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Dharmasastra
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Dharmasastra is a genre of Sanskrit texts and refers to the sastra, or Indic branch of learning, pertaining to Hindu dharma, religious and legal duty. The voluminous textual corpus of Dharmasastra is primarily a product of the Brahmanical tradition in India and represents the elaborate scholastic system of an expert tradition. Because of its sophisticated jurisprudence, Dharmasastra was taken by early British colonial administrators to be the law of the land for Hindus in India.
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Dharmasastra is a genre of Sanskrit texts and refers to the sastra, or Indic branch of learning, pertaining to Hindu dharma, religious and legal duty. The voluminous textual corpus of Dharmasastra is primarily a product of the Brahmanical tradition in India and represents the elaborate scholastic system of an expert tradition. Because of its sophisticated jurisprudence, Dharmasastra was taken by early British colonial administrators to be the law of the land for Hindus in India. Ever since, Dharmasastra has been linked with Hindu law, despite the fact that its contents deal as much or more with religious life as with law. In fact, a separation of religion and law within Dharmasastra is artificial and has been repeatedly questioned. Others have, however, argued for a distinction of religious and secular law within Dharmasastra. Dharmasastra is important within the Hindu tradition--first, as a source of religious law describing the life of an ideal householder and, second, as symbol of the summation of Hindu knowledge about religion, law, ethics, etc.
Contents of Dharmasastra
All Dharmasastra derives its authority with reference to the Vedas, though few, if any, of the contents of most Dharmasastra texts can be directly linked with extant Vedic texts. Traditionally, Dharmasastra has, since the time of the , been divided into three major topics: 1) acara, rules pertaining to daily rituals, life-cycle rites, and other duties of four castes or s, 2) vyavahara, rules pertaining to the procedures for resolving doubts about dharma and rules of substantive law categorized according the standard eighteen titles of Hindu law, and 3) prayascitta, rules about expiations and penances for violations of the rules of dharma.
Combining the categorization given in the with a more descriptive catalog of the contents in Dharmasastra texts found in P.V. Kane's History of Dharmasastra presents the following list of topics:
Acara
The category of acara comprised rules governing obligations and proper conduct for all the s and asramas, closely related to Mima?sa laws of proper ritual conduct. It also had the broader meaning of conventions of practice, though still carrying the moral connotation of "right practice," i.e. the authorized practices of good people passed down over generations.
- Sources of dharma
- - the rules of the caste-based social system, such as the specific duties given to each caste and the rules for intermarriage.
- Consecratory, or life-cycle, rites - rituals that mark important occasions in a persons life such as birth, marriage, and the tying of the yajñopavitam or sacred thread.
- Asramas - the four stages of life (the student, the householder, the forest dweller, and the renouncer) and :the duties expected during each.
- Five great sacrifices - daily sacrifices by Brahmin householders to the Vedas (through teaching), the ancestors (through libations), the gods (through fire offerings), beings (through Bali offerings), and guests (through hospitality).
- Rules for food - caste-based regulations on what to eat and how to abtain food.
- Religious gifts (dana) - the caste breakdown of who is to accept and who is to give gifts. The Vedas are followed when performing sacrifices or giving gifts, since consequences for improper gift giving and receiving can be severe.
- Funerary and ancestral rites - Under this topic would fall rules regarding proper rituals surrounding the cremation of the deceased, as well as fulfilling the dvija 's obligations to his deceased ancestors through the performance of the sraddha ritual.
Vyavahara
Vyavahara is an important concept of Hindu law denoting legal procedure. Kane defines it as follows: "When the ramifications of right conduct, that are together called dharma and that can be established with efforts (of various kinds such as truthful speech, etc.) have been violated, the dispute (in a court between parties) which springs from what is sought to be proved (such as debt), is said to be vyavahara." The king’s personal dharma is inextricably linked to legal proceedings and his dharma is determined the by the merits and demerits of his subjects, therefore it is crucial he bring about justice to injustice. This is why it is stressed in the dharmasastras how important it is for the king to be fair and righteous and to appoint learned Brahmins to counsel and help him in legal matters.
- Duties of a king - Though this topic covers duties and obligations of the king (rajadharma), and thus would seem to belong under the heading of acara, the office of the king was so closely intertwined with punishment and legal procedure that, even from the time of the Apastamba Dharmasutra, duties of the king are described along with rules of legal procedure.
- Legal procedure, (Vyavahara) - according to the dharmasastras includes: court, listening to and assessing witnesses and their testimony, deciding and enforcing punishment, and the pursuit of Justice in the face of Injustice.
- Eighteen Hindu Titles of Law - make up the grounds for litigation and the performance of the legal process.
Prayascitta
Prayascittas are seen as means of removing sin, as they are undertaken to atone for not doing what is ordained or doing something which has been forbidden.
- Rules for renunciation - This topic deals with who is allowed to renounce as a sannyasin, from which of the asramas they may renounce, and what implications their status as ritually dead has on their legal and social standing.
- Categories of sin - the classification of different sins into categories depending on gravity of the sin and means of reducing it
- Expiations and penances, (Prayascitta) - means of reducing sin.
- Karma - a principle in which “cause and effect are as inseparably linked in the moral sphere as assumed in the physical sphere by science. A good action has its reward and a bad action leads to retribution. If the bad actions do not yield their consequences in this life, the soul begins another existence and in the new environment undergoes suffering for its past deeds”.
- Pilgrimage - a journey to a holy place in order obtain merit and expiate sins.
- Vrata - religious vows or rites that can be used to reduce sin
- Utsavas - festivals and religious celebrations.
- Santi - propitiatory rites undertaken in order to appease the gods when omens have revealed their displeasure.
In addition to these topics, Dharmasastra makes extensive use of the tradition of textual hermeneutics known as , which describes in great detail how to interpret the ritual texts of the Vedic corpus. The principles of have been borrowed and reapplied to a broader range of religious and legal phenomena in the Dharmasastra. Other cognate disciplines important for understanding Dharmasastra are grammar and Nyaya.
Principal Root Texts
While there are literally hundreds of Dharmasastra texts and many more commentaries and digests, the principal Dharmasastra texts include:
The Dharmasutras
The Dharmasutras are the first four texts of the Dharmasastra tradition and they focus on the idea of dharma, the principal guide by which Hindus strive to live their lives. The Dharmasutras are written in concise prose, leaving much up to the educated reader to interpret.The most important of these texts are the sutras of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana, and Vasi??ha.
The Dharmasutras can be called the guidebooks of dharma as they contain the rules of conduct and rites as practiced in the Vedic schools. They discuss about the duties of people at different stages of life like studenthood, householdership, retirement and renunciation. These stages are also called asramas. They also discuss about the rites and duties of kings, judicial matters, and even personal practices like the regulations in diet, offenses and expiations, daily oblations, and funerary practices.
Literary History
The Dharmasutras belong to the literary tradition of the Vedas. The primary Vedas are the ?g, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva. Later, these Vedic branches split into various other branches the reasons of which remain unclear.
Each branch of the Vedas is further divided into two categories namely the Sa?hita which is a collection of the foundational texts of the Vedas and the Brahma?a which is prose text that explains the meaning of the liturgy. The Brahma?a was further divided into Ara?yakas which contain the esoteric sections of the Brahma?as while the others are called the Upani?ads. The Vedic basis of Dharma literature is found in the Brahmana texts.
Towards the end of the vedic period after the middle of the 1st millennium BCE the language of the vedic texts grew very archaic to the people of that time since the texts were centuries removed form the time of their composition. This led to the formation of Vedic Supplements called the veda?ga which literally means ‘limbs of the Veda’ which consisted of ritual expositions of the Veda, grammar, astronomy, etymology, phonetics, metrics (A2.8.11).Although, these expert traditions developed within the vedic branches, they later became independent.
Style of Composition
The hymns of ?gveda are one of the earliest texts composed in verse. The Brahma?a which belongs to the middle vedic period followed by the veda?ga are composed in prose. The basic texts are composed in an aphoristic style know as the sutra which literally means thread on which each aphorism is strung like a pearl.
The Dharmasutras are a part of the Kalpasutras which give a vivid description of the rituals. The Kalpasutras are of three kinds namely the Srautasutras which deals with vedic rituals, G?hyasutras which deals with domestic rituals and Dharmasutras. The Dharmasutras of Apastamba, Baudhayana form a part of larger Kalpasutra.
The sutra tradition ended around the beginning of the common era and was followed by the simple verse style called the sloka. The period of epics and Pura?as were composed in this style. The legal texts of Dharmasastras are also composed in sloka style of which Manu sm?ti is an earliest representation.
The age of Sm?tis that ended approximately around the second half of the first millennium CE was followed by that of commentaries around the ninth century called nibandha. This legal tradition consisted of commentaries on earlier Dharmasutras and Sm?tis.
Authorship and Dates
Although the four Dharmasutras carry the names of their authors it is still difficult to determine who these real authors were. The Dharmasutra of Apastamba and Baudhayana form a part of the Kalpasutra 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. Moreover, Gautama and Vasi??ha are ancient sages related to specific vedic schools and therefore it is hard to say whether they were historical authors of these texts. The issue of authorship is further complicated by the fact that apart from Apastamba the other Dharmasutras have various alterations made at later times.
There is uncertainty regarding the dates of these documents due to lack of evidence concerning these documents. Although Kane has given some approximate dates but they are just guesses. Gautama 600 to 400, Apastamba 450 to 350, Baudhayana 500 to 200, and Vasi??ha 300 to100, all BCE.
There is confusion regarding the geographical provenance of these documents. According to Bühler and Kane Apastamba came from South India probably from Andhra. Baudhayana also came from south although evidence regarding this is weaker than that of Apastamba. Gautama may have belonged to north-western region to which Pa?ini belonged. This assumption is formed on the basis of certain terms that Gautama used which were also referred to by Pa?ini. Nothing can be said about Vasi??ha due to lack of any evidence.
Scholars have varied opinions about the chronology of these documents. Regarding the age of Apastamba and Gautama there are opposite conclusions. According to Bühler and Lingat Apastamba is younger than Baudhayana. Vasi??ha is surely a later text.
Literary structure
The structure of these Dharmasutras primarily addresses the Brahmins both in subject matter and the audience. The Brahmins are the creators and primary consumers of these texts. The subject matter of Dharmasutras is dharma. The central focus of these texts is how a Brahmin male should conduct himself during his lifetime. The text of Apastamba which is best preserved has a total of 1,364 sutras 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. The structure of the Dharmasutras 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. According to Olivelle, the reason for this kind of structure is to prepare an individual towards the performance of dharma at his initiation, which is viewed as his second birth making him a ‘twice born’ man.
The structure of Dharmasutra of Apastamba is simple and straightforward it begins with the duties of the student and ends with administration of the king. This forms the early structure of the Dharma texts. However, in the Dharmasutras of Gautama, Baudhayana and Vasi??ha separate sections are devoted to inheritance and penance. Ollivelle suggests that these changes show chronological development.
The meaning and sources of Dharma
Dharma is a concept which is central not only in Hinduism but also in Jainism and Buddhism. This reason gives it a wide scope of interpretation. The fundamental meaning of Dharma is right behavior within ritual, moral or social spears. Dharma provides the guidelines for proper and productive living in society.
The source of dharma is in the Vedas. It is believed that like the Vedas, dharma is not of human origin and therefore its existence is intangible. At the same time, dharma operates in practical ways beyond mere meaning. Some dharmas are based in the customs of different social groups for example desadharma, dharma of different regions, jatidharma, dharma of different social groups, and kuladharma, dharma of different families. The sources of these dharmas are not found in the Vedic texts. This leads to incongruity between theology and nature of dharma and the reality of rules as mentioned in the Dharmasutras.
Apastamba made an attempt to resolve this issue of dissonance. He placed the importance of Veda second and that of accepted customs of practice first. He also had realistic views about the difficulty of right judgment in dharma due to its indefinable nature. He further gives the theory of the ‘lost Veda’ and says that originally all the rules of dharma were contained in the Vedas, but now parts of those Vedas are lost.
The sources of dharma according to Gautama are sm?ti, the tradition, acara, the practice and those who know the Veda. These three sources are commonly referred to in literature. He also stated that when there is conflict between sm?ti, the tradition and the Vedas the rules of the higher authority apply. On the other hand, according to Baudhayana sm?ti is the second source and si??a which is practice of cultured people the third source.
However, the Brahmanical tradition still maintains the theological ideal that the Dharmasutras are based on vedic texts irrespective of whether it is clearly expressed or implied.
The nature of Dharmasutras is normative and this reason makes room for a scholarly debate. Some scholars argue that that these sources are unreliable and worthless for historical purposes instead to use archaeological, inscriptional, and art historical materials. Olivelle argues that the dismissal of normative texts is unwise and betrays the spirit of these documents.
- Apastamba (450-350 BCE) this Dharmasutra forms a part of the larger Kalpasutra of Apastamba.
- Gautama's Dharmasutra (600-400 BCE) although this Dharmasutra comes down as an independent treatise it may have once formed a part of the Kalpasutra.
- Baudhayana (500-200 BCE) this Dharmasutra like that of Apastamba also forms a part of the larger Kalpasutra.
- Vasi??ha (300-100 BCE) this Dharmasutra forms an independent treatise and bears no relationship to the Kalpasutra.
The Dharmasastras
Written after the Dharmasutras, these texts use a metered verse and are much more elaborate in their scope. Scholars have postulated that these texts are actually compilations of common gnomic verses of the times, known by the . Such verses were regularly cited as legitimation for legal judgments and advice. At some point these verses were gathered together into complete texts under the name of particular sages. These texts are said to have been edited and updated with additions of verses which had not previously been included. However, there is an ongoing debate amongst scholars regarding this matter. Other scholars refute the multiple authorship idea, claiming that the major texts were written by a single author at a particular time in history and remained relatively unedited as time went by. Regardless, by attributing their authorship to that of well known sages like Narada, the text takes on a superior authority. The most influential texts are listed below, along with their approximate dates:
- The (200BC-200CE) is the most important and earliest metrical work of the Dharmasastra textual tradition of Hinduism.
- The (200-500CE) has been called the "best composed" and "most homogeneous" text of the Dharmasastra tradition, with its superior vocabulary and level of sophistication.
- The (100BC-400CE) has been called the “juridical text par excellence” and represents the only Dharmasastra text which deals solely with juridical matters and ignoring those of righteous conduct and penance.
- The (700-1000CE) is one of the latest books of the Dharmasastra 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.
- The (200-400CE) is a modern reconstruction of a text that has not yet been found and may never have been recorded in written form. The attempt to author this lost Dharmasastra has been made based on a gathering of all verses attributed to the sage but pays full tribute to Manu as the ultimate authority on dharma.
- The (300-600CE) is another modern reconstruction similar to that of , specializing in vyavahara.
Commentaries and Digests
The commentaries (Bhashya) on the Dharmasastras were generally devoted to one particular text, or . The commentators saw themselves as interpreters of the texts, concerning themselves with explaining the meaning of the texts they were commenting on. The digests (nibandhas) were arranged by topic, more or less, and drew upon many different for their source material. For example, an author of a digest might focus on the topic of inheritance, and then discuss how several different address the issue. In many cases it is difficult to tell the difference between a commentary and a digest because many commentaries draw upon several outside sources to legitimate the claims they make about a specific and to attempt to reconcile any disagreements between the texts.
Principal Commentaries
Commentaries on the
- Bharuci (600CE-1050CE) is the oldest known commentator on the and talks mostly about the duties of the king.
- Medhatithi (820CE-1050CE) is the most extensive commentary on Manu that we have today.
- Manvartha-muktavali by Kulluka (1200CE-1300CE) is the most famous commentary on Manu and is very concise and to the point.
- Govindaraja
- Raghavananda
- Nandana
Commentaries on the
- by Visvarupa (750CE-1000CE) is very voluminous and compares to the , and the author quotes profusely from Vedic works.
by Vijñanesvara (1050CE-1126CE) is a legal commentary best known for its discussion of "inheritance by birth", and for its popularity within the British Law courts in all of India with the exception of Bengal and Assam.
- Apararka's (1100CE-1200CE) commentary is really in the nature of a digest and is much more voluminous than the .
- Dipakalika by (1365CE-1460CE)
- Viramitrodaya by Mitramisra
Commentaries on the
- Asahaya (500CE-750CE) commented on the , but much of his commentary was added to or revised by .
Commentaries on the
Principal Digests
Early Digests
- Krtyakalpatara by (1104-1154 A.D.) had significant influence until the 16th century. One of the largest digests, second only to the Viramitrodaya.
- by (1200 A.D.) gained large influence throughout North and South India. It is composed of three , or divisions, entitled ahnika, vyavahara and sraddhu. The text includes numerous citations and quotations which are critiqued by .
Digests on Inheritance
Digests on Religious Rites and Rituals
- Caturvagacintamani (The Philosophers' Stone for the Four Classes) by Hemadri
- Nirnaya-sindhu by Kamalakara-bhatta (1612)
Digests on the Role of the King
- Raja-niti-ratnakara by
- by (16th century) translates to The Joy of , and covers the duties of the king as a judge, as well as the timing of marriage and gifts.
Digests on Litigation and Judicial Procedure
- Vivada-ratnakara by (Early 14th century) describes the 18 titles of litigation.
- Vivada-cintamani by (Early 14th century) involved the 18 titles of litigation.
- by Kamalakara-bhatta (1612)
- Vyavahara-mayukha by (Early 17th century) is the most known part of his text, Bhagavanta-bhaskara. In 1827, the work was translated into English and later translated by Kane.
- Viramitrodaya by Mitra-misra (Early 17th century) is a digest covering every aspect of dharma The text was written for , the king of Orccha from 1605-1627. Considered to be the most extended text on the topic of judicial procedure.
- Vyavahara-cintamani by
- Sarasvati-vilasa by Prataparuda-deva (Early 1500s) was intended to cover every aspect of Dharma in order to save future commentators argument and make all future commentaries unnecessary. The work was ordered by Prataparudra-deva, a king of Orissa of the Gajapati dynasty.
- Bhagavanta-bhaskara by (1600-1650)
- by Dalpati (Early 16th century) is divided into 12 saras which cover dharma in its entirety.
Digests on Adoption
- Dattaka-mimamsa by (Late 16th - Early 17th Century) was mistakenly assumed to be a classical work on the topic of adoption and subsequently used by the British authorities as Hindu law. The digest was translated by Sutherland in 1821.
Major English Translations
1. Best for beginners
- Olivelle, Patrick. 2004. The Law Code of Manu. New York: Oxford UP.
- Olivelle, Patrick. 1999. Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana, and . New York: Oxford UP.
2. Other major translations
- Kane, P.V. (ed. and trans.) 1933. on Vyavahara (Law and Procedure). Poona: Oriental Book Agency.
- Lariviere, Richard W. 2003. . 2nd rev. ed. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
- Rocher, Ludo. 1956. Vyavaharacintamani: a digest on Hindu legal procedure. Gent.
3. Early translations with full-text online
- Bühler, Georg (trans.), , SBE Vol. 25, 1886.
- Bühler, Georg (trans.), , SBE Vol. 2, 1879 [Part 1: Apastamba and Gautama]
- Bühler, Georg (trans.), , SBE Vol. 14, 1882 [Part 2: and Baudhayana]
- Jolly, Julius (trans.), , SBE Vol. 7, 1880.
- Jolly, Julius (trans.), , SBE Vol. 33. Oxford, 1889. [contains both and ]
See also
External links
- [https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/drdavis/web/hindulaw/ The Cooperative Annotated Bibliography of Hindu Law and Dharmasastra]
- An excellent, authentic Sanskrit reference to the texts of all 18 Smritis.
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