z:\ ambedkar\vol 04\vol4 05.indd MK SJ DK YS 23 9 2013/YS 8 11 2013 186
186 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Veda. As fire, when it has acquired force, burns up even green trees, so he who knows the Veda consumes the taint of his soul which has been contracted from works. He who comprehends the essential meaning of the Veda, in whatever order of life he may be, is prepared for absorption into Brahma, even while abiding in this lower world.”
Manu however is not satisfied with this. He goes much beyond and enunciates the following new doctrine—
“By Sruti is meant the Veda, and by Smriti the institutes of law: the contents of these are not to be questioned by reason, since from them (a knowledge of) duty has shone forth. The Brahman who, relying on rationalistic treatises [1], shall contemn these two primary sources of knowledge, must be excommunicated by the virtuous as a sceptic and reviler of the Vedas . . . . . 13. To those who are seeking a knowledge of duty, the sruti is the supreme authority.”
��
1 This, however, must be read in conjunction with the precept in xii. 106, which declares arsham dharmopadesam cha veda-sastravirodhina yas tarkenanusandhatte sa dharman veda naparah “He, and he only is acquainted with duty, who investigates the injunctions of the rishis, and the precepts of the smriti, by reasonings which do not contradict the Veda.”