Parasara- Smriti- Parasara Madhava Acharakanda with the Gloss by Madhavacharyya Volume 1 (An Old and Rare Book)

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WE ARE happy to release the Volume One of Mm. Chandra- känta Tarkälaņkāra's annotated edition of Paraśara Madhava or Paraśara Smrti with the gloss of Mädhavāchārya Vidyäranya. The Second Volume containing the Prayaschitta Kanda and the Vyavahdra Kanda, was published last year. The publication of the present volume has been unavoidably delayed as some portions of it could not be brought under photo offset process and had to be done through letter press. The Society published the original edition in its Bibliotheca Indica Series as early as 1890-93. Naturally it went out of print long ago, and even the Society's library copies have become too brittle to handle. We are thankful to the authorities of the Šamkara Vidyābhavana Chatuspäthi, Tärakeswara and of the Sanskrit College, Calcutta, for kindly lending their copies which were found to be rather in a better state.

In tune with the well-known concept of Manu, Acharah prabhavo Dharmah Parāśara observes in the opening kända of his treatise that he is truly a religious man who follows the prescriptions of achara (Chaturņāmapi varņānăm achire Dharmapalakah). Acharakânda, the first part of the Samhita, discusses the basic duties of all the four varņas, their domestic and socio-religious rites and ceremonies and also norms of their social relationship, but in a spirit of accommodation with the changing character of the age. Mādhavāchāryya, a scholar of deep erudition, possessing wide experience of men and matters, felt the need of explaining the inner significance of the social regulations in order to standardise life against the background of some fixed values.