DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.39769#0042
Third stage
that of
codification.
16 THE INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
4
Now we come to the third stage, the stage of Sarm
hitA or codification. Tn this 'stage the Vedic literature, as
well as the Smriti literature, having both been enlarged
and amplified there was the n'eed of classifying and co-
difying them, Thus, the Vedas were embodied in the
forms of the SamhitAs and were classified, and their
branches were elaborately exhibited, A new departure
was also taken in the Smriti literature, from the Grihya
and Dharma Sutras to the SamhitAs or institutes which
were called the Dharma ShAstras. The Aryan power in
the*land had extensively ilicreased and many were the
.people and territories which,were brought under the
Aryan rule. Great kings and great kingdoms had come
.into existence, and the administration of justice had be-
conf,e an important factor in (civil life. With these
changes a demand for large and comprehensive insti-
tutes of law necessarily arose, and this demand was
satisfied* The subject of the change from the Grihya
and Dharma Sutras to the various Samhitas or the
Dharma ShAstras, has engaged the attention of many
European scholars, such as Prof. Max Muller, West and
Buhler. They considered the Sutras to be more ancient
than the metrical codes. The reasoning, by which this
view is supported, will be found in Max Muller’s History
pf Ancient Sanskrit Literature, pp. 132, 199, 2®6—208,
and his letter printed in Morley’s Digest, Introduction.
Scholars have also discussed the question, as to
whether the Dharma ShAstras as they appear now came
into existence as binding treatises, explaining the law as
it existed at the time, having the same character as the
institutes of Justinian; or they were merely literary
works in which the social views of distinguished writers
<
that of
codification.
16 THE INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
4
Now we come to the third stage, the stage of Sarm
hitA or codification. Tn this 'stage the Vedic literature, as
well as the Smriti literature, having both been enlarged
and amplified there was the n'eed of classifying and co-
difying them, Thus, the Vedas were embodied in the
forms of the SamhitAs and were classified, and their
branches were elaborately exhibited, A new departure
was also taken in the Smriti literature, from the Grihya
and Dharma Sutras to the SamhitAs or institutes which
were called the Dharma ShAstras. The Aryan power in
the*land had extensively ilicreased and many were the
.people and territories which,were brought under the
Aryan rule. Great kings and great kingdoms had come
.into existence, and the administration of justice had be-
conf,e an important factor in (civil life. With these
changes a demand for large and comprehensive insti-
tutes of law necessarily arose, and this demand was
satisfied* The subject of the change from the Grihya
and Dharma Sutras to the various Samhitas or the
Dharma ShAstras, has engaged the attention of many
European scholars, such as Prof. Max Muller, West and
Buhler. They considered the Sutras to be more ancient
than the metrical codes. The reasoning, by which this
view is supported, will be found in Max Muller’s History
pf Ancient Sanskrit Literature, pp. 132, 199, 2®6—208,
and his letter printed in Morley’s Digest, Introduction.
Scholars have also discussed the question, as to
whether the Dharma ShAstras as they appear now came
into existence as binding treatises, explaining the law as
it existed at the time, having the same character as the
institutes of Justinian; or they were merely literary
works in which the social views of distinguished writers
<