Dharmaśāstra

Dharmaśāstra (Sanskrit: धर्मशास्त्र) are Sanskrit Puranic Smriti texts on law and conduct, and refer to treatises (śāstras) on Dharma. Unlike Dharmasūtra which are based upon Vedas, these texts are mainly based on the Puranas. There are many Dharmashastras, variously estimated to number from 18 up to over 100. Each of these texts exists in many different versions, and each is rooted in Dharmasutra texts dated to the 1st millennium BCE that emerged from Kalpa (Vedanga) studies in the Vedic era.

The textual corpus of Dharmaśāstra were composed in poetic verse, and are part of the Hindu Smritis, constituting divergent commentaries and treatises on ethics particularly duties, and responsibilities to oneself and family as well as those required as a member of society. The texts include discussion of ashrama (stages of life), varna (social classes), purushartha (proper goals of life), personal virtues and duties such as ahimsa (non-violence) against all living beings, rules of just war, and other topics.

Dharmaśāstra became influential in modern colonial India history, when they were formulated by early British colonial administrators to be the law of the land for all non-Muslims (Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs) in the Indian subcontinent, after Sharia set by Emperor Aurangzeb, was already accepted as the law for Muslims in colonial India.