A smriti text is something that is remembered, a reference to retention through memory, as knowledge was disseminated through oral transmission. The dharmashastra texts (like Manu Samhita), the nitishastra texts (like Panchatantra), itihasa (Ramayana, Mahabharata) and the Puranas are smriti texts. Each of these was composed by a human and each of these is specific to a certain age.
