A History of Sanskrit Literature c30.s3.5

c30.s3.5

These texts are of minor importance compared with the *Yājñavalkya Smṛti*,² whose title recalls the great authority of the *White Yajurveda*; in point of fact some similarity has been traced to the *Pāraskara Gṛhyasūtra* of that Veda, though also to the *Mānava Gṛhyasūtra*. The Smṛti refers to the *Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad*, so that the connexion may be accepted as valid. There can be no doubt of its importance or of its posteriority to Manu. It adds written documents to his means of proof, recognizes five in lieu of two ordeals, fire and water, it also knows Greek astrology, and has the term *nāṇaka* for coined gold, suggesting a date not before A.D. 300. The arrangement is better than in Manu; three chapters of about the same length handle rules of conduct, Ācāra, law, Vyavahāra, and penances; the eighteen topics of Manu which are not formally enumerated are in effect adhered to with the addition of one of relations of service and another on miscellaneous topics. Yājñavalkya shows many of the traits of Manu; his outlook is largely similar, and he indulges in philosophical remarks on the fate of the soul in much the same strain of Vedānta-Yoga-Sāṁkhya as appears in Manu. New is an embryology taken from some medical treatise.³ In style there is much resemblance to Manu, but there is less elaboration. The whole duty of man is thus set forth: