Asvatantra
Medhatithi on the Non-Independence of Women
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.25457Keywords:
Dharmaśāstra, Strīdharma, Manusmṛti, Hindu law, Women, MedhātithiAbstract
Traditionally considered timeless and static, dharma is necessarily rooted in the customs of people and, therefore, a function of changing times and beliefs. The purpose of this paper is to analyse how medieval Brahmanical scholars understood, justified, and interpreted dharma within the scholastic tradition and whether it was possible to reinterpret various prescriptive rules to suit the social milieu of their times. These reinterpretations, if they can be sufficiently attested through scholarship, must have their roots in historical realities. Whether the tradition wishes to accommodate change or resist it, scholarly readings and commentaries provide a valuable insight into how law was read and interpreted by the Brahmanical scholastic tradition. This paper studies the dharmic norms relating to the dependence (asvatantrya) of women as interpreted by the tenth-century commentator Medhatithi, writing on the Manavadharmasastra. Medhatithi’s lengthy commentary on controversial points suggests a vibrant scholastic debate in which interpretations varied and certain historical realities had been taken into account.
References
Primary Sources
Arthasastra. Trans. P. Olivelle, King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra: A New Annotated Translation. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Atharva Veda. Trans. R. T. H. Griffith, The Hymns of the Atharvaveda. 1895.
Brhaspati Smrti. Trans. Julius Jolly, The Minor Law Books (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 33). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1889.
Dharmasutras: Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana, and Vasistha. Ed. and trans. P. Olivelle, Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana, and Vasistha, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1999.
Manavadharmasastra (MDh). Ed. and trans. P. Olivelle, Manu’s Code of Law: A Critical Edition and Translation of the Manavadharmasastra. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Medhatithi: Manubhasya (MnBh). Ed. P. Olivelle, (n.d.). Searchable Electronic Edition of the Manubhasya commentary of Medhatithi on the Manava-dharmasastra, Transcribed, Edited, Formatted, and Color-Coded by Patrick Olivelle. https://sites.utexas.edu/sanskrit/resources/dharmasastra/medhatithi. Bold type in quotations indicates words quoted by Medhatithi from MDh.
Narada Smrti (NSm). Trans. Julius Jolly, The Minor Law Books Law-Books (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 33). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1889.
Sukraniti. Trans. Sarkar et al., The Sukraniti, 2nd ed. Allahabad: Panini Office, 1923.
Visnudharmasutra. Trans. Julius Jolly. The Institutes of Vishnu. Sacred Books of the East, vol. 7. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1880.
Yajñavalkyasmrti. Trans. P. Olivelle, Yajnavalkya: A Treatise on Dharma. Murty Classical Library of India, 2019.
Secondary Sources
Altekar, A. S. 1938. The Position of Women in Hindu Civilization, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day. Benares: Hindu University.
Brick, D. 2010. ‘The Dharmasastric Debate on Widow-Burning.’ Journal of the American Oriental Society 130 (2).
——2014. ‘The Widow-Ascetic under Hindu Law.’ Indo-Iranian Journal 57 (4): 353–83.
Bühler, Georg. 1886. The Laws of Manu: Translated with Extracts from Seven Commentaries. The Sacred Books of the East, vol. 25. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Davis, Donald R. 2010. Spirit of Hindu Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Davis, D. and Brick, D. 2017. Social and Literary History of Dharmasastra: Commentaries and Legal Digests. The Oxford History of Hinduism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Derrett, J. Duncan M. 1976. Essays in Classical and Modern Hindu Law. Volume One: Dharmasastra and Related Ideas. Leiden: Brill.
Doniger, W. 2014. On Hinduism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Freschi, E. and Pascucci, M. 2021. ‘Deontic Concepts and Their Clash in Mimamsa: Towards an Interpretation.’ Theoria 87: 659–703.
Freschi, E., A. Ollett and M. Pascucci. 2019. ‘Duty and Sacrifice: A Logical Analysis of the Mimamsa Theory of Vedic Injunctions.’ History and Philosophy of Logic 40 (4): 323–54.
Jamison, S. W. 1996. Sacrificed Wife/Sacrificer’s Wife: Women, Ritual, and Hospitality in Ancient India. New York: Oxford University Press.
——2017. ‘Women: Stridharma.’ In P. Olivelle and D. R. Davis (eds), Hindu Law: A New History of Dharmasastra: 137–50. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Jha, Ganganatha. 1929. Manusmrti: With the ‘Manubhasya’ of Medhatithi Text, Translation and Notes. Volume X (Part III): Comparative Notes. Calcutta: University of Calcutta.
Kane, P. V. 1925. ‘The Predecessors of Vijñanesvara.’ Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 1 (2).
——1930. History of Dharmasastra: Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law, vol. I. Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.
——1941. History of Dharmasastra: Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law, vol. II. Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.
Lariviere, R. W. 2004. ‘Dharmasastra, Custom, “Real Law” And “Apocryphal” Smrtis.’ Journal of Indian Philosophy 32 (5/6): 611–627.
Olivelle, P. 2016. A Dharma Reader: Classical Indian Law. New York: Columbia University Press.
Pal, Pratapaditya. 1988. Indian Sculpture: 700–1800. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Ray, S. C. 1957. Early History and Culture of Kashmir. India: Dutt.
