Justices andPaṇḍitas

Some Ironies in Contemporary Readings of the Hindu Legal Past

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3667969
AutoresRichard W Lariviere (autor correspondente)
Ano1989
Volume48
Fascículo4
Páginas757-769
Data de publicação1989-11-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe Journal of Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0021-9118 • E-ISSN: 1752-0401
EditoraDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2307/2058113
OpenAlexW1969069508
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas17
Referências citadas16

India's history provides one of the best documented examples of colonialism. The British kept meticulous records of their attempts to improve, govern, and even exploit the people and institutions of the subcontinent. Improvement and government often occurred at the expense of traditional institutions, especially in the area of the legal tradition. The British are responsible for the decline and eventual demise of the livingdharmaśāstra(science of orthodox behavior) tradition. The tradition has not been resuscitated in independent India. Nevertheless, even though the office ofPaṇḍita(traditional expert) has long been abolished from the courts and the very training of modernPaṇḍitashas become rare, the texts of thedharmaśāstratradition continue to be used in a very "paṇḍitic" fashion by the courts of modern India. The justices function asPaṇḍitas, and the texts they cite are mere window dressing for the interpretations of Hindu law they seek to promulgate

Archaeology · Buddhism · Colonialism · Demise · Dharma · Government (linguistics) · Hinduism · Political science · Historical Economic and Legal Thought · History · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Law in Society and Culture · Philosophy · Religious studies