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Dharmasutras
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. About 20 Dharmasutras are known, some surviving into the modern era just as fragments of their original. The extant Dharmasūtra texts are listed below:
Apastamba this Dharmasūtra forms a part of the larger Kalpasūtra of Apastamba. It contains 1,364 sutras.
Gautama although this Dharmasūtra comes down as an independent treatise it may have once formed a part of the Kalpasūtra, linked to the Samaveda. It is likely the oldest extant Dharma text, and originated in what is modern Maharashtra-Gujarat. It contains 973 sutras.
Baudhāyana this Dharmasūtra like that of Apastamba also forms a part of the larger Kalpasūtra. It contains 1,236 sutras.
Vāsiṣṭha this Dharmasūtra forms an independent treatise and other parts of the Kalpasūtra, that is Shrauta- and Grihya-sutras are missing. It contains 1,038 sutras.
Dharmaśāstra
Dharmaśāstra
Sanskrit: धर्मशास्त्र) is a genre of Sanskrit theological texts, and refers to the treatises (śāstras) of Hinduism on dharma. There are many Dharmashastras, variously estimated to be 18 to about 100, with different and conflicting points of view. 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.
The textual corpus of Dharmaśāstra were composed in poetic verses, are part of the Hindu Smritis, constituting divergent commentaries and treatises on duties, responsibilities and ethics to oneself, to family and as a member of society. 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.
The extant Dharmaśāstras texts
The extant Dharmaśāstras texts
Manusmriti is the most studied and earliest metrical work of the Dharmaśāstra textual tradition of Hinduism. The medieval era Buddhistic law of Myanmar and Thailand are also ascribed to Manu, and the text influenced past Hindu kingdoms in Cambodia and Indonesia.
Yājñavalkya Smṛti has been called the "best composed" and "most homogeneous" 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.
Nāradasmṛti 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.
Viṣṇusmṛti 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.
What is Apastamba Dharmasutra?, Explain Apastamba Dharmasutra, Define Apastamba Dharmasutra
What is Apastamba Dharmasutra?, Explain Apastamba Dharmasutra, Define Apastamba Dharmasutra
Āpastamba Dharmasūtra is a Sanskrit text and one of the oldest Dharma-related texts of Hinduism that have survived into the modern age from the 1st-millennium BCE. It is one of three extant Dharmasutras texts from the Taittiriya school of Krishna Yajurveda, the other two being Baudhayana Dharmasutra and Hiranyakesin Dharmasutra.The Gautama Dharmasutra is part of Apastamba Kalpasutra collection, along with Apastamba Shrautasutra and Apastamba Grihyasutra. It is one of the best preserved ancient texts on Dharma.The text is notable for its broad minded and liberal views on women and all social classes. It is also notable for mentioning and citing views of ten ancient experts on Dharma, which has led scholars to conclude that there existed a rich genre of Dharmasutras text in ancient India before this text was composed.
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