Yājñavalkya Smṛti
Hindu text of the Dharmaśāstra tradition / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Yajnavalkya Smriti (Sanskrit: याज्ञवल्क्य स्मृति, IAST: Yājñavalkya Smṛti) is one of the many Dharma-related texts of Hinduism composed in Sanskrit. It is dated between the 3rd and 5th century CE, and belongs to the Dharmashastra tradition.[1] The text was composed after the Manusmriti, but like it and Naradasmriti, the text was composed in shloka (poetic meter) style.[2] The legal theories within the Yajnavalkya Smriti are presented in three books, namely achara-kanda (customs), vyavahara-kanda (judicial process), and prayascitta-kanda (crime and punishment, penance).[3]
The text is the "best composed" and systematic specimen of this genre, with large sections on judicial process theories, one which had a greater influence on medieval India's judiciary practice than Manusmriti.[4][5][6] It later became influential in the studies of legal process in ancient and medieval India, during the colonial British India, with the first translation published in German in 1849.[7] The text is notable for its differences in legal theories from Manusmriti, for being more liberal and humane, and for extensive discussions on evidence and judiciousness of legal documents.[8]