Yājñavalkya Smṛti

The Yajnavalkya Smriti (IAST: Yājñavalkya Smṛti) is one of the many Dharma-related texts of Hinduism composed in Sanskrit. It is dated to between the 3rd to 5th-century CE, and belongs to the Dharmasastras tradition. The text was composed after the Manusmriti, but like it and Naradasmriti, the text was composed in shloka (poetic meter) style. The legal theories within the Yajnavalkya Smriti are presented in three books, namely achara-kanda (customs), vyavahara-kanda (judicial process) and prayascitta-kanda (crime and punishment, penance).

The text is the "best composed" and systematic specimen of this genre, with large sections on judicial process theories, one which had greater influence in medieval India's judiciary practice than Manusmriti. It later became influential in the studies of legal process in ancient and medieval India, during the colonial British India, with the first translation published in German in 1849. The text is notable for its differences in legal theories from Manusmriti, for being more liberal and humane, and for extensive discussions on evidence and judiciousness of legal documents.

The text most likely dates to the Gupta period, between roughly the 3rd and 5th centuries of the common era. There is some debate as to whether it is to be placed in the earlier or later part of that time span.Patrick Olivelle suggests the likely date may be in the 4th to 5th-century CE.

Arguments for particular dating are based on the concise, sophisticated vocabulary found throughout the text and on the use of certain terms such as nāṇaka (a coin), and references to Greek astrology (which has been known in India since the 2nd century; see Yavanajataka). The argument arises when considerations are made as to who was exchanging the nāṇaka and when the level of Greek thought which the author understood is brought into question.

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