Page 53 - Hinduism

Itihāsas and Purāṇas because it is the most comprehensive and the most elucidative or clear. The Parāsarasmṛti, is considered to be the standard work for this Kali age. It enumerates exhaustively the special rules for the Kali age. It is said in the Manusmṛti itself that Manu's laws apply to the Kṛtayuga, Gautama's laws to the Tretāyuga, the laws of Śaṅkha and Likhita to the Dvāparayuga and those of Parāśara to the Kaliyuga.
There are some other works which are written by the Ṛṣis like the Dharmaśāstras and which are considered as equally authoritative although they do not strictly come under the category of Dharmaśāstra. These are Itihāsas, Purāṇas, Āgamas and Tantras. The Itihāsas describe how the duties taught in our Smṛtis are discharged by different individuals, how men should act when there is apparent conflict of duties, and thereby create in the minds of people a desire to follow dharma and to shun adharma. The Purāṇas describe how the incarnations like those of Rama and Kṛṣṇa come down to the level of man in order to elevate men to the divine level and reveal to us the mightly power of God by describing the course of creation and destruction and the right and wrong manner of governing the people. The Āgamas contain rules for the construction of temples and shaping of arcas and the consecration and worship of the latter. The method of pleasing the Gods in an easy manner and
thereby attaining advantages in this and the next 53