Hinduism and Law
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The function of interpretation served to keep the legal texts attuned to the changing needs of society. It was the task of the commentators and the digest writers to relate the general principles found in the texts to the current society in which the commentator was writing. These techniques were originally developed for interpretation of Vedic texts to determine the exact procedures for the ritual.
Thus, the validation of any interpretation was found in its implementation. It was the design of these texts to prescribe rules that would guide each member of society so that he might live his life as fully in accordance with dharma as possible. This meant that as society changed, the prescriptions for righteousness contained in the texts needed to be adapted to those changes.
The range of human activity regulated by the provisions of these texts is remarkable. Large categories such as marriage, ritual purity, inheritance, criminal law , and a basic commercial law are covered, but so are the minutiae of daily life: The sophistication of the rules of legal procedure indicate a long-standing juridical tradition whose evolution can be vaguely traced through the increasingly sophisticated treatment of topics such as the administration of ordeals.
The earliest texts know only two ordeals: Later texts know as many as nine ordeals. Every individual has a dharma that is a constellation of duties and responsibilities that are unique to him, because each individual has different capacities for righteousness. An individual's capacity for righteousness is determined by his birth, and his birth is determined by his karma.
Temples, deities, and the law Richard Davis Part of a series on Hinduism Hindu History Concepts. Hindu legal practice in premodern India Axel Michaels 4. This volume comprises sixteen essays by a diverse group of distinguished scholars, and is divided into three parts: Prior to the British colonial rule, Muslim law was codified as Fatawa-e-Alamgiri , but laws for non-Muslims — such as Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis — were not codified during the years of Islamic rule. An attempt was then to find any old surviving Sanskrit text that mentioned elements of law, and this is how Western editors and translators arrived at the equation that "dharma shastra equals lawbook, code or Institute", states Rocher. Covering the earliest Sanskrit rulebooks through to the codification of 'Hindu law' in modern times, this interdisciplinary volume examines the interactions between Hinduism and the law.
Thus every individual cannot be expected to meet the same standard. The same reasoning is employed in the standards of behavior applied to members of society. It was this aspect of the Indian legal tradition that most alienated the British when in they decided that they should assume the responsibility for the enforcement of laws in the territories controlled by them. Only after they had instituted sweeping changes in personal laws such as those dealing with inheritance, marriage, adoption, etc.
In their defense it must be said that the traditional lack of concern for precedent, the fragmentary nature of the legal system, and the reliance on largely uncodified custom made the task of British administrators of Hindu law extremely difficult.
LAW AND RELIGION: LAW AND RELIGION IN HINDUISM
It was the intention of the British to remove these uncertainties by providing a codified "Hindu Law. Having created it judicially, the British and their heirs in independent India were left with the task of legislatively reforming this new "Hindu Law.
The courts of modern India continue the process. Since the Indian "legal" tradition is so integral a part of the religious and philosophical ideas of the Hindu tradition, it was inevitable that it would be exported to Southeast Asia when that region became "Indianized" a process lasting for centuries, but beginning in the early centuries of the common era.
As a result of the adoption of these Indian religious and philosophical ideas by the Southeast Asian countries, the idea of dharma came to be central in the legal systems of this region as well. Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Java, and Champa all adopted the Hindu ideal of law based on a natural and moral order of the universe.
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As an integral part of this idea of dharma the Hindu concept of kingship was also adopted in these regions of Southeast Asia. Though these were originally Hindu ideas, they were integrated into Buddhist kingdoms by the convention of explaining in the introductions to legal texts that a sage by the name of Manu was inspired by the Buddha to discover the eternal laws and to make them available to the world.
This fact probably contributed to the role assumed by these texts, which function much more as exemplary statements of general standards of conduct than as statements of actual law. Each of the cultures of Southeast Asia adopted the Indian legal tradition in slightly different ways.
Hinduism and law introduction | Buddhism and Eastern religions | Cambridge University Press
There are significant variations in the formal aspects of each legal system, and generally it may be said that the further the geographical distance from India, the greater the formal differences. In every case, however, the religio-philosophical basis of the Indian legal system was accepted: The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. On the career of Indian law in Southeast Asia.
Religion, Law and the State in India.
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New York , Discusses the influence of dharma literature on modern Hindu law. The Evolution of Thai Laws. Bonn, West Germany, Discusses how Manusm ti and other texts contributed to the formation of the Thai legal tradition. Hindu Law and Custom. Translated by Batakrishna Ghosh. Poona, India, — The most encyclopedic treatment of the topic.
Ordeals in Classical Hindu Law. New Delhi , The most comprehensive treatment of the subject of ordeal in Hindu law. A discussion of the status of dharma literature as "law. Critical Edition and Translation , 2d ed. The most thoroughly juridical of all of the classical Indian texts. The Classical Law of India. A superb, concise overview of the entire topic of classical Hindu law. Beyond Tradition and Modernity.
An attempt to discuss the topic of Hindu law in terms of post-modern analysis. The best translations of these very early texts. The Law Code of Manu. A landmark translation of the most important of all of the traditional legal texts. Where to Draw the Line. A contribution to the discussion of the status of law in the ancient Indian tradition. Sen Gupta, Nares Chandra. Evolution of Ancient Indian Law. Important contributions by Indian scholars to the ongoing problem of periodization of the history of the Hindu legal tradition.
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Covering the earliest Sanskrit rulebooks through to the codification of 'Hindu law' in modern times, this interdisciplinary volume examines the interactions. Download Citation on ResearchGate | Hinduism and law: An introduction | Covering the earliest Sanskrit rulebooks through to the codification of 'Hindu law' in.
Covering the earliest Sanskrit rulebooks through to the codification of 'Hindu law' in modern times, this interdisciplinary volume examines the interactions between Hinduism and the law. The authors present the major transformations to India's legal system in both the colonial and post colonial periods and their relation to recent changes in Hinduism. Thematic studies show how law and Hinduism relate and interact in areas such as ritual, logic, politics, and literature, offering a broad coverage of South Asia's contributions to religion and law at the intersection of society, politics and culture.
In doing so, the authors build on previous treatments of Hindu law as a purely text-based tradition, and in the process, provide a fascinating account of an often neglected social and political history. Part I Hindu law. Chapter 1 A historical overview of Hindu law. Chapter 3 The practice of classical Hindu law. Chapter 4 The creation of AngloHindu law. Chapter 5 Marriage and family in colonial Hindu law.