Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana, and Vasistha

by Patrick Olivelle

The Dharmasutras are the four surviving works of the ancient Indian expert tradition on the subject of dharma, or the rules of behavior a community recognizes as binding on its members. Written in a pithy and aphoristic style and representing the culmination of a long tradition of scholarship, the Dharmasutras record intense disputes and divergent views on a wide variety of religious and social issues. These unique documents give us a glimpse of how people, especially Brahmin males, were ideally expected to live their lives within an ordered and hierarchically arranged society. In this first English translation of these documents for over a century, Patrick Olivelle uses the same lucid and elegant style of his award-winning translation of the Upanisads and incorporates the most recent scholarship on ancient Indian law, society and religion. The fresh editions of the Sanskrit texts present new manuscript material, variants recorded in medieval commentaries and legal digests, and emendations suggested by philologists.

Genres: India, Law, History, Hinduism, Religion

767 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Patrick Olivelle is Emeritus Professor of Sanskrit and Indian Religions at the University of Texas at Austin.

Reviews

[Revanth Ukkalam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes just hierarchical, other times criminalistic and cruel, but always severely unjust - the four extant Dharmasutras are painful and entertaining to the modern reader. Who ever thought that a woman was always pure but at the same time bled every month because she shared sin with Indra? Vasishta thought. These sutras which began as portions of larger texts called Kalpa Sutras themselves appendices to the vedic canon by their latter phase came to occupy a larger space in the Brahminical imagination. Patrick Olivelle has done great services in translating them, thereby drawing away the unfair attention that Manu receives. After all, Manu owes much to these texts.

[Tejas Harad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Patrick Olivelle's translation is really good, and his introduction also contextualises the texts properly. However, reading the texts themselves is difficult, especially if you are a non-Brahmin. The Dharmasutra texts were written by Brahmins keeping other Brahmins in mind. Therefore, majority of the rules, laws, injunctions are meant for Brahmins. Other groups are mentioned only when a rule has varna-specific modifications such as punishment for a particular crime.

All the Dharmasutra texts endorse varna system. Brahmin is favoured in all situations. The texts show immense contempt towards Shudras, Chandalas and women. They are not allowed to study Vedas or set up sacred fires, the two things that are most important to a Brahmin man, which also defined his social world.

The texts are concerned with intermixing of varnas. Therefore, they spend considerable time in controlling the sexuality of Brahmin women and non-Brahmin, especially Shudra, men. The texts prescribe really harsh punishments for Shudra men who sleep with upper caste women. It doesn't matter if the sexual intercourse was consensual. The punishment for hearing, reciting or remembering Vedas for a Shudra is similarly very stringent.

The Dharmashastra texts are the bedrock of Brahmanic ideology. They were writen after the Vedas and before the Puranas. Therefore, they had considerable infleunce on the Hinduism that developed in the following two millennia.

[Kaśyap · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good translation with some historiography of the four Dharmasutras- Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana, and Vasishtha.

[Rohan Rajesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving 5 stars for the stellar translation, introduction, and historiography by Dr. Olivelle.

I'd give 0 stars to the sūtras themselves. These are some of the most ridiculous texts I've read. While not every decree is terrible, the anti-Shudra, anti-Dalit, and anti-women ideology in the text is far too easily accepted by the authors. It's additionally a miracle the Vedas were read at all given that the appearance of a rainbow (11.31) is grounds for not being allowed to recite them according to Apastambha, much less the mere presence of a Dalit.

[Caitlyn Marentette]

Would not read cover to cover again, but helpful

[Rosie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I skim read it but it does contain some interesting and rather gruesome customs