Dharma Sutras

(“aphorisms on dharma”) The earliest
texts specifically devoted to dharma—
191
Dharma Sutras
rules of conduct for various social
groups, moral duties, rights, and obligations. These were composed as collections of aphorisms, some so brief that
they virtually presuppose commentary,
and were written between the seventh
and second century B.C.E. According to
theory, the Dharma Sutras were the third
and final part of a Kalpa Sutra (complete handbook of religious practice),
which would also contain prescriptions
for Vedic rituals (Shrauta Sutras) and
domestic rites (Grhya Sutras). Each
Kalpa Sutra was theoretically connected
with one of the four Vedas, the oldest
Hindu religious texts, and was thus the
“family property” of the brahmins
(priests) connected with that Veda. A
particular Dharma Sutra was associated
with a particular group of brahmins and
was primarily intended as a manual for
their behavior.
The real picture is far more complex,
since more than twenty collections of
Dharma Sutras have been identified,
although the most important are attributed to sages and writers Apastamba,
Gautama, Vasishtha, Baudhayana, and
the god Vishnu. These Dharma Sutras
were an attempt to provide an ordered
way of life by delineating each person’s
rights and duties depending on his or
her social status (varna) and stage of life
(ashrama). These texts were the basis for
the later Dharma Shastras (treatises on
religious duty), which expanded the
sutras, put them into verse, and were
intended to serve as an actual code of
law for the members of the community.