Naradasmriti in the context of Dharmaśāstras


Naradasmriti in the context of Dharmaśāstras

⭐ Core Definition: Naradasmriti

Nāradasmṛti is a part of the Dharmaśāstras, an Indian literary tradition that serves as a collection of legal maxims relating to the topic of dharma. This text is purely juridical in character in that it focuses solely on procedural and substantive law. Known as the "juridical text par excellence," the Nāradasmṛti is the only Dharmaśāstra text to not cover areas such as righteous conduct and penance. Its focused nature has made the text highly valued by rulers and their governments, in Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia, likely as an aid of carrying out their dharma of justly ruling the country.

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Naradasmriti in the context of Yajnavalkya Smriti

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. The text was composed after the Manusmriti, but like it and Naradasmriti, the text was composed in shloka (poetic meter) style. 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).

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. 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. 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.

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