History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c93.386.4

v7.c93.386.4

Change is the one absolute in the long history of our religious and social ideas and what those who appeal to the historical approach mean is that the smṛtis were composed by human authors during a period of 1500 or 2000 years and were greatly influenced by the then prevailing religious and social atmosphere, that many of their dicta cannot be fully reconciled so as to form a consistent code of conduct, that they cannot be regarded as forever binding on all Hindus, that in the 20th century our people are free to introduce or recognize such changes as are required or have already taken place among the people in the changed circumstances and that this course is sanctioned even by Manu and Yājñavalkya and medieval eminent authors and works on the Dharmaśāstra such as the Mitākṣarā and the Kalpataru. It is of course clear that changes in practices and principles should not be made merely for the sake of change or for the whims of some leader, but the governing principle of conscious change should be the feelings and needs of common people, while retaining the foundations on which society has been based for thousands of years.