present us, in an orderly fashion, what is already contained in the Vedas.
The Vedic word cannot and must not be changed at any time and on any account. The same applies to the rules and laws laid down in the Smṛtis.
I may not be capable enough, or worthy enough, to persuade you to live according to the śāstras. But changing them is certainly not my function. I have been installed here (in the Maṭha) to make people perform their duties and rites. That is according to the command of the Ācārya. I do not possess the authority to revise the śāstras according to what is felt to be convenient to the present times or what is in keeping with the new beliefs.
If the sages had created the Smṛtis on their own, to represent their own views, there would be no compulsion to accept them. If the Smṛtis are not needed, we could reject them outright. If their contents are not based on the Vedas and include rules and directions that reflect the views of the authors, then we can do without them. In this way so many people have written down so much about so many things. We too may write down whatever comes to our mind.
The Smṛtis must be looked upon as an authority for today, and tomorrow, and for all time — because they are founded on the Vedas. But what is the proof for this claim?