History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c83.35

v7.c83.35

Professor Kane brings out with great learning and lucidity the frequent changes our society has passed through. When Manu (I. 85) tells us that different customs prevailed in different ages he suggests that the social code is not a fixed but a flexible one.¹ Social customs and institutions are subject to change Yājñavalkya tells us that "one should not practise that which, though ordained by the *Smṛti*, is condemned by the people."¹ What appeals to one's conscience, *ātmanas tuṣṭiḥ*, the conscience of the disciplined, not of the superficial, the forms which the elect praise,² should be our standard.