4. The Dharmasutras
Volume I: Part I pp. 19–22
Many of them formed part of the Kalpa and were studied in distinct sūtra-caraṇas - dharmasūtras of Āpastamba and Baudhā- yana presuppose gṛhyasūtras of thier caraṇa - no dharmasūtras ex- tant corresponding to the śrauta and gṛhya sūtras of Āśvalāyana, Śaṅkhāyana and Mānava - Tantravārtika on what dharmasūtra was studied in what particular Vedic Śākhā - all dharmasūtras gradually became authoritative in all schools - close connection between gṛhyasūtras and dharmasūtras on certain topics - scope of dharma- sūtras - gṛhyasūtras sometimes refer to dharmasūtras - points of distinction between dharmasūtras and the other smṛtis.
— Synopsis by P.V. Kane, from History of Dharmaśāstra
4. The Dharmasutras
4. The Gṛhya and Dharmasūtras
The gṛhyasūtras belonging to the Sāmaveda are:
(1) Gobhilagṛhyasūtra, published in the B. I. series; published in the Calcutta Sanskrit series with the coṃ of Nārāyaṇa, edited by Chintāmaṇi Bhaṭṭācārya (1936). The mantras required in gṛhya rites are collected in a Mantrabrāhmaṇa and the sūtra mentions only the opening words, but where the mantras are not contained in the Mantrabrāhmaṇa they are quoted in full; this mantrapāṭha called Mantrabrāhmaṇa was most probably compiled before the Gobhila Gr. S. (2) The Khādiragṛhya-sūtra, published in the Mysore Govt. Library Series with the coṃ of Rudraskanda, son of Nārāyaṇa. This is based on the Gobhila Gr. S. and is an abridgement of it; (3) Jaiminīya-gṛhya-sūtra, edited by Dr. Caland in the Punjab Oriental Series (1922); (4) The Drāhyāyaṇa-gṛhya-sūtra (published in Ānaṇ series, Poona).
The Atharvaveda has the Kauśika-sūtra as its Gṛhya, which was edited by Prof. Bloomfielḍ Vide Prof. Belvalkar Presentation Vol. pp. 28-33 for a paper by Mr. C. G. Kashikar for corrections in it and a paper ‘Kauśikaśūtra and the Atharvaveda’ by Prof. Edgerton in F. W. Thomas Presentation Vol. pp. 78-81. There are several commentaries on it. It devotes a large part of it to utpātas and śāntiṣ
4. The Dharmasūtras
It seems that originally many, though not all, of the dharma-sūtras formed part of the Kalpasūtras and were studied in distinct sūtracaranaṣ Some of the extant dharmasūtras here and there show in unmistakable terms that they presuppose the Gṛhyasūtra of the caraṇa to which they belong. Compare Āp. Dh. S. I, 1. 4. 16 with Āp. Gr. S. I. 12 and II. 5; and Bauḍ Dh. S. II. 8. 20 with Bauḍ Gr. S. II. 11. 42 (and other sūtras).1 The Dharmasūtras belonging to all sūtracaranas have not come down to uṣ There is no dharmasūtra completing the Āśvalāyana Śrauta and Gṛhyasūtras; no Mānavadharmasūtra has yet come to light, though the Mānava Śrauta and Gṛhya sūtras are extant; in the same way we have the Śāṅkhāyana Śrauta and Gṛhya sūtras, but no Śāṅkhāyanadharmasūtra. It is only in the case of the Āpastamba, Hiraṇyakeśin and Baudhāyana Sūtracaranas that we have a complete kalpa tradition with its three components of Śrauta, Gṛhya and Dharma sūtraṣ The Tantravārtika of Kumārila contains very interesting observations on this point. It tells us that Gautama (dharmasūtra) and Gobhila (gṛhyasūtra) were studied by the Chandogas (Sāmavedins), Vasiṣṭha (dharmasūtra) by the Ṛgvedins, the dharmasūtra of Śaṅkha-Likhita by the followers of Vājasaneya-saṃhitā and the sūtras of Āpastamba and Baudhāyana by the followers of the Taittirīya Śākha2. The Tantravārtika (p. 179) establishes it as a siddhānta (on Jaimini I. 3. 11) that all the dharma and gṛhya sūtras are authoritative for all Aryan people. From this it appears that, although originally all sūtracaranas might not have possessed dharmasūtras composed by the founder of the caraṇa or ascribed to him, yet gradually certain dharmasūtras were specially taken over or appropriated by certain caraṇas. As the dharmasūtras were mostly concerned with rules about the conduct of men as members of the Aryan community and did not deal with ritual of any kind, all dharmasūtras gradually became authoritative in all schoolṣ
The dharmasūtras were closely connected with the gṛhyasūtras in subjects and topicṣ Most of the Gṛhyasūtras treat of the sacred domestic fire, the divisions of Gṛhya sacrifices, the regular morning and evening oblations, sacrifices on new and full moon, jātakarma, upanayana and other saṁskāras, rules for students and snātakas and holidays, śrāddha offerings, madhuparka. In most cases the Gṛhyasūtras confine themselves principally to the various events of domestic life; they rarely give rules about the conduct of men, their rights, duties and responsi- bilitieṣ The dharmasūtras also contain rules on some of the above topics such as marriage and the saṁskāras, rules for Brahmacārya and snātakas and holidays, on śrāddha and madhuparka. It is therefore not to be wondered at that in the Āpastamba-gṛhyasūtra the topics of the duties of the Brahmacārin and of the house-holder, of tithis and of śrāddha are meagrely treated as compared with the Āpastamba-dharmasūtra. The dharmasūtras very rarely describe the ritual of domestic life; they merely touch upon it; their scope is wider and more ambitious; their principal purpose is to dilate upon the rules of conduct, law and custoṃ Some sūtras are common to both the Āpast- amba-gṛhya and the dharma:sūtra3. Sometimes the gṛhyasūtra appears to refer to the dharmasūtra4. There are certain points which distinguish the dharmasūtras (the more ancient of them at least) from smṛtis : (a) Many dharmasūtras are either parts of the Kalpa belonging to each sūtracaraṇa or are intimately connected with the gṛhyasūtraṣ (b) The dharmasūtras some- times betray some partiality in their Vedic quotations for the texts of that Veda to which they belong or in the caraṇas of which they are studied; (c) The authors of the (older) dharma- sūtras do not claim to be inspired seers or superhuman beings5; while the other smṛtis such as those of Manu and Yājñavalkya are ascribed to Gods like Brahmā. (d) The dharmasūtras are in prose or in mixed prose and verse; the other smṛtis are in verse. (e) The language of the dharmasūtras is generally more archaic than that of the other smṛtis (f) The dharmasūtras do not proceed upon any orderly arrangement of topics, while the other smṛtis (even the oldest of them, viz. Manusmṛti) arrange their contents and treat of the subjects under three principal heads viz. ācāra, vyavahāra and prāyaścitta; (g) Most of the dharmasū- tras are older than most of the other smṛtis
Many of the technical terms used in the Gṛhyasūtras and Dharmasūtras are derived from the Saṁhitās, Brāhmaṇas and Śrautasūtras e. g. the following few technical words which occur in the Gṛhya and Dharma sūtras are so derived and references are given in the H. of Dh. Vol. II where they are explained; āghārau (p. 1051 ṇ 2360 ), Ājyabhāga (p. 1059 ṇ 2371), Abhi- ghāraṇa (p. 528 n), Avadāna (528, 1061 n), Upastaraṇa (p. 1061 n), Pavitra (211 ṇ, 1021 n), Paryagnikaraṇa (p. 1120 n), ( Praṇītā p. 1022-23 ), Pratyabhighāraṇa (p. 1053 n). The Āp. Dh. S. (I. 4. 12. 10 ) makes the interesting statement “religious rites were declared in the Brāhmaṇas, the texts of those rites have been lost, ( but those texts ) can be inferred from the actual per- formance (of the rites that are in vogue): ‘brāhmaṇoktā vidhayas- teṣām utsannāḥ pāthāḥ prayogād-anumīyante’. This shows that an early writer like Āpastamba (who flourished some centuries before the Christian era) was aware that Brāhmaṇa works had once described many of the gṛhya rites, but that in his day such Brāhmaṇa texts had been lost.