Navigating the Ocean of Dharma: The Composition of Sanskrit Scriptural Digests in the Dharmaśāstra and Śaiva Siddhānta Traditions

Scholars of Sanskrit literature in the second millennium CE had to deal with sizeable
collections of sources claiming authority on different branches of knowledge and
human experience. The need for ordering such sources went hand in hand with the
establishment of “canons” of authoritative texts. This article will explore the topic of
the composition of digests in two main traditions — the Dharmaśāstra and the Śaiva
Siddhānta — to illustrate the breadth of this phenomenon, both in terms of its popularity
and of its chronological range.