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Hinduism and Law: An Introduction
2010
Edited by Timothy Lubin, Donald R. Davis Jr., and Jayanth K. Krishnan. Covering the earliest Sanskrit rulebooks through to the codification of 'Hindu law' in modern times, this interdisciplinary volume examines the interactions between Hinduism and the law. The authors present the major transformations to India's legal system in both the colonial and post colonial periods and their relation to recent changes in Hinduism. Thematic studies show how law and Hinduism relate and interact in areas such as ritual, logic, politics, and literature, offering a broad coverage of South Asia's contributions to religion and law at the intersection of society, politics and culture. In doing so, the authors build on previous treatments of Hindu law as a purely text-based tradition, and in the process, provide a fascinating account of an often neglected social and political history. Download: Front matter and introduction.
Journal of the American Academy of Religion 75:2, 241-267, 2007
The role of law in Hinduism and the value of law as a category of Hindu studies have been underestimated. After making an initial case for the connection of dharma and law in the treatises on religious and legal duty known as Dharmaśāstra, this essay examines the role of dharma as law in other Hindu texts in order to show the possible horizons of understanding yielded by an incorporation of law into Hindu studies. Dharmaśāstra, it is argued, should be viewed as a form of legal rhetoric and its formulations of dharma understood as paradigmatic for the Hindu tradition as a whole. Finally, through a comparison with Islam and Islamic studies, the mutual modulations of law and Hinduism are examined in order to see the consequences of juxtaposing these two categories.
Title: Exploring India's Religious and Judicial Systems: Amidst Colonial Era
Embark on a journey through India's rich history of religious and judicial systems, tracing their evolution amidst the colonial era's transformative forces. This exploration unveils the intricate interplay between faith and law, as colonial influences shaped and reshaped the country's socio-legal landscape. From the establishment of colonial rule to the nuanced adaptations within religious practices and legal frameworks, this paper encapsulates the dynamic fusion of tradition and foreign influence. Gain insights into how India's cultural ethos and legal foundations navigated the challenges of colonialism, leaving an indelible imprint on the nation's spiritual and legal identity. An absorbing narrative that illuminates the complex relationship between religious resilience and legal adaptation in colonial-era India.
Ratio Juris: An International Journal of Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law 19:3, 287-313 , 2006
Hindu law represents one of the least known, yet most sophisticated traditions of legal theory and jurisprudence in world history. Hindu jurisprudential texts contain elaborate and careful philosophical reflections on the nature of law and religion. The nature of Hindu law as a tradition has been subject to some debate and some misunderstanding both within and especially outside of specialist circles. The present essay utilizes the familiar framework of legal realism to describe the fundamental concepts of law and legal procedure in Hindu jurisprudence. Questions about the place of natural law theory and legal positivism in relation to Hindu law are also considered.
Hindu Law in Greater India Ancient Roots of Indigenous Law
The idea that justice and good conscience must prevail over law reflects the notion of superiority of higher moral law over the limitations of man-made law. In India this is rooted in the fundamental Vedic principle that there is connection between the form and the formless, mundane and the divine, the means and the ends. As the Rig Veda says, amidst the undifferentiated source, great warmth of creation was born; and the sages who searched in the far reaches of their mind discovered the umbilical connection of manifest with the unmanifest. 1