THE SACRED LIBRARY
About Yajnavalkya Smriti
The work opens at Mithila, where sages ask Yajnavalkya to explain duties. Its account names multiple branches of knowledge and a wider succession of authorities on dharma. This setting presents the teaching as part of a learned conversation rather than as a rule invented without predecessors.
Its three major divisions concern conduct, litigation and expiation. The range includes the household’s daily rhythm, contested property and the response to death and wrongdoing. These matters are joined by dharma even where a modern reader would place them in separate legal, ethical and religious categories.
More About Yajnavalkya Smriti
Yajnavalkya Smriti belongs to the dharma literature concerned with duties, religious conduct and legal or social questions. Surviving forms and attribution differ between works.
AT A GLANCE
Identity & Context
- Identity
- Text
- Form
- Smriti & Dharmashastra
- Tradition
- Hindu religious traditions
INSIDE THE TEXT
Stories & Teachings
ROLE & ESSENCE
Themes & Meaning
The work connects personal duties with the obligations of public institutions. A householder receives guests and maintains daily observances; a ruler must hear disputes impartially with qualified assessors. These ideals coexist with social and gender restrictions, which are also part of the order the work prescribes.
Library Category
Form / Textual Family
Smriti / Dharmashastra
Traditional Attribution
Traditionally associated with Yajnavalkya; traditional attribution is not a proof of single historical authorship.
Subject & Teachings
Yajnavalkya Smriti belongs to the dharma literature concerned with duties, religious conduct and legal or social questions. Surviving forms and attribution differ between works.
Associated Deities / Figures
Textual Relationships
Historical Context
Composition, transmission and redaction must be distinguished; no unsupported exact date is assigned.
Reading Notes
A historical religious text, not a statement of current civil law. Identify the edition and distinguish descriptive study from endorsement.
Tradition Notes
Names and accounts can vary by recension, region and commentary. This entry distinguishes attested details from identifications still requiring a passage-level source.
Archive Classification Notes
Original archive annotations are retained here. The current playable classification is shown in the side panel.
- Tradition Dependence
- High — compare the identified textual or regional account.
- Structure
- Consult the identified edition for chapters, recension and numbering.
TRADITION & MEANING
Traditions & Interpretations
Yajnavalkya also appears in Upanishadic dialogues. The shared traditional name does not turn these works of different genres into one continuous account of his life.
Its courtroom procedure gives each party a defined role. Complaint and response are recorded in their presence before proof is presented, and documents, possession and witnesses can establish a claim. The requirement that judges remain even-handed toward friend and enemy explains why impartial conduct matters as well as knowledge of the rules.
Names and accounts can vary by recension, region and commentary. This entry distinguishes attested details from identifications still requiring a passage-level source.
FOLLOW THE THREADS
Connected Cards
3 connected profiles. Every path leads to an original record.
The Sacred Library2
Yajnavalkya’s teaching belongs to the Smriti literature on dharma.
Manu is included in the opening list of dharma teachers.
