Smritis and Samritikar of Ancient History : Manu and Manusmriti and Yajnavalkya Smriti
In this topic, we will see Smritis of ancient history where smritis refers to the text delineating social norms and values, laws, and ethical codes. The smritis is considered secondary and the Vedas and Upanishads are considered as primary scriptures. Humans write the smritis and it is believed that it was derived from the wisdom of shruti texts.
There are two main types of smritis known as Manusmriti and the Yajnavalkya Smriti which were attributes of manu and Yajnavalkya sage respectively. Now let us take a brief understanding of these two types of smriti. Let us begin with manusmriti.
MANUSMRITI
Manusmriti is well well-known controversial text of Hinduism. It was written by the legendary sage Manu, who was known for humankind in Hindu mythology. The text manusmriti emphasized the rules and guidelines for personal conduct, societal norms, and ethical code, or governance. This text covers various aspects of life which include social hierarchy, duties, marriage, crime, punishment, etc. This text often criticized discrimination based on caste and inequality among people. This also contains ethical and moral teaching elements that emphasize on truthness, compassion, and love.
YAJNAVALKYA SMRITI
This is the second type of smriti which was known as Yajnavalkya Smriti. This text was written by the sage Yajnavalkya, who was a revered sage and jurist in ancient times. It was different from manusmriti, this text emphasized dharma, which encompasses duties, righteousness, and ethical conduct. It guides an individual on their conduct, customs, legal matters, etc. It was considered more flexible and it reflects to broader range of societal practices, and values.
CONCLUSION
In the end, we can conclude here how these two smritis played important roles in shaping ancient society and its ethical and legal frameworks. In their respective times both these smrities perform social norms and values. It always continues their thoughts and practices in the entire society which has been followed by different individuals and communities.
