"The School of Hindu Law have originated as result of interpretation placed on some expressions to be found in Yagnavalkya-Smriti".
Find the question and answer of Hindu Law only on Legal Bites.
Question: "The School of Hindu Law have originated as result of interpretation placed on some expressions to be found in Yagnavalkya-Smriti". [BJS 1987]Find the question and answer of Hindu Law only on Legal Bites. ["The School of Hindu Law have originated as result of interpretation placed on some expressions to be found in Yagnavalkya-Smriti".]AnswerCustoms and Usages in general have played a vital role in the evolution of law, but in Hindu Law, they have special significance. For...
Question: "The School of Hindu Law have originated as result of interpretation placed on some expressions to be found in Yagnavalkya-Smriti". [BJS 1987]
Find the question and answer of Hindu Law only on Legal Bites. ["The School of Hindu Law have originated as result of interpretation placed on some expressions to be found in Yagnavalkya-Smriti".]
Answer
Customs and Usages in general have played a vital role in the evolution of law, but in Hindu Law, they have special significance. For example, the customs can tell that the property of the father will devolve upon his son, but what if there is no son and only a few distant relatives? Therefore, the textbooks called Smritis were written by Sanskrit Scholars, who had specialized knowledge in Law.
Some Smritis are Manusmriti, Yajnavalkya Smriti, and the Smritis of Vishnu, Parashar, Narad, Vashisht, Apastamba, Gautam, etc. Later the commentaries on these Smritis were written on these Smritis, for example, Mitakshara was the commentary on Yajnavalkya Smiriti, and Dayabhaga was the commentary on several Smritis combined. Then later on more commentaries were written on these commentaries, for example, Viramitrodaya (a commentary on Mitakshara).
Then the Hindu Law was divided into the Mitakshara and Dayabhaga, and Mitakshara was followed in all the states except Bengal and Assam. Therefore, it can be said that the School of Hindu Law originated as a result of the interpretation placed on some expressions to be found in Yagnavalkya-Smriti.
The first smriti was the Manusmriti, but Vijnaneshwara, chose to write a commentary on Yajnavalkya Smirti because, it is more systematically arranged and is divided into three chapters, the first is on Morality, the second is on law, and the third is on Penance, unlike Manusmriti where all three are mixed up. We can compare and relate this division from law to morality as done by Austin, Bentham, etc. Like they were the fathers of the English law jurisprudence, similarly, the smritis are the founding stone of Hindu Law, particularly the Yagnavalkya-Smriti.
Mayank Shekhar
Mayank is an alumnus of the prestigious Faculty of Law, Delhi University. Under his leadership, Legal Bites has been researching and developing resources through blogging, educational resources, competitions, and seminars.
