Thesmṛti literature is a corpus of varied texts that includes: the sixVedāṅgas (the auxiliary sciences in the Vedas), the epics (theMahābhārata andRāmāyaṇa), theDharmasūtras andDharmaśāstras (orSmritiśāstras), theArthasaśāstras, thePurāṇas, thekāvya or poetical literature, extensiveBhashyas (reviews and commentaries onśruti and non-śruti texts), and numerousnibandhas (digests) covering politics, ethics (nītiśāstras),[8] culture, arts and society.[1][9]
Eachsmṛti text exists in many versions, with many different readings.[2]Smṛti works were considered fluid and freely rewritten by anyone in ancient and medieval Hindu tradition.[2][4]
Smṛti is a Sanskrit word, from the root √smṛ (स्मृ), which means the act of remembering.[8] The word is found in ancient Vaidika literature, such as in section 7.13 of theChandogya Upanishad. In later and modern scholarly usage, the term refers to tradition, memory, as well as a vast post-Vedic canon of "tradition that is remembered".[8][10] David Brick states that the original meaning of smriti was simply tradition, and not texts.[11]
Smṛti is also a symbolic synonym for number 18, from the 18 scholars who are credited in Indian tradition for writing dharma-relatedSmṛti texts (most have been lost).[8] These 18Smṛtis are namely,
Yājñavalkya gives the list of total 20 by adding two moreSmṛtis, namely,Yājñavalkyasmṛti andManusmṛti.[13][14] Parāśara whose name appears in this list, enumerates also twenty authors, but instead of Samvartta, Bṛhaspati, and Vyāsa, he gives the names of Kaśyapa, Bhṛgu and Prachetas.
The Vedic sageShandilya is also credited for a Smriti text called asShandilya Smriti. The modern scholarBrahma Dutt Shastri had compiled the text Shandilya Smriti in his six volumes series workSmriti Sandarbha.[15]
Smṛtis represent the remembered, written tradition in Hinduism.[1] The Smrti literature is a vast corpus of derivative work. AllSmṛti texts are regarded to ultimately be rooted in or inspired byShruti.[2]
TheSmṛti corpus includes, but is not limited to:[1][9]
The sixVedāngas (grammar, meter, phonetics, etymology, astronomy and rituals),[1][17][18]
The texts on the four proper goals or aims of human life:[19]
Dharma: These texts discussdharma from various religious, social, duties, morals and personal ethics perspective. Each of six major schools of Hinduism has its own literature on dharma. Examples include Dharma-sutras (particularly byGautama,Apastamba,Baudhayana andVāsiṣṭha) and Dharma-sastras (particularlyManusmṛti,Yājñavalkya Smṛti,Nāradasmṛti andViṣṇusmṛti). At the personal dharma level, this includes many chapters ofYogasutras.
Artha: Artha-related texts discussartha from individual, social and as a compendium of economic policies, politics and laws. For example, theArthashastra ofChanakya, the Kamandakiya Nitisara,[20] Brihaspati Sutra,[21] and Sukra Niti.[22]Olivelle states that most Artha-related treatises from ancient India have been lost.[23]
Kama: These discuss arts, emotions, love, erotics, relationships and other sciences in the pursuit of pleasure. TheKamasutra ofVātsyāyana is most well known. Others texts includeRatirahasya, Jayamangala, Smaradipika, Ratimanjari, Ratiratnapradipika,Ananga Ranga among others.[24]
Moksha: These develop and debate the nature and process of liberation, freedom and spiritual release. Major treatises on the pursuit of moksa include the laterUpanishads (early Upanishads are consideredSruti literature),Vivekachudamani, and the sastras onYoga.
TheSmṛti texts structurally branched, over time, from so-called the "limbs of the Vedas", or auxiliary sciences for perfecting grammar and pronunciation (part of Vedāngas).[26] For example, the attempt to perfect the art of rituals led to the science ofKalpa, which branched into three Kalpa-sūtras: Srauta-sūtras, Grhya-sūtras, and Dharma-sūtras (estimated to have been composed between 600-200 BCE).[27] The Srauta-sutras became texts describing the perfect performance of public ceremonies (solemn communityyajnas), the Grhya-sutras described perfect performance of home ceremonies and domestic rites of passage, and Dharma-sutras described jurisprudence, rights and duties of individuals in fourAshrama stages of life, and social ethics.[26] The Dharma-sūtras themselves became the foundations for a large canon of texts, and branched off as numerous Dharma-sastra texts.[26]
Jan Gonda states that the initial stages ofSmṛti texts structurally developed in the form of a new prose genre named Sūtras, that is "aphorism, highly compact precise expression that captured the essence of a fact, principle, instruction or idea".[28] This brevity in expression, states Gonda, was likely necessitated by the fact that writing technology had not developed yet or was not in vogue, in order to store a growing mass of knowledge, and all sorts of knowledge was transferred from one generation to the next through the process of memorization, verbal recitation and listening in the 1st millennium BCE. Compressed content allowed more essential, densely structured knowledge to be memorized and verbally transferred to the next generation in ancient India.[28]
Smṛtis contribute to exposition of the HinduDharma but are considered less authoritative thanŚrutis (the Vedic corpus that includes early Upanishads).[29]
The root texts of ancient Hindu jurisprudence and law are theDharma-sūtras. These express that Shruti,Smṛti and Acara are sources of jurisprudence and law.[30] The precedence of these sources is declared in the opening verses of each of the known, surviving Dharma-sūtras. For example,[30]
The source of Dharma is the Veda, as well as the tradition [Smriti], and practice of those who know the Veda. – Gautama Dharma-sūtra 1.1-1.2
The Dharma is taught in each Veda, in accordance with which we will explain it. What is given in the tradition [Smriti] is the second, and the conventions of cultured people are the third. – Baudhayana Dharma-sūtra 1.1.1-1.1.4
The Dharma is set forth in the vedas and the Traditional Texts [Smriti]. When these do not address an issue, the practice of cultured people becomes authoritative. – Vāsiṣṭha Dharma-sūtra 1.4-1.5
— Translated by Donald Davis, The Spirit of Hindu Law[30]
TheSmṛtis, such asManusmṛti,Naradasmṛti,Yājñavalkyasmṛti andParaśarasmṛti, expanded this definition, as follows,
वेदोऽखिलो धर्ममूलं स्मृतिशीले च तद्विदाम् । आचारश्चैव साधूनामात्मनस्तुष्टिरेव च ॥
Translation 1: The whole Veda is the (first) source of the sacred law, next the tradition and the virtuous conduct of those who know the (Veda further), also the customs of holy men, and (finally) self-satisfaction (Atmanastushti).[31] Translation 2: The root of the religion is the entire Veda, and (then) the tradition and customs of those who know (the Veda), and the conduct of virtuous people, and what is satisfactory to oneself.[32]
Translation 1: The Veda, the sacred tradition, the customs of virtuous men, and one's own pleasure, they declare to be the fourfold means of defining the sacred law.[31] Translation 2: The Veda, tradition, the conduct of good people, and what is pleasing to oneself – they say that is four fold mark of religion.[32]
— Manusmriti 2.12
The YajnavalkyaSmṛti includes four Vedas, six Vedangas, Purana, Nyaya, Mimamsa and other sastras, in addition to the ethical conduct of the wise, as sources of knowledge and through which sacred law can be known. It explains the scope of the Dharma as follows,
Rites, proper conduct, Dama (self-restraint),Ahimsa (non-violence), charity, self-study, work, realisation ofAtman (Self, Soul) throughYoga – all these areDharma.[33][34]
— Yajnavalkya Smriti 1.8
Levinson states that the role ofShruti andSmṛti in Hindu law is as a source of guidance, and its tradition cultivates the principle that "the facts and circumstances of any particular case determine what is good or bad".[35] The later Hindu texts include fourfold sources ofDharma, states Levinson, which includeAtmanastushti (satisfaction of one's conscience),Sadacara (local norms of virtuous individuals),Smriti andSruti.[35]
Medhatithi's philosophical analysis of and commentary on criminal, civil and family law in Dharmaśāstras, particularly of Manusmriti, using Nyaya and Mimamsa theories, is the oldest and the most widely studied tertiarySmṛti.[36][37][38]
^James Lochtefeld (2002), "Smrti", The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 2: N–Z, Rosen Publishing,ISBN978-0823931798, page 656-657
^abSheldon Pollock (2011), Boundaries, Dynamics and Construction of Traditions in South Asia (Editor: Federico Squarcini), Anthem,ISBN978-0857284303, pages 41-58
^Pollock, Sheldon (2012). "The Revelation of Tradition: śruti, smrti, and the Sanskrit Discourse of Power". In Squarcini, Federico (ed.).Boundaries, Dynamics And Construction Of Traditions In South Asia. London: Anthem Press. pp. 41–62.doi:10.7135/upo9781843313977.003.ISBN978-1-84331-397-7.
^abcdesmRti Monier-Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, Germany
^abRoy Perrett (1998), Hindu Ethics: A Philosophical Study, University of Hawaii Press,ISBN978-0824820855, pages 16-18
^M Winternitz, History of Indian Literature, Volume 1-3, Motilal Barnarsidass, Delhi, Reprinted in 2010,ISBN978-8120802643
^Tadeusz Skorupski (1988), Review: Manu Swajambhuwa, Manusmryti, Czyli Traktat o Zacności; Watsjajana Mallanga, Kamasutra, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland (New Series), Volume 120, Issue 1, pages 208-209
^Sukra Niti Bk Sarkar (Translator); Chapter 1 verse 43 onwards - Rules of State and Duties of Rulers; Chapter 1 verse 424 onwards - Guidelines on infrastructure for economy; Chapter 1 verse 550 onwards - Guidelines on treasury management, law and military; Chapter 2 - Functions of state officials, etc
^Patrick Olivelle (2011), Language, Texts, and Society: Explorations in Ancient Indian Culture and Religion, Anthem Press,ISBN978-0857284310, page 174
^abcGavin Flood (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press,ISBN978-0521438780, pages 53-56
^John E. Mitchiner (2000), Traditions of the Seven Rsis, Motilal Banarsidass,ISBN978-8120813243, page xviii
^abJan Gonda (1977), The Ritual Sutras, in A History of Indian Literature: Veda and Upanishads, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag,ISBN978-3447018234, pages 466-474
^James Lochtefeld (2002), "Smrti", The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 2: N–Z, Rosen Publishing.ISBN9780823931798, pages 656 and 461
^abcDonald Davis (2010), The Spirit of Hindu Law, Cambridge University Press,ISBN978-0521877046, page 27
Lingat, Robert. 1973.The Classical Law of India. Trans. J. Duncan M. Derrett. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Rocher, Ludo. “Hindu Conceptions of Law.” ‘‘Hastings Law Journal’’ 29.6 (1978): 1284–1305.
Staal, Frits (1986),The Fidelity of Oral Tradition and the Origins of Science, Mededelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie von Wetenschappen, Afd. Letterkunde, NS 49, 8. Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Company, 40 pages
