Justices andPaṇḍitas

Some Ironies in Contemporary Readings of the Hindu Legal Past

Bibliographic Data

ID3667969
AuthorsRichard W Lariviere (corresponding author)
Year1989
Volume48
Issue4
Pages757-769
Publication date1989-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-9118 • E-ISSN: 1752-0401
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2307/2058113
OpenAlexW1969069508
LanguageEN
Citations received17
References cited16

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