The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology c11.s1.t30.3

c11.s1.t30.3

In order to prove that the *Arthaśāstra* as a branch of literature is a comparatively late production, Jolly considers it to have been preceded by the *Dharmaśāstra*, and to have arisen as a branch of the latter. This attitude is wrong, says Meyer, who believes that *Dharmaśāstra* is of late growth. In Meyer's judgment the origin of ancient Indian law is not all to be traced to the Brāhmaṇas. The origins even of the religious or "priestly laws" are not to be found in the *Dharmaśāstra* literature. Their "later development" alone can be seen in it. And as for the worldly or secular laws, they arose entirely among other (than Brāhmaṇa) classes of the people and first cultivated by them.