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History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s3: 3. When Dharmaśāstra works were first composed

History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s3

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3. When Dharmaśāstra works were first composed

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An important question is to find out when formal treatises on *dharma* began to be composed. It is not possible to give a definite answer to this question. The Nirukta (III. 4-5) shows that long before Baudhāyana mentions by name several writers on dharma, viz. Aupajaṅghani, Kātya, Kāśyapa, Gautama, Maudgalya and Hārīta. Āpastamba also cites the views of numerous sages such as those of Kaṇva, Kautsa, Hārīta and others. There is a Vārtika which speaks of Dharmaśātra⁵⁰. Jaimini speaks of the duties of a Śūdra as laid down in the dharmaśāstra⁵¹. Patañjali shows that in his days *dharma-sūtras* existed and that their authority was very high, being next to the commandments of God⁵². He quotes verses and dogmas that have their counterparts in the dharmaśūtras. The foregoing discussion establishes that works on the *dharmaśāstra* existed prior to Yāska or at least prior to the period 600-300 B. C. and in the 2nd century B. C. they had attained a position of supreme authority in regulating the conduct of men.

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⁵⁰ धर्मशास्त्रं च तथा। Vide महाभाष्य vol. I, p. 242.

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⁵¹ शूद्रश्च धर्मशास्त्रत्वात्। पू. मी. सू. VI. 7. 6.

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⁵² नैवेश्वर आज्ञापयति नापि धर्मसूत्रकाराः पठन्ति अपवादैरुत्सर्गा बाध्यन्तामिति । महाभाष्य vol. I, p. 115 and vol. II, p. 365. पतञ्जलि quotes आम्राश्च सिक्ताः पितरश्च प्रीणिताः (vol. I. p. 14) for which vide आप. ध. सू. I. 7. 20. 3 तद्यथाम्रे फलार्थे निर्मिते छाया गन्ध इत्यनूत्पद्येते. पतञ्जलि says 'तैलं न विक्रेतव्यं मांस न विक्रेतव्यम् ' and लोमनखं स्पृष्ट्वा शौचं कर्तव्यम् (vol. I p. 25).

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In this book the whole of the extant literature on *dharma* will be dealt with as follows:—First come the dharmasūtras, some of which like those of Āpastamba, Hiraṇyakeśin and Baudhāyana form part of a larger Sūtra collection, while there are others like those of Gautama and Vasiṣṭha which do not form part of a larger collection; some *dharmasūtras* like that of Viṣṇu are, in their extant form, comparatively later in date than other *sūtra* works; some *sūtra* works like those of Śaṅkha-Likhita and Paiṭhīnasi are known only from quotations. Then early metrical smṛtis like those of Manu and Yājñavalkya will be taken up for discussion; then later versified smṛtis like that of Nārada; there are many smṛti works like those of Bṛhaspati and Kātyāyana that are known only from quotations. The two epics, the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa, and the Purāṇas also have played a great part in the development of the Dharmaśāstra. The commentaries on the smṛtis, such as those of Viśvarūpa, Medhātithi, Vijñāneśvara, Aparārka, Haradatta will be next passed in review and then the digests on *dharma* such as the works of Hemādri, Toḍaramalla, Nīlakaṇṭha and others.

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It is very difficult to settle the chronology of the works on dharmaśāstra, particularly of the earlier ones. The present writer does not subscribe to the view of Max Müller (H. A. S. L. p. 68) and others that works in continuous Anuṣṭubh metre followed sūtra works⁵³. Our knowledge of the works of that period is so meagre that such a generalisation is most unjustifiable. Some works in the continuous śloka metre like the Manusmṛti are certainly older than the Viṣṇudharmasūtra and probably as old as, if not older than, the Vasiṣṭhadharmasūtra. One of the earliest extant dharmasūtras, that of Baudhāyana, contains long passages in the śloka metre, many of which are quotations and even Āpastamba has a considerable number of verses in the śloka metre. This renders it highly probable that works in the śloka metre existed before them. Besides a large literature on *dharma* existed in the days of Āpastamba and Baudhāyana which has not come down to us. In the absence of that literature it is futile to dogmatise on such a point.

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⁵³ Vide S. B. E vol. II, p. IX, but see Goldstücker's Pāṇini (pp. 59, 60, 78) against Max Müller and Prof. D. R. Bhandarkar's Carmichael lectures for 1918, pp. 105-107.

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