History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s21.25

v1.c6.s21.25

Yājñavalkya agrees very closely with the Viṣṇudharmasūtra. What conclusions are to be drawn therefrom has been discussed above (see sec. 10). Similarly there is close correspondence between the Kauṭilīya and Yāj. If there is any borrowing at all, it must follow from the date above assigned to the Kauṭilīya that it is Yāj. who borrows. There are numerous passages in Yāj. that show remarkable agreement with the text of Manu. But there are several points on which Yāj. differs from Manu and shows in general a more advanced state of thought and feeling than the Manusmṛti. The following are the principal points wherein Yāj. differs from Manu. Manu seems to allow a Brāhmaṇa to marry a śūdra girl (III. 13), while Yāj. emphatically states it as his opinion that this is wrong (I. 59); Manu first describes the practice of *niyoga* and then severely condemns it (9. 59-68), while Yāj. does not condemn it (I. 68-69). Manu enumerates eighteen vyavahārapadas; Yāj. does not expressly enumerate them in one place, though he defines vyavahārapada and adds verses of a miscellaneous character (*prakīrṇaka*) in his section on vyavahāra. Manu is silent about the rights of inheritance of the widow of a sonless man and gives only a vaguely expressed order of succession, while Yāj. places the widow at the head of all heirs and enumerates several classes of heirs in a regular order. Manu condemns gambling outright (9. 224-226), while Yāj. brought it under state control and made it a source of revenue to the king (II. 200-203). There are several other matters which Yāj. treats at much greater length and more systematically than Manu, e. g. ordeals (as indicated above), means of proof in courts (Manu altogether ignoring documentary evidence, though he knew documents 8. 51-52), rules of procedure in courts (compare Manu 8. 53-56 with Yāj. II. 5-11 and 16-21), the doctrine of possession and prescription (Yāj. II. 24-29 and Manu 9. 44 and 54). All these points tend to show that the Yājñavalkya smṛti is much later than the extant Manusmṛti.