[1][2] Vivādārṇavasetu is a digest of Hindu law in 21 sections (taraṅga) compiled for Warren Hastings by the pandits.
[3] The translation was funded and encouraged by Warren Hastings as a method of consolidating company control on the Indian subcontinent.
[citation needed] It was translated into English with a view to know about the culture and local laws of various parts of Indian subcontinent.
It was printed privately by the East India Company in London in 1776 under the title A Code of Gentoo Laws, or, Ordinations of the Pundits.
This is because the eleven pandits (Brahmin scholars) hired by Warren Hastings "took advantage of the assignment to favour their own caste, by interpreting and even creating sacrosanct 'customs' that in fact has no shastric authority".