The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology c11.s1.t9.4

c11.s1.t9.4

For instance, the *Dharmasūtras* as manuals of duties varied according to the Vedic *charaṇas* or schools, says he, but the *Arthaśāstras* were common to followers of all Vedic schools. This fact ought to have rendered the latter more popular or universal than the former. But there is another consideration. The rules of *Dharmasūtra* are of equal interest to all classes of men. But it is none but princes and officials that can take interest in the rules of the *Arthaśāstra*. Thus each of these kinds of *Sūtras* became confined to certain special classes, the *Dharma* to the *charaṇas* and the *Artha* to the princes and officials (pp. 10-11).