Introduction of the Hindu society; and this is why we have felt it necessary to explore it. The original texts and the other ex- tracts have been so digested in the Dharmakos'a that readers might find an orderly sequence of cultural evolution in regard to each topic dealt with. The Dharmakos'a will thus be making avail- able material for the study of the follow- ing three subjects which are of the highest sociological value: (1) Hindu law and politics (One would find the ancient ideas and institutions and rules and regulations arranged here chronologically and with full details so as to facilitate a study how they developed). (2) Religion, ethics and philosophy (One would see here a detailed exposition and a historical survey of the general and specific topics in this connection); (3) Social institutions, (Here may be studied the family, the caste, education and marriage and property in relation to society and other such matters fully dealt with). This material has been arranged according to six main divisions : (1) law and political administration; (2) the duties of the castes and the As'ramas; (3) the duties enjoined in Puranas and the denominationl texts of various sects; (4) expiation and quiescence; (5) The dis- cipline preparatory to final deliverance; and (6) the sacrificial rituals. These main divisions have been further cut up into subdivisions and these into subsidiary topics. Under each topic the texts have been chronologically arranged according to their order of provenance, e.g. the S'rutis, Satras, the Mbh., the Ramayana, the Smrtis, the Puraņas, the sectarian writings the commentaries and the digests, In the commentaries and the digests occur hundreds of quotations, culled out from Smrtis that are now lost; we have made collection of these quotations accord- ing to respective authors, and thus of the Smrti texts of Harita, S'apkhalikhita, Brhaspati, Katyayana, Pitamaha, Vyása, Prajapati, Yama,and of more than a dozen other authors, which are no longer extant; a complete list of quotations will be found in an appendix to this book. Scholars I have before now restored two or three of the lost Smrtis, while the material we give can be utilised for the restoration of many more. A complete list of the Hindu law texts, printed or otherwise, which we have used has been given in another appendix. The Bhäşyas of Me- dhatithi and Asahāya, the व्यवहारमातृका of जीमूतवाहन, the स्मृतिसार and the व्यवहारकल्पतरु are full of mistakes which we have corrected. (See the Appendix on the Bhagyas of Medhatithi and Asahaya.). We invite the attention of the readers to the general plan which we have adopt- ed for this edition of the Vyavahārakāṇḍa as it gives them an idea of our methods of editing the rest of the Dharmakosa. The Vyavaharakanda. The laws that regulate the life of a society, reflect faithfully the actual life led by it, and give as true an idea of it as might be acquired from personal obser- vations, certainly a better one than what their religious and ethical notions can give. It is therefore that the laws of a society are regarded as an important means for ascertaining the exact nature of life that was lived by the society. Religion, ethics and philosophy, might give an insight into its ideology, but it is only a study of its laws that would enable us to understand the position of the individual, of the family, of the class and the race in that society. In the history of ancient law the greatest importance attaches itself to the Code of Hammurabi, to the laws of Moses, to the Greek notions of justice, to the regulations of Manu and the other sages of India, and in a special measure to the Roman law, which appears to have
