History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s17.1

v1.c6.s17.1

The word smṛti is used in two senses. It is applied to all ancient orthodox non-Vedic works such as Pāṇini’s grammar, to the śrauta, gṛhya and dharma sūtras, to the Mahābhārata, to Manu, Yājñavalkya and others. In a narrower sense smṛti and dharmaśāstra are synonyms, as Manu says.²⁵⁴ The word smṛti occurs in Taittirīya Āraṇyaka (I. 2). Gautama (Dh. S. I. 2) and Vasiṣṭha (Dh. S. I. 4) speak of smṛti as one of the sources of dharma. Āp. Dh. S. (II. 6. 15. 25) employs the word smṛti and has in view Gautama's dharmasūtra according to Haradatta. In the Pūrvamīmāṁsā-sūtra the word smṛti occurs (vide VI. 8. 23 and XII. 4. 42).²⁵⁵ In the Vedāntasūtras the word smṛti is employed in a wide sense, in one place as referring even to the sāṅkhya system.²⁵⁶ In that work the word is used according to Śaṅkara with reference to the Mahābhārata or the Manusmṛti (Vedāntasūtra II. 3. 47, III. 1. 14 and 21, IV. 2. 14).