"Through pointed studies of important aspects and topics of dharma in Dharma's=astra, this comprehensive collection shows that the history of Hinduism cannot be written without the history of Hindu law. Part One provides a concise overview of the literary genres in which Dharmasastra was written with attention to chronology and historical developments. This study divides the tradition into its two major historical periods--the origins and formation of the classical texts and the later genres of commentary and digest--in order to provide a thorough, but manageable overview of the textual bases of the tradition. Part Two presents descriptive and historical studies of all the major substantive topics of Dharmasastra. Each chapter offers readers with salest knowledge of the debates, transformations, and fluctcating importance of each topic.
Indirectly, readers will also gain insight into the ethos or worldview of religious law in Hinduism, enabling them to get a feel for how dharma authors thought and why.
Part Three contains brief studies of the impact and reception of Dharmasastra in other South Asian cultural and textual traditions. Finally, Part Four draws inspiration from ""critical terms"" in contemporary legal and religious studies to analyze Dharmasastra texts. Contributors offer interpretive views of Dharmasastra that start from hermeneutic and social concerns today."
List of abbreviations List of contributors Donald R. Davis, Jr.: Introduction PART I: HISTORY 1: Patrick Olivelle: Social and Literary History of Dharmaśāstra: The Foundational Texts 2: Donald R. Davis, Jr. and David Brick: Social and Literary History of Dharmaśāstra: Commentaries and Legal Digests PART II: TOPICS 3: Patrick Olivelle: Epistemology of Law: dharmapramāṇa 4: Mikael Aktor: Social Classes: varṇa 5: Patrick Olivelle: Orders of Life: āśrama 6: Axel Michaels: Rites of Passage: saṃskāra 7: Timothy Lubin: The Vedic Student: brahmacārin 8: Timothy Lubin: The Vedic Graduate: snātaka 9: Stephanie W. Jamison: Marriage and the Householder: vivāha, gṛhastha 10: Stephanie W. Jamison: Women: strīdharma 11: Donald R. Davis, Jr.: Children: putra, duhitṛ 12: Ludo Rocher: Inheritance: dāyabhāga 13: Timothy Lubin: Daily Duties: āhnika 14: Patrick Olivelle: Food and Dietary Rules: abhakṣya, abhojya 15: David Brick: Gifting: dāna 16: Matthew R. Sayers: Funeral and Ancestral Offerings: antyeṣṭi, śrāddha 17: Mikael Aktor: Impurity and Purification: āśauca 18: Patrick Olivelle: Ascetics: pravrajita, vānaprastha 19: Adam Bowles: Law During Emergencies: āpaddharma 20: Mark McClish: King: rājadharma 21: Mark McClish: Punishment: daṇḍa 22: Patrick Olivelle: Legal Procedure: vyavahāra 23: Mark McClish: Titles of Law: vyavahārapada 24: David Brick: Penance: prāyaścitta 25: Donald R. Davis, Jr.: Vows and Observances: vrata 26: Knut A. Jacobsen: Pilgrimage: tīrthayātrā 27: Richard H. Davis: Images and Temples: pratiṣṭhā PART III: INFLUENCES 28: Donald R. Davis, Jr.: History of the Reception of Dharmaśāstra 29: Gregory Schopen: A Buddhist Vinaya as a Source for Indian Law Part IV: INTERPRETIVE APPROACHES 30: Ariel Glucklich: Body 31: Maria Heim: h Chapter 31: 32: Axel Michaels: Ritual 33: Jonardon Ganeri: Self and Subjectivity: The Wandering Ascetic and the Manifest World 34: James McHugh: Material Culture and Society: The Ancient Indian Alestake 35: Andrea Gutierrez: Embodiment of Dharma in Animals 36: Christian Lee Novetzke: Vernacularization 37: Donald R. Davis, Jr.: Economics and Business as vaiśyadharma Bibliography
Patrick Olivelle is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. His research focuses on the ancient Indian legal tradition of Dharmasastra. Olivelle has won several prestigious fellowships, including Guggenheim, NEH, and ACLS. He was elected Vice President of the American Oriental Society in 2004 and President in 2005. He is the editor of A Dharma Reader: Classical Indian Law (Columbia University Press, 2016). Donald R. Davis is Associate Professor in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. His current research broadens his interest in the practice of Hindu law in historical perspective, using materials beyond the Dharmasastra texts and from many parts of medieval India.
Reviews for The Oxford History of Hinduism: Hindu Law: A New History of Dharmaśāstra
[T]his is a work that will inform the field for decades to come. * Brian A. Hatcher, Reading Religion *
