The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c16.s1.t3.15

c16.s1.t3.15

*Dharma* (law) is the creation of the state, and the state, as such, has the sanction of *danda*. Theoretically, therefore, every *dharma*, if it is nothing but *dharma*, is *ipso facto* what should be called “positive” in the Austinian sense. *Dharma* is obeyed as *dharma*, only because of the coercive might of the state. All *dharma-śâstras*, i. e. the legal text books e. g. those of Manu, Yâjnavalkya, Nârada, Brihaspati, and others, would thus automatically acquire the character of “statute”-books simply because their validity, provided they have any validity, depends on the authority of the state. The Yâjnavalkyas and Manus would obviously have no “sanction” in a condition of *mâtsya-nyâya*.