- Sanskrit:
- “Righteousness Science”
- Related Topics:
- Manu-smriti
- Dharma-sutra
- shastra
Dharma-shastra
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What is Dharma-shastra in Hinduism?
Dharma-shastra is an ancient compilation of Indian jurisprudence that serves as the foundation for family law among Hindus, subject to modifications, across various regions, including India and beyond.
Dharma-shastra emphasizes duties over rights, the supervision of women by male relatives, and the state's responsibility to protect subjects morally and materially. Written in Sanskrit, the Dharma-shastra includes sutras, smritis, nibandhas, and vrittis.
These texts cover conduct, rites, duties across life stages, dietary rules, offenses, royal duties, purification, and juridical matters, forming the basis of Hindu law. The Dharma-shastra of Manu is influential, providing a foundation for practical morality in Hindu society.
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What does the word 'Dharma-shastra' mean?
Dharma-shastra is an ancient Indian body of jurisprudence that serves as the basis for family law among Hindus, subject to legislative changes. Rather than legal administration, Dharma-shastra is mainly concerned with the right course of conduct in every dilemma.
The Dharma-shastras elaborate on the rules of conduct and rites outlined in the Dharma-sutras. The Dharma-shastra of Manu, or the Manu-smriti (Laws of Manu), is the most important of these texts. Its 2,694 stanzas are divided into 12 chapters dealing with topics such as cosmogony, the definition of dharma, the sacraments, and the rules for women and wives.
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What topics are discussed in the Dharma-shastra texts?
Dharma-shastra texts delve into various topics, primarily focusing on the right course of conduct rather than legal administration. These texts address the duties of individuals in different life stages, dietary regulations, offenses, expiations, and the rights/duties of kings.
The Dharma-shastra of Manu covers diverse subjects such as cosmogony, dharma definition, sacraments, marriage forms, hospitality, funerary rites, dietary laws, rules for women, royal law, juridical matters, the doctrine of karma, and punishment. These texts also discuss purification rites, funerary ceremonies, forms of hospitality, and daily oblations. The framework is provided by the model of the four-class society.
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How did Dharma-shastras influence rules for daily life in ancient India?
The Dharma-shastras, ancient Indian jurisprudence texts, significantly influenced rules for daily life in ancient India by providing guidelines for conduct and duties. Rooted in the Vedas, these texts evolved from Dharma-sutras, offering rules for social, economic, and religious relations.
The Dharma-shastras cover various aspects of life, including the duties of individuals in different life stages, dietary rules, rites, and juridical matters, embedding law within religious practice. Notably, the Manu-smriti provided a basis for practical morality in Hindu society. These texts prescribed specific dharmas based on class, status, and stage of life, emphasizing duties over rights and shaping social norms. While the Dharma-shastras provided fundamental legal principles, local councils historically administered the law.
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Can you name some famous Dharma-shastra texts and their authors?
Dharma-shastra texts are ancient Indian jurisprudence that serve as the basis for family law among Hindus. The Dharma-shastra literature, written in Sanskrit, exceeds 5,000 titles and is divided into sutras (terse maxims), smritis (shorter or longer treatises in stanzas), and nibandhas (digests of smriti verses from various quarters) and vrittis (commentaries upon individual continuous smritis).
Among the most important Dharma-shastra texts are:
* The Dharma-sutras of Gautama, Baudhayana, and Apastamba
* The Dharma-shastra of Manu (Manu-smriti), also known as the Laws of Manu
* The Dharma-shastra of Yajnavalkya, whose Mitaksara commentary by Vijnaneshvara has extended the influence of the work2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How do Dharma-shastras affect law and ethics in Hindu society today?
Dharma-shastras are ancient Indian legal texts that serve as the foundation for Hindu family law, impacting law and ethics in Hindu society today. Duties are considered more important than rights, women are seen as needing continuous protection from their closest male relatives, and the state is expected to protect people from moral and material harm.
The Dharma-shastras address conduct, rites, duties in different life stages, dietary rules, and the roles of kings. They cover social, economic, and religious relations, as well as juridical matters, hospitality, and daily rituals. The Dharma-shastra of Manu has greatly influenced Hindu society’s practical morality. Actual laws came from commentaries and local case law traditions. Modern legislation has modified some aspects, like judicial divorce and equal property rights for daughters, to adjust to social changes.
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Dharma-shastra, ancient Indian body of jurisprudence that is the basis, subject to legislative modification, of the family law of Hindus living in territories both within and outside India (e.g., Pakistan, Malaysia, East Africa). Dharma-shastra is primarily concerned not with legal administration, though courts and their procedures are dealt with comprehensively, but with the right course of conduct in every dilemma. Some basic principles of Dharma-shastra are known to most Hindus brought up in a traditional environment. Those include the propositions that duties are more significant than rights, that women are under perpetual guardianship of their closest male relatives, and that the king (i.e., the state) must protect the subjects from all harm, moral as well as material.
The Dharma-shastra literature, written in Sanskrit, exceeds 5,000 titles. It can be divided into three categories: (1) sutras (terse maxims), (2) smritis (shorter or longer treatises in stanzas), and (3) nibandhas (digests of smriti verses from various quarters) and vrittis (commentaries upon individual continuous smritis). The nibandhas and vrittis, juridical works intended for legal advisers, exhibit considerable skill in harmonizing divergent sutras and smritis.
The techniques of Dharma-shastra are mainly to state the ancient text, maxim, or stanza; to explain its meaning, where obscure; and to reconcile divergent traditions, if necessary by use of the traditional science of interpretation (Mimamsa). Where possible, Dharma-shastra permits custom to be enforced, if it can be ascertained and if its terms do not conflict with the principles of Brahmans (members of the priestly class). However, Dharma-shastra provides only the basic principles of the law. The actual administration of law, the equivalent of case law, was historically carried out by local councils of elders called Panchayats.
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Ancient Hindu jurisprudence was introduced to Western scholars by Sir William Jones, an 18th-century British Orientalist and jurist. Many who followed him—e.g., Sir Henry Maine (1822–88)—believed Dharma-shastra was a kind of priestcraft, intended to keep the lower castes, the Shudras and Dalits (formerly untouchables), under the control of the higher castes. The close study of Dharma-shastra sources by German and Italian scholars, principally Johann Georg Bühler, Julius Jolly, and Giuseppe Mazzarella, showed its psychological and sociological potential. British administrators then attempted to use Dharma-shastra in actual legal adjudications, as Hindus had not historically done.
Dharma-shastra is equal in age to Jewish law (or older, if its roots do indeed go back to the Vedas, the earliest scriptures of Hinduism) and has greater continuity and longevity than Roman law. The British colonial administration in India affected the system of Hindu law by applying the traditional rules in a hard-and-fast way and by introducing the concept of precedent. Rapid social change, following foreign rule, required many adjustments to India’s body of Hindu law. There was, for example, no provision in the Dharma-shastra for the development of judicial divorce or for the allotting of equal shares to daughters along with sons in their fathers’ estate at his death. Instead of inventing new texts, legislators altered the system of Indian law that was administered in the courts, first piecemeal and later, in 1955–56, comprehensively. Gradually, as judges lost familiarity with Sanskrit, the ancient texts began to be replaced with contemporary, cosmopolitan juridical and social concepts.