A History of Hindu Political Theories from the Earliest Times to the End of the First Quarter of the Seventeenth Century A.D. c8.s3.4

c8.s3.4

The concept of Dharma introduces us to the grand notion of our authors which has been just mentioned, namely, the notion of the social order. As conceived in the Dharmasūtras, the concept presupposes the division of society into a number of component parts, such as the four castes (varṇas) and the four stages of life (āśramas), each of which is subject to a specific body of rules. The source of these social divisions as well as of the rules binding them is said to lie in the will of the Supreme Being. It therefore follows that Society, as here conceived, is the rule of Law, the Law being held to be imposed from without by the Divine will.∗ This avowed belief in the dogmatic basis of the social order might seem to exclude all possibilities of rational speculation in respect of its nature. Such, however, is not the case in actual practice. In the social scheme unfolded in the Dharmasūtras, one may detect beneath the outer garb of dogma a keen appreciation of the principle of specialization and division of labour, as well as that of the organic unity of society. “Brahman forsooth,” so runs a passage of Baudhāyana, “placed its majestycont