ADOPTION OF YAJNAVALKYA’S TENETS IN HMA 1955
AUTHOR – ANKIT RAJ & ASHOK DOBHAL
* FINAL YEAR STUDENT AT LAW COLLEGE DEHRADUN, UTTARANCHAL UNIVERSITY
** ASST. PROFESSOR AT LAW COLLEGE DEHRADUN, UTTARANCHAL UNIVERSITY
BEST CITATION – ANKIT RAJ & ASHOK DOBHAL, ADOPTION OF YAJNAVALKYA’S TENETS IN HMA 1955, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (1) OF 2026, PG. 95-106 , APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344. DOI – https://doi.org/10.65393/KLSK4809
Abstract
This paper will discuss how the Dharmashastra principles as laid down by Yajnavalkya impacted the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 that was drafted. It talks about how Hindu ancient legal philosophical thought as represented in a set of texts, the Yajnavalkya Smriti, conceptualised marriage as a sacrament, the need to solemnise, and the ethical foundations of married life in contemporary statutory law. The article also highlights the continuity between concepts of sahadharmacharitva, or dharma companionship, and the modern day legal definition of marriage as a socially and spiritually important institution. At the same time, the article explains the fact that this adoption was actually selective and reformist in nature. Though the tenets propounded by Yajnavalkya reflected the social order that existed during the period, through Hindu Marriage Act, these tenets were modified deliberately with the aim of establishing monogamy, consent, minimum age of marriage and divorce provisions so that individual law would be adjusted to the constitutional value of equality and dignity. This paper also endeavors to provide a trace of the interpretation of Hindu marriage by Indian Courts by trying to reconcile the traditional classical concepts of shastric ideals with the contemporary human rights ideals. It is therefore a claim in this paper that in both how tradition and reform have been synthesized, Hindu marriage act is neither a total departure nor a blinded continuation of ancient Hindu law but a dynamic legal evolution with classical moral philosophies glimpsing rather than dictating statutory provisions. The paper, therefore, ends by concluding that the lasting value of Yajnavalkya is his moral conception of marriage as a communal spiritual and social duty which continues to drive the form and spirit of the Hindu matrimonial law in the contemporary India.