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The subject matter of the Dharmasastras is the gulation of a man's conduct as an individual and as a member of the society. Man is endowed with imagination and vision. He has the power to remember the past and capacity to visualise the future. The Dharmasastra and the orthodox systems of Indian philosophy agree in fundamentals. Both the ersa: and the smrti declare the sruti to be the valid authority free from all blemishes. 50 The Dharmasastra deal with the Dharma of the varnas (castes) and the asramas (stages of life). Accordingly Dharmas are divided into Varnadharma, asramadharma, irama dharma, desadharma, Jatidharma, kuladharma, apadvarnasrama dharma dharma, rajadharma and so on and so forth.51 49. MM. P.V. Kane, DHDh.S. Vol. I. 50. 51. Dr. N.R. Sharma, The Kamarupa School of Lharmasastra, ON, IT, Manusamhita, ch. I, 114-118.

19 The Dharmasastras deal with the social aspect of the samskaras that were simply suggested in some of the Grhyasutras. The smrtis represent a later and systematic development of the Dharmasutras. The Dharmasastras are also concerned with the social conduct of men rather than rituals. The content of the smrtis can be classified under three heads, namely, Acara, Prayascitta and Vyavahara. 29 Some we find in the smrtis, discussions on the rights (adhikara) of performing the sacraments (samskaras) well as minor rites and ceremonies, the worship of neo-nuranic deities on various occasions and on stages of life, which are unknown to the Grhyasutras and the Dharmasutras. of the smrtis like Narada smrti are entirely devoted to Vyavahara or jurisprudence, while others like the parasar smrti deal with prayascittas. The smrtis mark the transi. tion from the vedic to the smarta and pauranika Hinduism. They omit almost all the vedic sacrifices and intce new types of worship and ceremonies in greater cetails. smrtis deal with Varna, Jati, Asrama and cognate topics. Accordingly the beliefs and practices of the peorle reflected in the smrtis. The K.V. Rangaswami Aiyanger observes: "Smrtis are divided into five categories according to their out libx viz. Those which deal with visible i.e. worldly matters

20 (drstarthah), matters those which deal with both visible and unseen, those based on reasoning or equity (nyayamulah) and those which merely recapitulate what has been stated, by the elites (sistah). The political portions of a smrti like Manu's e.g. the six expedients or sadgunaya and four means (upaya) come under these which deal with visible results. Such portions have not absolute validity, while the others have it, because the latter have their source 52 (by presumption) in the veda (Vedmulah). It is stated in the Vasistha dharmasutra that 'Manu has declared the peculiar laws of countries, castes and families may be followed in the absence of rule of the sruti. Scholars like Radhabinod pal opines in the Tagore Law Lectures 1930, "Hindu Law was no doubt a racial law in one sense, the laws of the individual Vedic branches had originated in and developed upon a basis of common habit and legal conviction, though they nevertheless may reveal many variations 53 52. Krtya kalpataru. Vol. I. Brahmacarikanda intro. p. 31. Cf. Bhavisya drstartha smrtih kacid adrstartha tathapara / drstadrstartha rupanya nyayamuula tathapara anuvada smrtastavanya sistairdrsta tu pancami sarva eta vedamula drstartha parihrtyatu // 53. desadharmajatidharma kuladharman srutyabhavada bravin-manuh ! Vasistha 1.8-9.

21 which under the influence of external circumstances might attain considerable importance. According to the old indu view this racial law was not only binding upon the members of the racial branch but was also determinant of all legal relations that arose within the territory occupied by the branch. Men knew no law other than their own, where they could not and would not apply that, there was no law at all. Law as determined solely by personal, not by territoria. bonds of mutual dependence, yet the conception of territorial law, is not altogether foreign to the Hindu system". yar The Mahabharata itself states that it is a great Kamasastra.55 Dharmasastra, Arthasastra and Kamasastra. 56 There is The close relation between the Mahabharata and the Smrtis. Vrddhagautama smrti, the Brhaspati smrti and the Yamasmrti originally formed parts of the Mahabharata. Some of the earliest Dharmasutras refer to the puranas that testify their popularity. Caland found close relation between the Markandeyapurana and the Gautamasmrti between Visnudharmottara Purana and the Visnusmrti, between the Kurmapurana and the Usanasa smrti and between the Brahmapurana and the rites of the Kathas. 57 54. R.B. Pal, The History of Hindu Law. 1958, p. 21. 55. arthasastramidam proktam dharmasastramidam manat kamasastramidam proktam vyasenamita buddhina // Mahabharata Adi: 11.95. 56. R.B. Pandey, Hindu Samskaras, 1969. 57. R.B. Pandey, Hindu Samskaras, 1969.

22 x The commentaries on the Grhyasutra, the Dharma sutra and the smrtis give further and later informations ). about the duties and customs of the people in general and of the individual inparticular, The commentaries are more important than the texts as the Hindus of different regions follow different commentaries in deciding social and religious matters. Modern scholars reject even the authorities of Vedic passages if they are not quoted by commentators. The nibandhas or the mediaeval treatises in the form of digests gave a new orientation to the Hindu ritualistic litanies. The Grhyasutras and the Dharmasutras have close relationship with different Vedic schools and the smrtis were connected with them to some extent. nibandhas or digests do not owe allegience to any definite Vedic school. But the It is seen that there is a close relation between A particular time is the works on Dharma and astronomy. prescribed in the Grhyasutras and the Dharmasastras for the performance of a particular ritual. Tithis, naksatras and Muhurtas of different ceremonies are referred to in the works on Dharma. The Paraskara Grhyasutra states that one should marry a girl on an auspicious day of the bright

23 fortnight in the uttarayana. Some rituals are performed according to the calculation of the position of the sun where as some other ceremonies are performed according to the position of the moon. It is also warranted by some Dharmasutras. The Dharmasutras deal with the customs of everyday life to some extent, but are engaged for the most part with secular and religious laws. In one department of law, that of expiation, these sutras rooted in the Vedic hymns. The oldest sutras dealing with law may perhaps be those of Apastamba and Baudhayana belonging to the Black Yajurveda schools of that name; The Gautama belonging to the sama veda, the Visnu belonging to the katha school of the Black Yajurveda and the Vasistha of less certain association. S 59 In the Grhya and Dharmasutras which deal with the domestic and legal rules prevailing at the end of the Vedic period, the new doctrine of transmigration appears alside by side and united with the simpler view of heaven and hell, while new element appears in the conception that all creation including heaven, is periodically destroyed. 60 58. Udagayana apuryamanapakse punyahe kumaryah panim graniyat trisu trisuttaradisu / svatau mrgasirasi rohinyam va 59. 60. Paraskara Grihyasutra: Vivaha Prakarana Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. ed. James Hastings. Vol. VIII. p. 109b. Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, Vol. XI. 1

24 S The earliest law books were composed in and for the Brahmanical schools studying the various parts of the Vedas. The ancient law books have been preserved as parts of the manuals of Vedic texts studied in those schools ar as independent works. Such compositions are the Charma sastras and Dharmasutras of Apastamba, Baudhayana, Cautors Vasitha, Visnu and others. These works are composed in sutra style, either entirely in prose or more usually in mixed prose and verse. Some of these works are supposed t have been composed and written in the 5th or 6th century, B.C. or even earlier. They may have undergone many changes due to times and climes. The contents of these works are mainly religious but the positive law is also treated in them. These works are very useful for tracing the gradual development of legal institutions as well as the socio- -cultural development in India. 61 61. Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, Vol. VII, p. 852.