Parashara Smrti

One of the smrtis or “remembered”
texts, a class of literature deemed important but less authoritative than the other
textual category, the shrutis, or “heard”
texts. This smrti is ascribed to the sage
Parashara, and is an example of one of
the Dharma Shastras, which were manuals prescribing rules for correct human
behavior and ideal social life. Unlike the
Dharma Sutras, which are ascribed to
recognizable individuals, the Dharma
Shastras are usually ascribed to mythic
sages as a strategy to reinforce the
authority of these texts. At 592 verses,
the Parashara Smrti is relatively short,
and it treats only two themes, religious
custom (achara) and expiation
(prayashchitta). The text is estimated
to have been written between the
first and fifth centuries, but in the fourteenth century it received an extensive
commentary by Madhava, and the
resulting work, known as the
Parasharamadhava, has continued to
be influential since then.
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Parashara Smrti