Dharmaśāstra

The Manusmṛti (), also known as the Mānava-Dharmaśāstra or the Laws of Manu, is one of the many legal texts and constitutions among the many '''' of Hinduism.

Dharmaśāstra () are Sanskrit Puranic Smriti texts on law and conduct, and refer to treatises (śāstras) on Dharma. Like the Dharmasūtras which are based upon the Vedas, these texts are also elaborate law commentaries based on the Vedas, and evolved from Dharmasutras. There are many Dharmaśāstras, variously estimated to number from 18 to over 100. Each of these texts exists in many different versions, and each is rooted in Dharmasutra texts dated to the 1st millennium BCE that emerged from Kalpa (Vedanga) studies in the Vedic era.

Hindu text of the Dharmaśāstra tradition

Nitisara () or the Nitisara of Kamandaki, is an ancient Indian treatise on politics and statecraft. It was authored by Kamandaka, also known as Kamandaki or Kamandakiya, traditionally identified as a disciple of Vishnugupta (Kautilya). It is traditionally dated to the 4th-3rd century BCE, though modern scholarship variously dates it to between the 3rd and 7th centuries CE between Gupta and Harsha period and its in fact a recension based on Sukra Nitisara of 4th century BCE. It contains 19 sections. The work has been dedicated to Chandragupta of Pataliputra.

sanskrit text

thumb|upright=1.25|1407 CE manuscript of the Naradasmriti in Sanskrit, Bhujimol script from the Malla kingdom of Nepal. It was the dharmasastra used in this medieval era kingdom.

one of the oldest Dharma texts of Hinduism

Hindu text

Shukranīti (–), also known as Shukranītisara (–) and ''Shukracharya's System of Morals, is a part of the Dharmasastra. It is a treatise on government, instructing how to use political theory to uphold morality. The code is authored by Shukracharya, also known as Usanas, and was claimed to have been written during the Vedic period. However, modern historians claim the composition could date as early as the 4th century AD during the Gupta period, or as late as a 19th-century forgery. The term Niti is derived from the Sanskrit word which translates to To Lead. Shukra-Niti focuses on morality, whi