There were great smṛtikāras or the law-givers like Manu, Yājñavalkya, Gautama, and others, whose books of codes have governed the Hindu society for ages. These Smṛtis have not only protected the Hindu society from evils of their times, but also ensured the all-round progress of the society and nation. In fact, these Smṛtis have been the bulwarks of Hindu society, protecting them and keeping them united, organized, and unrelenting in the face of threats and challenges, especially challenges like the barbarous Islamic and European invasions.
But as society undergoes change, the laws meant for a certain time and place become obsolete and irrelevant, and therefore such laws need to be repealed. Thus, from time to time new codes or Smṛtis come into existence, which take into account the contingencies of the changing ecosystems.
Vivekananda Smṛtiḥ—A Code of Law for the Modern Age—is a well-researched compilation of Swami Vivekananda’s ideas on national, social, spiritual, religious, and humanistic issues, classified under sixteen chapters. Swamiji’s ideas have been rendered into versified Sanskrit in the style of ancient works on codes of law, like the Manu Smṛtiḥ and Yājñavalkya Smṛtiḥ.
The law-makers (smṛtikāras) and the Acharyas of the past were great builders of Indian society and nation. Whether it was Yājñavalkya, Manu, or the giants like Sri Shankaracharya, their lives were given to the protection and efflorescence of Dharma. Swami Vivekananda walked on their footsteps and believed in continuing their line of action, only with slight changes suitable for the present times….
Having an incisive insight into the workings of human history, especially the Hindu society, Swami Vivekananda, like his predecessors, worked to awaken India by carrying the eternal message of Shruti to everyone’s doorsteps. And along with spreading the message of Shruti, he wanted to draft a new Smṛti suitable to the contemporary Indian society.
The present work is somewhat a move in the direction of fulfilling that wish of Swamiji. Vivekananda Smṛtiḥ—A Code of Law for the Modern Age, is a compilation of utterances of Swami Vivekananda spread throughout his literature, classified into sixteen topics, and presented in versified Sanskrit in the style of the old smṛtikāras.
