Английская Википедия:Dharmaśāstra

Шаблон:Italic title Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:For Шаблон:Hindu scriptures Шаблон:EngvarB Шаблон:Use dmy dates Dharmaśāstra (Шаблон:Lang-sa) are Sanskrit texts on law and conduct, and refers to the treatises (śāstras) on Dharma. Unlike Dharmasūtra which are based upon Vedas, these texts are mainly based on Puranas. There are many Dharmashastras, variously estimated to be 18 to about 100, with different and conflicting points of view.Шаблон:Refn Each of these texts exist in many different versions, and each is rooted in Dharmasutra texts dated to 1st millennium BCE that emerged from Kalpa (Vedanga) studies in the Vedic era.^[1]Шаблон:Sfn

The textual corpus of Dharmaśāstra were composed in poetic verses,Шаблон:Sfn are part of the Hindu Smritis,Шаблон:Sfn constituting divergent commentaries and treatises on duties, responsibilities and ethics to oneself, to family and as a member of society.^[2]^[3] The texts include discussion of ashrama (stages of life), varna (social classes), purushartha (proper goals of life), personal virtues and duties such as ahimsa (non-violence) against all living beings, rules of just war, and other topics.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Dharmaśāstra became influential in modern colonial India history, when they were formulated by early British colonial administrators to be the law of the land for all non-Muslims (Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs) in the Indian subcontinent, after Sharia set by Emperor Aurangzeb, was already accepted as the law for Muslims in colonial India.^[7]^[8]^[9]

History

Файл:Copper plate Malla.jpg

Copy of a royal land grant, recorded on copper plate, made by Chalukya King Tribhuvana Malla Deva in 1083

The Dharmashastras are based on ancient Dharmasūtra texts, which themselves emerged from the literary tradition of the Vedas (Rig, Yajur, Sāma, and Atharva) composed in 2nd millennium BCE to the early centuries of the 1st millennium BCE. These Vedic branches split into various other schools (shakhas) possibly for a variety of reasons such as geography, specialization and disputes.Шаблон:Sfn Each Veda is further divided into two categories namely the Saṃhitā which is a collection of mantra verses and the Brahmanas which are prose texts that explain the meaning of the Samhita verses.^[10] The Brāhmaṇa layer expanded and some of the newer esoteric speculative layers of text were called Aranyakas while the mystical and philosophical sections came to be called the Upanishads.^[10]Шаблон:Sfn The Vedic basis of Dharma literature is found in the Brahmana layer of the Vedas.^[10]

Towards the end of the Vedic period, after the middle of the 1st millennium BCE, the language of the Vedic texts composed centuries earlier grew too archaic to the people of that time. This led to the formation of Vedic Supplements called the Vedangas which literally means 'limbs of the Veda'.^[10] The Vedangas were ancillary sciences that focused on understanding and interpreting the Vedas composed many centuries earlier, and included Shiksha (phonetics, syllable), Chandas (poetic metre), Vyakarana (grammar, linguistics), Nirukta (etymology, glossary), Jyotisha (timekeeping, astronomy), and Kalpa (ritual or proper procedures). The Kalpa Vedanga studies gave rise to the Dharma-sutras, which later expanded into Dharma-shastras.^[10]Шаблон:Sfn^[11]

The Dharmasutras

The Dharmasutras were numerous, but only four texts have survived into the modern era.Шаблон:Sfn The most important of these texts are the sutras of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana, and Vasistha.^[12] These extant texts cite writers and refer opinions of seventeen authorities, implying that a rich Dharmasutras tradition existed prior to when these texts were composed.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Sfn

The extant Dharmasutras are written in concise sutra format,Шаблон:Sfn with a very terse incomplete sentence structure which are difficult to understand and leave much to the reader to interpret.Шаблон:Sfn The Dharmasastras are derivative works on the Dharmasutras, using a shloka (four 8-syllable verse style chandas poetry, Anushtubh meter), which are relatively clearer.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Sfn

The Dharmasutras can be called the guidebooks of dharma as they contain guidelines for individual and social behavior, ethical norms, as well as personal, civil and criminal law.Шаблон:Sfn They discuss the duties and rights of people at different stages of life like studenthood, householdership, retirement and renunciation. These stages are also called ashramas. They also discuss the rites and duties of kings, judicial matters, and personal law such as matters relating to marriage and inheritance.^[12] However, Dharmasutras typically did not deal with rituals and ceremonies, a topic that was covered in the Shrautasutras and Grihyasutras texts of the Kalpa (Vedanga).Шаблон:Sfn

Style of composition

The hymns of Ṛgveda are one of the earliest texts composed in verse. The Brāhmaṇa which belongs to the middle vedic period followed by the vedāṇga are composed in prose. The basic texts are composed in an aphoristic style known as the sutra which literally means thread on which each aphorism is strung like a pearl.Шаблон:Sfn

The Dharmasūtras are composed in sutra style and were part of a larger compilation of texts, called the Kalpasūtras which give an aphoristic description of the rituals, ceremonies and proper procedures. The Kalpasutras contain three sections, namely the Śrautasūtras which deal with vedic ceremonies, Gṛhyasūtras which deal with rites of passage rituals and domestic matters, and Dharmasūtras which deal with proper procedures in one's life.^[13] The Dharmasūtras of Āpastamba and Baudhāyana form a part of larger Kalpasutra texts, all of which has survived into the modern era.^[13]

The sūtra tradition ended around the beginning of the common era and was followed by the poetic octosyllable verse style called the śloka.^[14] The verse style was used to compose the Dharmaśāstras such as the Manusmriti, the Hindu epics, and the Puranas.^[14]

The age of Smṛtis that ended around the second half of the first millennium CE was followed by that of commentaries around the 9th century called nibandha. This legal tradition consisted of commentaries on earlier Dharmasūtras and Smritis.^[14]

Authorship and dates

About 20 Dharmasutras are known, some surviving into the modern era just as fragments of their original.Шаблон:Sfn Four Dharmasūtras have been translated into English, and most remain in manuscripts.Шаблон:Sfn All carry the names of their authors, but it is still difficult to determine who these real authors were.^[14]

The extant Dharmasūtra texts are listed below:

Apastamba (450–350 BCE) this Dharmasūtra forms a part of the larger Kalpasūtra of Apastamba. It contains 1,364 sutras.Шаблон:Sfn

Gautama (600–200 BCE) although this Dharmasūtra comes down as an independent treatise it may have once formed a part of the Kalpasūtra, linked to the Samaveda.Шаблон:Sfn It is likely the oldest extant Dharma text, and originated in what is modern Maharashtra-Gujarat.Шаблон:Sfn It contains 973 sutras.Шаблон:Sfn

Baudhāyana (500–200 BCE) this Dharmasūtra like that of Apastamba also forms a part of the larger Kalpasūtra. It contains 1,236 sutras.Шаблон:Sfn

Vasishtha (300–100 BCE) this Dharmasūtra forms an independent treatise and other parts of the Kalpasūtra, that is Shrauta- and Grihya-sutras are missing.Шаблон:Sfn It contains 1,038 sutras.Шаблон:Sfn

The Dharmasūtra of Āpastamba and Baudhayana form a part of the Kalpasūtra but it is not easy to establish whether they were historical authors of these texts or whether these texts were composed within certain institutions attributed to their names.^[14] Moreover, Gautama and Vasiṣṭha are ancient sages related to specific vedic schools and therefore it is hard to say whether they were historical authors of these texts.Шаблон:Sfn The issue of authorship is further complicated by the fact that apart from Āpastamba the other Dharmasūtras have various alterations made at later times.Шаблон:Sfn

Шаблон:Quote box There is uncertainty regarding the dates of these documents due to lack of evidence concerning these documents. Kane has posited the following dates for the texts, for example, though other scholars disagree: Gautama 600 BCE to 400 BCE, Āpastamba 450 BCE to 350 BCE, Baudhāyana 500 BCE to 200 BCE, and Vasiṣṭha 300 BCE to 100 BCE.Шаблон:Sfn Patrick Olivelle suggests that Apastamba Dharmasutra is the oldest of the extant texts in Dharmasutra genre and one by Gautama second oldest, while Robert Lingat suggests that Gautama Dharmasutra is the oldest.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Sfn

There is confusion regarding the geographical provenance of these documents. According to Bühler and Kane, Āpastamba came from South India probably from a region corresponding to modern Andhra Pradesh.Шаблон:Sfn Baudhāyana also came from south although evidence regarding this is weaker than that of Āpastamba.Шаблон:Sfn Gautama likely came from western region, nearer to the northwestern region to which Pāṇini belonged, and one which corresponds to where Maratha people in modern India are found.Шаблон:Sfn Nothing can be said about Vasiṣṭha due to lack of any evidence.Шаблон:Sfn

Scholars have varied opinions about the chronology of these documents. Regarding the age of Āpastamba and Gautama there are opposite conclusions. According to Bühler and Lingat Āpastamba is younger than Baudhāyana. Vasiṣṭha is surely a later text.Шаблон:Sfn

Literary structure

The structure of these Dharmasūtras primarily addresses the Brahmins both in subject matter and the audience.Шаблон:Sfn The Brahmins are the creators and primary consumers of these texts.Шаблон:Sfn The subject matter of Dharmasūtras is dharma. The central focus of these texts is how a Brahmin male should conduct himself during his lifetime.Шаблон:Sfn The text of Āpastamba which is best preserved has a total of 1,364 sūtras out of which 1,206 (88 per cent) are devoted to the Brahmin, whereas only 158 (12 per cent) deals with topics of general nature.Шаблон:Sfn The structure of the Dharmasūtras begin with the vedic initiation of a young boy followed by entry into adulthood, marriage and responsibilities of adult life that includes adoption, inheritance, death rituals and ancestral offerings.Шаблон:Sfn According to Olivelle, the reason Dharmasutras introduced vedic initiation was to make the individual subject to Dharma precepts at school, by making him a 'twice born' man, because children were considered exempt from Dharma precepts in the vedic tradition.Шаблон:Sfn

The structure of Dharmasūtra of Āpastamba begins with the duties of the student, then describes householder duties and rights such as inheritance, and ends with administration of the king.Шаблон:Sfn This forms the early structure of the Dharma texts. However, in the Dharmasūtras of Gautama, Baudhāyana and Vasiṣṭha some sections such as inheritance and penance are reorganized, and moved from householder section to king-related section.Шаблон:Sfn Ollivelle suggests that these changes may be because of chronological reasons where civil law increasingly became part of the king's administrative responsibilities.Шаблон:Sfn

The meaning of Dharma

Dharma is a concept which is central not only in Hinduism but also in Jainism and Buddhism.Шаблон:Sfn The term means a lot of things and has a wide scope of interpretation.Шаблон:Sfn The fundamental meaning of Dharma in Dharmasūtras, states Olivelle is diverse, and includes accepted norms of behavior, procedures within a ritual, moral actions, righteousness and ethical attitudes, civil and criminal law, legal procedures and penance or punishment, and guidelines for proper and productive living.Шаблон:Sfn

The term Dharma also includes social institutions such as marriage, inheritance, adoption, work contracts, judicial process in case of disputes, as well personal choices such as meat as food and sexual conduct.Шаблон:Sfn

The source of Dharma: scriptures or empiricism

The source of dharma was a question that loomed in the minds of Dharma text writers, and they tried to seek "where guidelines for Dharma can be found?"Шаблон:Sfn They sought to define and examine vedic injunctions as the source of Dharma, asserting that like the Vedas, Dharma is not of human origin.Шаблон:Sfn This worked for rituals-related rules, but in all other matters this created numerous interpretations and different derivations.Шаблон:Sfn This led to documents with various working definitions, such as dharma of different regions (deshadharma), of social groups (jatidharma), of different families (kuladharma).Шаблон:Sfn The authors of Dharmasutras and Dharmashastra admit that these dharmas are not found in the Vedic texts, nor can the behavioral rules included therein be found in any of the Vedas.Шаблон:Sfn This led to the incongruity between the search for legal codes and dharma rules in the theological versus the reality of epistemic origins of dharma rules and guidelines.Шаблон:Sfn

The Hindu scholar Āpastamba, in a Dharmasutra named after him (~400 BCE), made an attempt to resolve this issue of incongruity. He placed the importance of the Veda scriptures second and that of samayacarika or mutually agreed and accepted customs of practice first.Шаблон:Sfn Āpastamba thus proposed that scriptures alone cannot be source of Law (dharma), and dharma has an empirical nature.Шаблон:Sfn Āpastamba asserted that it is difficult to find absolute sources of law, in ancient books or current people, states Patrick Olivelle with, "The Righteous (dharma) and the Unrighteous (adharma) do not go around saying, 'here we are!'; Nor do gods, Gandharvas or ancestors declare, 'This is righteous and that is unrighteous'."Шаблон:Sfn Most laws are based on agreement between the Aryas, stated Āpastamba, on what is right and what is wrong.Шаблон:Sfn Laws must also change with ages, stated Āpastamba, a theory that became known as Yuga dharma in Hindu traditions.Шаблон:Sfn Āpastamba also asserted in verses 2.29.11–15, states Olivelle, that "aspects of dharma not taught in Dharmasastras can be learned from women and people of all classes".Шаблон:Sfn

Āpastamba used a hermeneutic strategy that asserted that the Vedas once contained all knowledge including that of ideal Dharma, but parts of Vedas have been lost.Шаблон:Sfn Human customs developed from the original complete Vedas, but given the lost text, one must use customs between good people as a source to infer what the original Vedas might have stated the Dharma to be.Шаблон:Sfn This theory, called the 'lost Veda' theory, made the study of customs of good people as a source of dharma and guide to proper living, states Olivelle.Шаблон:Sfn

Шаблон:Quote box The sources of dharma according to Gautama Dharmasutra are three: the Vedas, the Smriti (tradition), acāra (the practice) of those who know the Veda. These three sources are also found in later Dharmashastra literature.Шаблон:Sfn Baudhāyana Dharmasutra lists the same three, but calls the third as śiṣṭa (शिष्ट, literally polite cultured people)Шаблон:Refn or the practice of cultured people as the third source of dharma.Шаблон:Sfn Both Baudhāyana Dharmasutra and Vāsiṣṭha Dharmasutra make the practices of śiṣṭa as a source of dharma, but both state that the geographical location of such polite cultured people does not limit the usefulness of universal precepts contained in their practices.Шаблон:Sfn In case of conflict between different sources of dharma, Gautama Dharmasutra states that the Vedas prevail over other sources, and if two Vedic texts are in conflict then the individual has a choice to follow either.Шаблон:Sfn

The nature of Dharmasūtras is normative, they tell what people ought to do, but they do not tell what people actually did.Шаблон:Sfn Some scholars state that these sources are unreliable and worthless for historical purposes instead to use archaeology, epigraphy and other historical evidence to establish the actual legal codes in Indian history. Olivelle states that the dismissal of normative texts is unwise, as is believing that the Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras texts present a uniform code of conduct and there were no divergent or dissenting views.Шаблон:Sfn

The Dharmaśāstras

Written after the Dharmasūtras, these texts use a metered verse and are much more elaborate in their scope than Dharmasutras.Шаблон:Sfn The word Dharmaśāstras never appears in the Vedic texts, and the word śāstra itself appears for the first time in Yaska's Nirukta text.Шаблон:Sfn Katyayana's commentary on Panini's work (~3rd century BCE), has the oldest known single mention of the word Dharmaśāstras.Шаблон:Sfn

The extant Dharmaśāstras texts are listed below:

The Manusmriti (~ 2nd to 3rd century CE)Шаблон:Sfn^[15] is the most studied and earliest metrical work of the Dharmaśāstra textual tradition of Hinduism.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Sfn The medieval era Buddhistic law of Myanmar and Thailand are also ascribed to Manu,^[16]Шаблон:Sfn and the text influenced past Hindu kingdoms in Cambodia and Indonesia.Шаблон:Sfn

The Шаблон:IAST (~ 4th to 5th-century CE)Шаблон:Sfn has been called the "best composed" and "most homogeneous"^[17] text of the Dharmaśāstra tradition, with its superior vocabulary and level of sophistication. It may have been more influential than Manusmriti as a legal theory text.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Sfn

The Шаблон:IAST (~ 5th to 6th-century CE)Шаблон:Sfn has been called the "juridical text par excellence" and represents the only Dharmaśāstra text which deals solely with juridical matters and ignoring those of righteous conduct and penance.Шаблон:Sfn

The Шаблон:IAST (~ 7th-century CE)Шаблон:Sfn is one of the latest books of the Dharmaśāstra tradition in Hinduism and also the only one which does not deal directly with the means of knowing dharma, focusing instead on the bhakti tradition.^[18]

In addition, numerous other Dharmaśāstras are known,Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn partially or indirectly, with very different ideas, customs and conflicting versions.Шаблон:Sfn For example, the manuscripts of Шаблон:IAST and the Шаблон:IAST have not been found, but their verses have been cited in other texts, and scholars have made an effort to extract these cited verses, thus creating a modern reconstruction of these texts.Шаблон:Sfn Scholars such as Jolly and Aiyangar have gathered some 2,400 verses of the lost Bṛhaspatismṛti text in this manner.Шаблон:Sfn Brihaspati-smriti was likely a larger and more comprehensive text than Manusmriti,Шаблон:Sfn yet both Brihaspati-smriti and Katyayana-smriti seem to have been predominantly devoted to judicial process and jurisprudence.Шаблон:Sfn The writers of Dharmasastras acknowledged their mutual differences, and developed a "doctrine of consensus" reflecting regional customs and preferences.Шаблон:Sfn

Of the four extant Dharmasastras, Manusmriti, Yajnavalkyasmriti and Naradasmriti are the most important surviving texts.Шаблон:Sfn But, states Robert Lingat, numerous other Dharmasastras whose manuscripts are now missing, have enjoyed equal authority.Шаблон:Sfn Between the three, the Manusmriti became famous during the colonial British India era, yet modern scholarship states that other Dharmasastras such as the Yajnavalkyasmriti appear to have played a greater role in guiding the actual Dharma.Шаблон:Sfn Further, the Dharmasastras were open texts, and they underwent alterations and rewriting through their history.Шаблон:Sfn

Contents of Dharmasutras and Dharmaśāstra

Файл:Oriya land grant.jpg

A facsimile of an inscription in Oriya script on a copper plate recording a land grant made by Rāja Purushottam Deb, king of Odisha, in the fifth year of his reign (1483). Land grants made by royal decree were protected by law, with deeds often being recorded on metal plates

All Dharma, in Hindu traditions, has its foundation in the Vedas.Шаблон:Sfn The Dharmashastra texts enumerate four sources of Dharma – the precepts in the Vedas, the tradition, the virtuous conduct of those who know the Vedas, and approval of one's conscience (Atmasantushti, self-satisfaction).Шаблон:Sfn

The Dharmashastra texts include conflicting claims on the sources of dharma. The theological claim therein asserts, without any elaboration, that Dharma just like the Vedas are eternal and timeless, the former is directly or indirectly related to the Vedas.Шаблон:Sfn Yet these texts also acknowledge the role of Smriti, customs of polite learned people, and one's conscience as source of dharma.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Sfn The historical reality, states Patrick Olivelle, is very different from the theological reference to the Vedas, and the dharma taught in the Dharmaśāstra has little to do with the Vedas.Шаблон:Sfn These were customs, norms or pronouncements of the writers of these texts that were likely derived from evolving regional ethical, ideological, cultural and legal practices.Шаблон:Sfn

The Dharmasutra and Dharmaśāstra texts, as they have survived into the modern era, were not authored by a single author. They were viewed by the ancient and medieval era commentators, states Olivelle, to be the works of many authors.Шаблон:Sfn Robert Lingat adds that these texts suggest that "a rich literature on dharma already existed" before these were first composed.Шаблон:Sfn These texts were revised and interpolated through their history because the various text manuscripts discovered in India are inconsistent with each other, and within themselves, raising concerns of their authenticity.^[19]^[20]Шаблон:Sfn

The Dharmaśāstra texts present their ideas under various categories such as Acara, Vyavahara, Prayascitta and others, but they do so inconsistently.^[21] Some discuss Acara but do not discuss Vyavahara, as is the case with Parasara-Smriti for instance,Шаблон:Sfn while some solely discuss Vyavahara.Шаблон:Sfn

Ācāra

Шаблон:Main Ācāra (आचार) literally means "good behavior, custom".Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Sfn It refers to the normative behavior and practices of a community, conventions and behaviors that enable a society and various individuals therein to function.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Sfn

Vyavahāra

Шаблон:Main Vyavahāra (व्यवहार) literally means "judicial procedure, process, practice, conduct and behaviour".Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Sfn The due process, honesty in testimony, considering various sides, was justified by Dharmaśāstra authors as a form of Vedic sacrifice, failure of the due process was declared to be a sin.Шаблон:Sfn^[22]

The Vyavahara sections of Dharma texts included chapters on duties of a king, court system, judges and witnesses, judicial process, crimes and penance or punishment.Шаблон:Sfn However, the discussions and procedures in different Dharmasutra and Dharmaśāstra texts diverge significantly.Шаблон:Sfn

Some Dharmaśāstra texts such as that attributed to Brihaspati, are almost entirely Vyavahāra-related texts. These were probably composed in the common era, around or after 5th-century of 1st millennium.Шаблон:Sfn

Prāyaścitta

Шаблон:Main Prāyaścitta (प्रायश्चित्त) literally means "atonement, expiation, penance".Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Sfn Prāyaścitta is asserted by the Dharmasutra and Dharmashastra texts as an alternative to incarceration and punishment,Шаблон:Sfn and a means of expiating bad conduct or sin such as adultery by a married person.^[23] Thus, in the Apastambha text, a willing sexual act between a male and female is subject to penance, while rape is covered by harsher judicial punishments, with a few texts such as Manusmriti suggesting public punishments in extreme cases.Шаблон:Sfn

Those texts that discuss Prāyaścitta, states Robert Lingat, debate the intent and thought behind the improper act, and consider penance appropriate when the "effect" had to be balanced, but "cause" was unclear.Шаблон:Sfn The roots of this theory are found in the Brahmana layer of text in the Samaveda.Шаблон:Sfn

Secondary works

The Dharmasutras and Dharmasastras attracted secondary works called commentaries (Bhashya) would typically interpret and explain the text of interest, accept or reject the ideas along with reasons why.Шаблон:Sfn

Commentaries (*bhasya*) on Dharmasastras
Dharmasastra	Author of Commentary
Manusmriti	Bhāruci (600–1050 CE),^[24] Medhātithi (820–1050 CE),^[25] Govindarāja (11th-century),Шаблон:Sfn Kullūka (1200–1500 CE),Шаблон:Sfn Narayana (14th-century),Шаблон:Sfn Nandana,Шаблон:Sfn Raghavananda,Шаблон:Sfn RamacandraШаблон:Sfn
Yajnavalkya Smriti	Visvarupa (750–1000 CE), Vijnanesvara (11th or 12th century, most studied), Apararka (12th-century), Sulapani (14th or 15th century), Mitramisra (17th-century)^[26]Шаблон:Sfn
Narada-smriti	Kalyanabhatta (based on Asahaya's work)^[26]Шаблон:Sfn
Parashara-smriti	Vidyaranya, Nandapandita
Vishnu-smriti	Nandapandita^[26]

Another category of secondary literature derived from the Dharmasutras and Dharmasastras were the digests (nibandhas, sometimes spelled nibhandas). These arose primarily because of the conflict and disagreements on a particular subject across the various Dharma texts.^[27] These digests attempted to reconcile, bridge or suggest a compromise guideline to the numerous disagreements in the primary texts, however the digests in themselves disagreed with each other even on basic principles.Шаблон:Sfn Geographically, the medieval era digest writers came from many different parts of India, such as Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh.Шаблон:Sfn

Some important nibandhas are ^[28] Шаблон:Div col start

Caturvargacintāmaṇi of Hemādri, composed around A. D. 1260-1270
Kṛtya-kalpataru of Lakṣmīdhara, a minister of the king Govindacandra of Kanauj
Nirṇayasindhu of Kamalākara Bhaṭṭa, composed around A. D. 1612
Smṛticandrikā of Devaṇṇabhaṭṭa (A. D. 1150-1225)
Smṛtikaustubha of Anantadeva (grandson of Eknāth), composed around A. D. 1645-1695
Smṛtiratnākara of Caṇḍeśvara Ṭhakkura, composed around A. D. 1314
Smṛtitattva or commonly referred to as Astāviṃśati-tattva of Raghunandana
Vīramitrodaya of Mitramiśra (A. D. 1610-1640)
Dāyabhāga of Jīmūtavāhana, composed around A. D. 1100
Vyavahāra-mayūkha & Bhagavanta-bhāskara of Nīlakaṇṭha Bhaṭṭa (17th century)
Smṛtisindhu and its summary Tattvamuktāvalī, Dattaka-mīmāṁsā of Nandapaṇḍita (A. D. 1580-1630)
Ṭoḍarānanda of Rājā Ṭoḍaramal, composed around A. D. 1572-1589, sponsored by the Mughal emperor Akbar
Dharmasindhu of Kāśīnātha Upādhyāya, composed around A. D. 1790-91

Шаблон:Div col end

The nibandhakāras discussed almost all aspects of society, but specialised in cetain topics compared to others.

Topic specialisation of *nibandhakāra*s
Subject	Author of Digests
General	Шаблон:IAST (1104–1154 CE),^[29] Шаблон:IAST (1200 CE), Pratāparuda-deva (16th-century),Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:IAST (1600–1650),Шаблон:Sfn Dalpati (16th-century), Kashinatha (1790)Шаблон:Sfn
Inheritance	Jīmūtavāhana, Raghunandana
Adoption	Шаблон:IAST (16th–17th century)Шаблон:Sfn
King's duties	Шаблон:IAST, Шаблон:IAST (16th century)Шаблон:Sfn
Judicial process	Шаблон:IAST (14th century), Kamalākara-bhatta (1612), Шаблон:IAST (17th century),Шаблон:Sfn Mitra-miśra (17th century)

Women jurists

A few notable historic digests on Dharmasastras were written by women.^[30]^[31] These include Lakshmidevi's Vivadachandra and Mahadevi Dhiramati's Danavakyavali.^[30] Lakshmidevi, state West and Bühler, gives a latitudinarian views and widest interpretation to Yajnavalkya Smriti, but her views were not widely adopted by male legal scholars of her time.^[31] The scholarly works of Lakshmidevi were also published with the pen name Balambhatta, and are now considered classics in legal theories on inheritance and property rights, particularly for women.^[32]

Dharma texts and the schools of Hindu philosophy

The Mimamsa school of Hindu philosophy developed textual hermeneutics, theories on language and interpretation of Dharma, ideas which contributed to the Dharmasutras and Dharmasastras.Шаблон:Sfn The Vedanga fields of grammar and linguistics – Vyakarana and Nirukta – were the other significant contributors to the Dharma-text genre.Шаблон:Sfn

Mimamsa literally means the "desire to think", states Donald Davis, and in colloquial historical context "how to think, interpret things, and the meaning of texts".Шаблон:Sfn In the early portions of the Vedas, the focus was largely on the rituals; in the later portions, largely on philosophical speculations and the spiritual liberation (moksha) of the individual.Шаблон:Sfn^[33] The Dharma-texts, over time and each in its own way, attempted to present their theories on rules and duties of individuals from the perspective of a society, using the insights of hermeneutics and on language developed by Mimamsa and Vedanga.Шаблон:Sfn^[33]^[34] The Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy, and its insights into the theories on logic and reason, contributed to the development of and disagreements between the Dharmasastra texts, and the term Nyaya came to mean "justice".Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Sfn

Influence

Шаблон:Main Dharmaśāstras played an influential role in modern era colonial India history, when they were used as the basis for the law of the land for all non-Muslims (Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs).^[8]^[9]^[35]

In 18th century, the earliest British of the East India Company acted as agents of the Mughal emperor. As the British colonial rule took over the political and administrative powers in India, it was faced with various state responsibilities such as legislative and judiciary functions.^[36] The East India Company, and later the British Crown, sought profits for its British shareholders through trade as well as sought to maintain effective political control with minimal military engagement.^[37] The administration pursued a path of least resistance, relying upon co-opted local intermediaries that were mostly Muslims and some Hindus in various princely states.^[37] The British exercised power by avoiding interference and adapting to law practices as explained by the local intermediaries.^[36]^[37]^[38] The colonial policy on the system of personal laws for India, for example, was expressed by Governor-General Hastings in 1772 as follows,

Шаблон:Quote

For Muslims of British India, the Sharia or the religious law for Muslims was easily available in al-Hidaya and Fatawa al-Alamgir written under the sponsorship of Aurangzeb. But for non-Muslims (followers of Dharmic religions and others such as Tribal people and Parsis), this information was not readily available.^[36] Hence the British colonial officials extracted from the Dharmaśāstra, the legal code to apply on non-Muslims for the purposes of colonial administration.^[39]^[40]

The Dharmashastra-derived laws for non-Muslim Indians were dissolved after India gained independence, but Indian Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act of 1937 continued to be the personal and family law for Indian Muslims.^[41] For non-Muslims, a non-religious uniform civil code was passed by Indian parliament in the 1950s, and amended by its elected governments thereafter, which has since then applied to all non-Muslim Indians.^[41]

Major English translations

For beginners

Olivelle, Patrick. 1999. Dharmasūtras: The Law Codes of Āpastamba, Gautama, Baudhāyana, and Шаблон:IAST. New York: Oxford UP.
Olivelle, Patrick. 2004. The Law Code of Manu. New York: Oxford UP.

Other major translations

Kane, P.V. (ed. and trans.) 1933. Шаблон:IAST on Vyavahāra (Law and Procedure). Poona: Oriental Book Agency.
Lariviere, Richard W. 2003. Шаблон:IAST. 2nd rev. ed. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Rocher, Ludo. 1956. Vyavahāracintāmani: a digest on Hindu legal procedure. Gent.

Early translations with full-text online

Jha, Ganganath (trans.), Manusmṛti with the Manubhāṣyya of Medhātithi, including additional notes, 1920.
Bühler, Georg (trans.), The Laws of Manu, SBE Vol. 25, 1886.
Bühler, Georg (trans.), The Sacred Laws of the Āryas, SBE Vol. 2, 1879 [Part 1: Āpastamba and Gautama]
Bühler, Georg (trans.), The Sacred Laws of the Āryas, SBE Vol. 14, 1882 [Part 2: Шаблон:IAST and Baudhāyana]
Jolly, Julius (trans.), The Institutes of Шаблон:IAST, SBE Vol. 7, 1880.
Jolly, Julius (trans.), The Minor Law-Books, SBE Vol. 33. Oxford, 1889. [contains both Шаблон:IAST and Шаблон:IAST]

Notes

Шаблон:Reflist

References