Dharmaśāstra

Dharmaśāstra · dharma-śāstra, “the teaching of dharma”

Grammar: neuter noun; a compound of dharma and śāstra (teaching).

Meaning: the teaching of dharma; the Smṛtis.

In the scriptures: the Brahma Parva counts Dharma-śāstra among the fourteen vidyās that adorn the Purāṇa. It tells that from the fifth face of Brahmā came the eighteen Purāṇas with the Itihāsas, and likewise the Dharma-śāstras (the Smṛtis), and Yama and other devatās (Brahma Parva, Chapter 2).

Sources

• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 2