Dharmasutras (धर्मसूत्राणि)

Dharmasutras (Samskrit: ) are a class of ancient samskrit texts of Bharatavarsha, expounding the principles of dharma. Studied as a part of the Kalpa Vedanga texts, they are categorized as Sutragranthas, primarily because a majority of these texts are composed in Sutra style of writing or short terse aphorisms.

Introduction

Dharmasutras, the ancient texts dealing on matters of dharma, contain directions about domestic, social and moral aspects pertaining to people in general. Sections about Rajadharma, or duties of royal persons are not dealt with elaborately. The Dharmasutras differ from Smrti texts considerably and the former are regarded as the source of later.