Olivelle on Dharmaśāstra

Source: YT

  • “dharma” among hindus came forth as dharmashAstra in reaction to the “dharmas” of nAstikas around 350BCE .
    • “pAshaNDa” cults of ashokan edicts and kauTilya-artha-shAstra include ajIvakas, jainas, bauddhas, brAhmaNas
    • gRhastha contrasts with pravrAjaka (with some tension harmonized by Ashrama-system); is a religious person. The former term seems to have been motivated by prAkRta parallels. gRhapati and gRhapatnI were used earlier - and replaced in later works. The replacement stems from a slight semantic shift.
  • Apastamba, gautama, baudhAyana, vasiShTha sUtras appeared first, in that chronological order.
    • “dvija” (in social sense) is absent in Apastamba as well as in patanjali-mahAbhASHya. Appears first in gautama sUtra (~200 BCE).
  • manusmRti - 0-200 CE.
    • Had kauTilya-artha-shAstra for legal and procedural elements.
    • Introduced moxa.
    • Heavily influenced later writers.
  • yAjJNavalkya-smRti (300-400 CE), eastern India, gupta patronage.
    • 9CE vishvarUpa commentary rescension closer to original. 13CE vijnAneshvara commentary rescension more emended.
    • Much versification of kauTilya-artha-shAstra.
    • Several advancments over manu
      • lekhya - documents
      • divya ordeals
      • appeals procedure.
  • Other smRtis
    • viShNu (6th CE kAshmIra).
      • anugamana.
      • Temple and image worship - pAncharAtra background.
    • nArada, parAshara.
  • Compositions ended by ~750CE. 90% dharmashAstra manuscripts lost. sangrahas and nibandhas came to eclipse them.
  • sangraha-period. Canons of 24 or 36 texts were created. Heavy on AchAra-s and prAyashcittas.
    • purANa-s were not initially considered dharmashAstra-proper. Early commentators like bhAruchi don’t quote from them. yAdavaprakAsha explicitly excludes them in his work. Later works (post 11th CE) quote them regarding topics not covered in dharmashAstra - extra shrAddhas.
  • nibandhas.
    • 13CE कृत्यकल्पतरु
    • प्रतिष्ठाकाण्ड, तीर्थकाण्ड, व्रतकाण्ड
  • Practice
    • vyavahAra-sections - more used as jurisprudence than simple “law book”. s