Dharma : its early history in law, religion, and narrative

Between 300 and 200 BCE, the concept and practice of dharma attained prominence across India. Both Buddhist and Brahmanical authors sought to clarify and classify their central concerns, and dharma proved a means of thinking through and articulating those concerns. Alf Hiltebeitel shows the different ways in which dharma is interpreted over time. His insightful study explores the diverse and changing signifcance of dharma in classical India in nine major dharma texts, as well as two pieces of writing that have traditionally been considered minor.