Download or read book Dharmasutra Parallels written by Patrick Olivelle and published by Motilal Banarsidass. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Dharmasutra Parallels present in a synoptic layout of the passages in the four Dharmasutras of Apastamba. Gautama, Baudhayana, and Vasistha 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.