The Dharmasutra is attributed to Apastamba, the founder of a Shaka (Vedic school) of Yajurveda. According to the Hindu tradition, Apastamba was the student of Baudhayana, and himself had a student named Hiranyakesin. Each of the three founded a Vedic school, and each of their schools produced a collection of literature within the Krishna Yajurveda tradition, one that included separate Kalpasutra compilations.

The text is in sutra format, and part of thirty prashnas (प्रश्न, portions, issue, questions) of Apastamba Kalpasutra. The Apastamba Dharmasutra is the 28th and 29th prashna of this compilation, while the first 24 prashnas are about Shrautasutras (Vedic rituals), 25th is an ancillary mantra section, 26th and 27th are Grihyasutras (householder rites of passage), and the last or the 30th prashna is a Shulbasutra (mathematics for altar building).