Yajnavalkya or "remembered" writings, a genre of
literature that is significant but not as authoritative as the shrutis, or
"heard" scriptures.
This smrti is attributed to the sage Yajnavalkya and is an
example of a Dharma Shastra, which were texts that prescribed principles for
proper human conduct and ideal social life.
Unlike the Dharma Sutras, which are attributed to
identifiable individuals, the Dharma Shastras are usually attributed to mythic
sages in order to strengthen the authority of these texts.
There are around a thousand verses in the existing text,
split into parts on religious custom (achara), justice administration
(vyavahara), and expiation (prayashchitta).
The Yajnavalkya Smrti was the subject of numerous
commentaries, one of which, the Mitakshara, was given the status of a legal
code for the greater part of India during the British empire.
Estimates on its date of composition range from the first to
the sixth century, but it is clearly later than the Manu Smrti because some
parts of the middle section are far more developed.
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