Dharmasutra Parallels

The Dharmasutra Parallels presents in a synoptic layout of the passages in the four Dharmasutras of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana, and Vasistha that deal with identical topics. The Dharmasutras represent the oldest extant codification of Law in ancient India. A close study of these early legal treatises is essential if we are to understand not only the legal but also the cultural and religious history of the three or four centuries prior to the common era, a period that saw the beginnings of many of the features that we commonly associate with Indian civilization. It is clearly possible for scholars to compare passages from these four Dharmasutras without the visual aid provided by these Parallels. It is, however, much more difficult. Sometime, one becomes aware of the similarities and divergences in the treatment by different authors of the same topic only when the parallel passages are presented visually on the same page. These Parallels will be an invaluable tool in researching the legal and cultural history of this important period of ancient Indian history.