Yājñavalkya dharmaśāstra as a source of statutory regulation of social relations in ancient India
The article is devoted to the issues of legal regulation of the social relations in the marriage and family, civic, procedural and criminal spheres in ancient India on the example of one of the most authoritative ancient Indian monuments - Yājñavalkya dharmaśāstra containing religious, ethic and legal rules. Based on general philosophical dialectical method, method of comparative analysis, synthesis and formal legal method and method of interpretation of law the author concludes there is quite developed law rules in Ancient India. In particular, the marriage questions were regulated by establishment of requirements to spouses, their rights and duties, various forms of marriage and their civic consequences. Furthermore, requirements for the registration of legal documents, the status of the witnesses in the trial, the grounds of the invalidity of legal acts and order of payment of debts, the principle of immediacy in the research evidence and also different types of crimes and punishments for them regulated carefully. The procedure for filing a claim in court, the requirements for judges, the possibility of judicial review were established, too. In general, the Yājñavalkya dharmaśāstra shows an example of statutory regulation of the public relations in unequal society divided on varnas where interests of varna of brahmins are brought to the forefront.