Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c9.s1.1

c9.s1.1

There can be no doubt that a good many Dharma Sūtras have been lost but their contents are imbedded in the Dharma Śāstras which were composed after the Christian era. The Sūtras glide insensibly into Śāstras. Manu probably marks the transition. Viṣṇu, though in Sūtra style, must be regarded in his present form as posterior to Manu. The Smṛitis, as the Dharma Śāstras are generally called, are distinct from Śruti or Revelation, but they claim to be grounded in Vedic Dharma. In his Jaiminīya Nyāyamālāvistara, Mādhavāchārya declares that Smṛitis are digests collecting and epitomising ordinances which lie scattered in the Vedas. As a matter of fact, however, the Smṛitis reflect the ideal or positive morality of the ages following the Dharma Sūtras. They develop at great length the civil law which the Sūtras had only touched.