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Outside the Western tradition

Classical Indian Dharma Law (Dharmashastra)

Law as dharma: duty, order and right conduct, set out by sages and upheld by kings.

c. 500 BC onward · India, South and Southeast Asia. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

Read this first. This is a first map of a large subject. Each school is a family of views, and its thinkers often disagree with one another, so every summary simplifies. We describe each school in terms its own followers would accept and give the strongest criticism beside it. Read the original works before you cite anyone, and check your own course's reading list. This is general information, not legal advice.

What is law?

Dharma covers religious duty, social order and legal rules together. Texts such as the Manusmriti and the Yajnavalkya Smriti, and the commentaries on them, set out rules on inheritance, contracts and punishment, and the king's role is to uphold dharma.

Law and morality

Law, ethics and religion are one field of duty, varying with a person's position in society in the classical texts.

Where does its authority come from?

Sacred texts, the practice of the learned and approved custom, applied by kings and courts.

How should judges decide?

Apply the texts and commentaries together with local custom, and with the king's authority behind the decision.

The question it asks

How do duty, custom and royal power fit together?

Main criticism

The classical texts rank people unequally by caste and sex, which modern constitutions reject.

Legacy today

Hindu personal law as it was applied under colonial law and later codified in India, and an influence on legal ideas across South and Southeast Asia.

Key thinkers

Manu (traditional author), Yajnavalkya (traditional author), Kautilya, Medhatithi, Vijnaneshwara.

Key works

  • Manusmriti
  • Yajnavalkya Smriti
  • Arthashastra

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Read further

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: philosophy of law (an overview). For the exact arguments, go to the original works above.

TheLawToKnow Tools’s guide to schools of legal thought is an educational overview. It is not legal advice. Report a mistake.