Dharma is a broad concept which include legal and moral injunctions, social customs and religious practices. But Smriti deals with mainly the legal aspect of dharma which a society and individual is expected to do and help administration to follow procedure and punishment in case of violation. 18 major Smrit text like Manusmriti are the major literature in this contest.

But information in Smriti are not infallible knowledge like those in Sruti texts like Veda, so it need to be interpreted for different ages and for different societies. A digest of different Smriti is called as Nibandha which bring together and discusses passages from various Smriti that are relevant to a particular topic. There are many Nibandhas composed during various periods to accommodate the passion and need of that age and devoted to different aspect of Hindu dharma. Mitramishra’s Viramitrodaya is a large text which deal many topics. Candesvara’s Vivaha ratnakara and Vyavahara Ratnakara deal with substantive law and judicial procedural. Vachaspati misras Vivaha Cintamani and Vyavahara Cintamani are also similar texts. Jimutavahara’s Dayabhaga is a separate treatise on inheritance. Raghunandana’s Smrititattva is a medieval period work on all aspect of dharmasastras. Nibandhanas are available in every indigenous Indian language.