Hindu Law

Law is too often perceived solely as state-based rules and institutions that provide a rational alternative to religious rites and ancestral customs. The Spirit of Hindu Law uses the Hindu legal tradition as a heuristic tool to question this view and reveal the close linkage between law and religion.

This is a translation of a 12th-century Sanskrit legal text, with the original text. The Dayabhaga was one of the most important texts in the history of Indian law. The text, fairly late and inspiring little attention, is important because the British elevated it to such prominence in their new colony in the early 19th century.