History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s4.5

v1.c6.s4.5

The *dharmasūtras* were closely connected with the *gṛhyasūtras* in subjects and topics. Most of the Gṛhyasūtras treat of the sacred domestic fire, the divisions of Gṛhya sacrifices, the regular morning and evening oblations, sacrifices on new and full moon, sacrifices of cooked food, annual sacrifices, marriage, *puṁsavana*, jātakarma, upanayana and other *saṁskāras*, rules for students and *snātakas* and holidays, śrāddha offerings, madhuparka. In most cases the Gṛihyasūtras confine themselves principally to the various events of domestic life; they rarely give rules about the conduct of men, their rights, duties and responsibilities. The dharmasūtras also contain rules on some of the above topics such as marriage and the saṁskāras, brahmacarya and snātakas and holidays, on śrāddha and pāka. It is therefore not to be wondered at that in the Āpastamba-gṛhyasūtra the topics of the duties of the Brahmacārin and the house-holder, of *atithis* and of *śrāddha* are meagrely treated as compared with the Āpastamba-dharmasūtra. The dharmasūtras very rarely describe the ritual of domestic life; they merely touch upon it; their scope is wider and more ambitious; their principal purpose is to dilate upon the rules of conduct, law and custom. Some sūtras are common to both the Āpastamba-gṛhya and the dharma sūtra⁵⁶. Sometimes the gṛhyasūtra appears to refer to the dharmasūtra⁵⁷. There are certain points which distinguish the dharmasūtras (the more ancient of them at least) from smṛtis. (a) Many dharmasūtras are either parts of the Kalpa belonging to each sūtracaraṇa or are intimately connected with the gṛhyasūtras. (b) The dharmasūtras sometimes betray some partiality in their Vedic quotations for the texts of that Veda to which they belong or in the caraṇas of which they are studied. (c) The authors of the (older) dharmasūtras do not claim to be inspired seers or superhuman beings⁵⁸, while the other smṛtis such as those of Manu and Yājñavalkya are ascribed to Gods like Brahmā. (d) The *dharmasūtras* are in prose or in mixed prose and verse; the other smṛtis are in verse. (e) The language of the *dharmasūtras* is generally more archaic than that of the other smṛtis. (f) The *dharmasūtras* do not proceed upon any orderly arrangement of topics, while the other smṛtis (even the oldest of them, viz. Manusmṛiti) arrange their contents and treat of the subjects under three principal heads viz. *ācāra*, *vyavahāra* and *prāyaścitta*. (g) Most of the *dharmasūtras* are older than most of the other smṛtis.