lose all its force by explanation of the truth on their part. They would keep a fiction as it is; and for this reason, a thorough research should be made to get at the common stock of ideas. The motives which are likely to affect a dharma-writer either of the text or of the commentary, the philosophy by which they were influenced, the social background, ought to be studied; for without the aid of these, the expressions of the writers would be largely unintelligible.
At the period of our writer the Vedas had firmly established their position, the dharma-writers had come to a definite opinion regarding the eternity and infallibility of the Vedas. The sages who established new sciences and philosophy but who did not join the heresy were received with very great veneration among the public. Sciences like mathematics, astronomy, and medicine had assumed a semisacred character, as they were supposed to be based on the Vedas, and as such could not have been neglected by a dharma-writer. People followed not dharma alone, but all Shastras, of which dharma was one. A shrewd scholar must have easily noticed that the incorporation of principles of other sciences into dharma would lead naturally to dharma's Supremacy. The science or philosophy of ritual and sacrifice also had come into existence. The different schools of dharma were at variance, Purānas with their characteristic doctrines were coming forth, the doctrine of Buddhism had gained hold on the minds of the people. The authority of the Vedas and the habit of referring to the authority of books also was questioned, if not discredited, and consequently the application of the doctrines of philosophy or some kind of reasoning was becoming absolutely necessary.
