Dharmashastras
Topic: Society in Early India: Kinship, Varna-Jati, Women · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 3 "Kinship, Caste and Class - Early Societies"
Meaning
The Dharmashastras are Sanskrit texts that set out rules of social behaviour. They covered marriage, property, the duties of each varna (the four ranked social orders), and punishments. Brahmanas began compiling such codes, first as the shorter Dharmasutras, from c. 500 BCE. They were partly a response to the new towns, where old beliefs were being questioned. The most important Dharmashastra is the Manusmriti (c. 200 BCE – 200 CE). Other Dharmashastras followed in c. 300–600 CE. Historians treat them as normative texts: they tell us what Brahmanas thought society should be like, not always how people actually lived.
Example
The Manusmriti divides a father's property equally among his sons, with an extra share for the eldest, and leaves women out. It also recognises eight forms of marriage, of which only the first four are called "good".
Don't confuse with
- Dharmasutras: these are the earlier, shorter Sanskrit codes (c. 500–200 BCE). The Dharmashastras, such as the Manusmriti, are later and longer.
Related concepts
- Dharmasutras
- Manusmriti
- Narada Smriti
- Yajnavalkya Smriti
- Mahabharata
- Critical Edition of the Mahabharata
- V.S. Sukthankar
- Dharma