Contents. Nomenclature The title Manusmriti is a relatively modern term and a late innovation, probably coined because the text is in a verse form. The over fifty manuscripts discovered of the text, never use this title, but state the title as Manava Dharmasastra (Sanskrit: मानवधर्मशास्त्र) in their at the end of each chapter. In modern scholarship, these two titles refer to the same text. Chronology Eighteenth-century philologists and assigned Manusmriti to the period of around 1250 BCE and 1000 BCE respectively, which from later linguistic developments is untenable due to the language of the text which must be dated later than the late Vedic texts such as the Upanishads which are themselves dated a few centuries ago around 500BC. Later scholarship, shifted the chronology of the text to between 200 BCE and 200 CE. Olivelle adds that evidence, and the mention of gold coins as a fine, suggest that text may date to the 2nd or 3rd century CE.

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Most scholars consider the text a composite produced by many authors put together over a long period. Olivelle states that the various ancient and medieval Indian texts claim revisions and editions were derived from the original text with 100,000 verses and 1,080 chapters. However, the text version in modern use, according to Olivelle, is likely the work of a single author or a chairman with research assistants. Manusmriti, Olivelle states, was not a new document, it drew on other texts, and it reflects 'a crystallization of an accumulated knowledge' in ancient India.

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The root of theoretical models within Manusmriti rely on at least two shastras that pre-date it: (statecraft and legal process), and dharma (an ancient Indian concept that includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and others discussed in various older than Manusmriti). Its contents can be traced to Kalpasutras of the Vedic era, which led to the development of Smartasutras consisting of Grihyasutras and Dharmasutras. The foundational texts of Manusmriti include many of these sutras, all from an era preceding the common era.

Most of these ancient texts are now lost, and only four of have survived: the law codes of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana and Vasishtha. Structure The modern version of the text has been subdivided into twelve Adhyayas (chapters), but the original text had no such division.

The text covers different topics, and is unique among ancient Indian texts in using “transitional verses” to mark the end of one subject and the start of the next. The text can be broadly divided into four, each of different length. And each further divided into subsections:.

Creation of the world. Source of dharma. The dharma of the four social classes. Law of karma, rebirth and final liberation The text is composed in metric Shlokas (verses), in the form of a dialogue between an exalted teacher and disciples who are eager to learn about the various aspects of. The first 58 verses are attributed by the text to, while the remaining more than two thousand verses are attributed to his student. Olivelle lists the subsections as follows: Creation of the world The Sarvasya Sambhavah (Origin, creation of the World) section has one hundred nineteen verses, describing how the world was created out of complete darkness, the cosmic egg, the cyclic nature of time and all existence. Sources of the law The Dharmasya Yonih (Sources of the Law) has twenty-four verses, and one transition verse.

These verses state what the text considers as the proper and just sources of law: वेदोऽखिलो धर्ममूलं स्मृतिशीले च तद्विदाम् । आचारश्चैव साधूनामात्मनस्तुष्टिरेव च ॥ Translation 1: The whole Veda is the (first) source of the sacred law, next the tradition and the virtuous conduct of those who know the (Veda further), also the customs of holy men, and (finally) self-satisfaction ( Atmana santushti). Translation 2: The root of the religion is the entire Veda, and (then) the tradition and customs of those who know (the Veda), and the conduct of virtuous people, and what is satisfactory to oneself. — Manusmriti 12.125, Calcutta manuscript with Kulluka Bhatta commentary Contents The structure and contents of the Manusmriti suggest it to be a document predominantly targeted at the Brahmins (priestly class) and the Kshatriyas (king, administration and warrior class). The text dedicates 1,034 verses, the largest portion, on laws for and expected virtues of Brahmins, and 971 verses for Kshatriyas. The statement of rules for the Vaishyas (merchant class) and the Shudras (artisans and working class) in the text is extraordinarily brief. Olivelle suggests that this may be because the text was composed to address the balance 'between the political power and the priestly interests', and because of the rise in foreign invasions of India in the period it was composed. On virtues and outcast Manusmriti lists and recommends virtues in many verses.

For example, verse 6.75 recommends towards everyone and as key virtues, while verse 10.63 preaches that all four varnas must abstain from injuring any creature, abstain from falsehood and abstain from appropriating property of others. Similarly, in verse 4.204, states Olivelle, some manuscripts of Manusmriti list the recommended virtues to be, 'compassion, forbearance, truthfulness, non-injury, self-control, not desiring, meditation, serenity, sweetness and honesty' as primary, and 'purification, sacrifices, ascetic toil, gift giving, vedic recitation, restraining the sexual organs, observances, fasts, silence and bathing' as secondary. A few manuscripts of the text contain a different verse 4.204, according to Olivelle, and list the recommended virtues to be, 'not injuring anyone, speaking the truth, chastity, honesty and not stealing' as central and primary, while 'not being angry, obedience to the teacher, purification, eating moderately and vigilance' to desirable and secondary. In other discovered manuscripts of Manusmriti, including the most translated Calcutta manuscript, the text declares in verse 4.204 that the ethical precepts under such as (non-violence) are paramount while such as (contemplation of personal god) are minor, and those who do not practice the Yamas but obey the Niyamas alone become an outcast. On personal choices, behaviors and morals Manusmriti has numerous verses on duties a person has towards himself and to others, thus including moral codes as well as legal codes.

This is similar to, states Olivelle, the modern contrast between informal moral concerns to birth out of wedlock in the developed nations, along with simultaneous legal protection for children who are born out of wedlock. Personal behaviors covered by the text are extensive. For example, verses 2.51-2.56, recommend that a monk must go on his begging round, collect almsfood and present it to his teacher first, then eat. One should revere whatever food one gets and eat it without disdain, states Manusmriti, but never overeat, as eating too much harms health.

In verse 5.47, the text states that work becomes without effort when a man contemplates, undertakes and does what he loves to do and when he does so without harming any creature. Numerous verses relate to the practice of meat eating, how it causes injury to living beings, why it is evil, and the morality of vegetarianism. Yet, the text balances its moral tone as an appeal to one's conscience, states Olivelle. For example, verse 5.56 as translated by Olivelle states, 'there is no fault in eating meat, in drinking liquor, or in having sex; that is the natural activity of creatures.

Abstaining from such activity, however, brings great rewards.' On women's rights Manusmriti offers an internally inconsistent and conflicting perspective on women's rights. The text, for example, declares that a marriage cannot be dissolved by a woman or a man, in verse 8.101-8.102. Yet, the text, in other sections, allows either to dissolve the marriage.

For example, verses 9.72-9.81 allow the man or the woman to get out of a fraudulent marriage or an abusive marriage, and remarry; the text also provides legal means for a woman to remarry when her husband has been missing or has abandoned her. It preaches chastity to widows such as in verses 5.158-5.160, opposes a woman marrying someone outside her own social class as in verses 3.13-3.14. In other verses, such as 2.67-2.69 and 5.148-5.155, Manusmriti preaches that as a girl, she should obey and seek protection of her father, as a young woman her husband, and as a widow her son; and that a woman should always worship her husband as a god.

In verses 3.55-3.56, Manusmriti also declares that 'women must be honored and adorned', and 'where women are revered, there the gods rejoice; but where they are not, no sacred rite bears any fruit'. Elsewhere, in verses 5.147-5.148, states Olivelle, the text declares, 'a woman must never seek to live independently'. Simultaneously, states Olivelle, the text presupposes numerous practices such a marriages outside varna, such as between a Brahmin man and a Shudra woman in verses 9.149-9.157, a widow getting pregnant with a child of a man she is not married to in verses 9.57-9.62, marriage where a woman in love elopes with her man, and then grants legal rights in these cases such as property inheritance rights in verses 9.143-9.157, and the legal rights of the children so born. The text also presumes that a married woman may get pregnant by a man other than her husband, and dedicates verses 8.31-8.56 to conclude that the child's custody belongs to the woman and her legal husband, and not to the man she got pregnant with. Manusmriti provides a woman with property rights to six types of property in verses 9.192-9.200. These include those she received at her marriage, or as gift when she eloped or when she was taken away, or as token of love before marriage, or as gifts from her biological family, or as received from her husband subsequent to marriage, and also from inheritance from deceased relatives. States that Manusmriti is a complex commentary from women's rights perspective, and the British colonial era codification of women's rights based on it for Hindus, and from Islamic texts for Muslims, picked and emphasized certain aspects while it ignored other sections.

This construction of personal law during the colonial era created a legal fiction around Manusmriti's historic role as a scripture in matters relating to women in South Asia. On statecraft and rules of war Chapter 7 of the Manusmriti discusses the duties of a king, what virtues he must have, what vices he must avoid. In verses 7.54 - 7.76, the text identifies precepts to be followed in selecting ministers, ambassadors and officials, as well as the characteristics of well fortified capital. Manusmriti then lays out the laws of just war, stating that first and foremost, war should be avoided by negotiations and reconciliations. If war becomes necessary, states Manusmriti, a soldier must never harm civilians, non-combatants or someone who has surrendered, that use of force should be proportionate, and other rules. Fair taxation guidelines are described in verses 7.127 to 7.137. Authenticity and inconsistencies in various manuscripts Patrick Olivelle, credited with a 2005 translation of Manusmriti published by the Oxford University Press, states the concerns in scholarship about the presumed authenticity and reliability of Manusmriti manuscripts.

He writes (abridged), The MDh Manusmriti was the first Indian legal text introduced to the western world through the translation of Sir William Jones in 1794. (.) All the editions of the MDh, except for Jolly's, reproduce the text as found in the Calcutta manuscript containing the commentary of Kulluka. I have called this as the ' version'. It was Kulluka's version that has been translated repeatedly: Jones (1794), Burnell (1884), Buhler (1886) and (1991). (.) The belief in the authenticity of Kulluka's text was openly articulated by Burnell (1884, xxix): 'There is then no doubt that the textus receptus, viz., that of Kulluka Bhatta, as adopted in India and by European scholars, is very near on the whole to the original text.'

This is far from the truth. Indeed, one of the great surprises of my editorial work has been to discover how few of the over fifty manuscripts that I collated actually follow the vulgate in key readings. —, Manu's Code of Law (2005) Other scholars point to the inconsistencies and have questioned the authenticity of verses, and the extent to which verses were changed, inserted or interpolated into the original, at a later date. Sinha, for example, states that less than half, or only 1,214 of the 2,685 verses in Manusmriti, may be authentic. Further, the verses are internally inconsistent.

Verses such as 3.55-3.62 of Manusmriti, for example, glorify the position of women, while verse such as 9.3 and 9.17 do the opposite. Other passages found in Manusmriti, such as those relating to, are modern era insertions and forgeries.

Nelson in 1887, in a legal brief before the Madras High Court of British India, had stated, 'there are various contradictions and inconsistencies in the Manu Smriti itself, and that these contradictions would lead one to conclude that such a commentary did not lay down legal principles to be followed but were merely recommendatory in nature.' Mahatma Gandhi remarked on the observed inconsistencies within Manusmriti as follows, I hold Manusmriti as part of Shastras. But that does not mean that I swear by every verse that is printed in the book described as Manusmriti. There are so many contradictions in the printed volume that, if you accept one part, you are bound to reject those parts that are wholly inconsistent with it. (.) Nobody is in possession of the original text. —, An Adi-Dravida's Difficulties Commentaries There are numerous classical commentaries on the Manusmṛti written in the medieval period. Bhāruci is the oldest known commentator on the Manu Smṛti.

Kane places him in the late 10th or early 11th century, Olivelle places him in the 8th century, and Derrett places him between 600-800 CE. From these three opinions we can place Bhāruci anywhere from the early 7th century CE to the early 11th century CE. Bhāruci's commentary, titled Manu-sastra-vivarana, has far fewer number of verses than the Kullūka-Calcutta vulgate version in circulation since the British colonial era, and it refers to more ancient texts that are believed to be lost. It is also called Raja-Vimala, and states Bharuci was 'occasionally more faithful to his source's historical intention' than other commentators. Medhātithi commentary on Manu Smṛti has been widely studied. Scholars such as Buhler, Kane, and Lingat believe he was from north India, likely the Kashmir region.

His commentary on Manusmriti is estimated to be from 9th to 11th century. Govindarāja Govindarāja's commentary, titled Manutika, is an 11th-century commentary on Manusmriti, referred to by Jimutavahana and Laksmidhara, and was plagiarized by Kullūka, states Olivelle. Kullūka Kullūka's commentary, titled Manvarthamuktavali, along with his version of the Manusmrti manuscript has been 'vulgate' or default standard, most studied version, since it was discovered in 18th-century by the British colonial officials.

It is the most reproduced and famous, not because, according to Olivelle, it is the oldest or because of its excellence, but because it was the lucky version found first. The Kullūka commentary dated to be sometime between the 13th to 15th century, adds Olivelle, is mostly a plagiary of Govindaraja commentary from about the 11th century, but with Kullūka's criticism of Govindaraja.

Nārāyana Nārāyana's commentary, titled Manvarthavivrtti, is probably from the 14th century and little is known about the author. This commentary includes many variant readings, and Olivelle found it useful in preparing a critical edition of the Manusmriti text in 2005. Nandana Nandana was from south India, and his commentary, titled Nandini, provides a useful benchmark on Manusmriti version and its interpretation in the south. Others Other known medieval era commentaries on Manusmriti include those by Sarvajnanarayana, Raghavananda and Ramacandra. Significance and role in history In ancient and medieval India Scholars doubt Manusmriti was ever administered as law text in ancient or medieval Hindu society. David Buxbaum states, 'in the opinion of the best contemporary orientalists, it Manusmriti does not, as a whole, represent a set of rules ever actually administered in Hindustan.

It is in great part an ideal picture of that which, in the view of a Brahmin, ought to be law'. Donald Davis writes, 'there is no historical evidence for either an active propagation or implementation of Dharmasastra Manusmriti by a ruler or any state – as distinct from other forms of recognizing, respecting and using the text. Thinking of Dharmasastra as a legal code and of its authors as lawgivers is thus a serious misunderstanding of its history'. Other scholars have expressed the same view, based on epigraphical, archeological and textual evidence from medieval Hindu kingdoms in, and, while acknowledging that Manusmriti was influential to the South Asian history of law and was a theoretical resource. In British India.

Main article: Prior to the British colonial rule, (Islamic law) for Muslims in South Asia had been codified as, but laws for non-Muslims – such as Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis – were not codified during the 600 years of Islamic rule. With the arrival of the British colonial officials, Manusmriti played a historic role in constructing a legal system for non-Muslims in South Asia and early Western perceptions about the ancient and medieval Indian society. In the 18th century, the earliest British of the East India Company acted as agents of the Mughal emperor. As the British colonial rule took over the political and administrative powers in India, it was faced with various state responsibilities such as legislative and judiciary functions. The East India Company, and later the British Crown, sought profits for its British shareholders through trade as well as sought to maintain effective political control with minimal military engagement. The administration pursued a path of least resistance, relying upon co-opted local intermediaries that were mostly Muslims and some Hindus in various princely states. The British exercised power by avoiding interference and adapting to law practices as explained by the local intermediaries.

The existing legal texts for Muslims, and resurrected Manusmriti manuscript thus helped the colonial state sustain the pre-colonial religious and political law and conflicts, well into the late nineteenth century. The colonial policy on the system of personal laws for India, for example, was expressed by Governor-General Hastings in 1772 as follows, That in all suits regarding inheritance, marriage, caste and other religious usages or institutions, the law of the Koran with respect to Mahometans Muslims, and those of the Shaster with respect to Gentoos Hindus shall be invariably be adhered to. —, Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Sharia Outside India The Dharma-sastras, particularly Manusmriti, states Anthony Reid, were 'greatly honored in Burma (Myanmar), Siam (Thailand), Cambodia and Java-Bali (Indonesia) as the defining documents of the natural order, which kings were obliged to uphold.

They were copied, translated and incorporated into local law code, with strict adherence to the original text in Burma and Siam, and a stronger tendency to adapt to local needs in Java (Indonesia)'. The medieval era derived texts and Manusmriti manuscripts in Southeast Asia are, however, quite different than the 'vulgate' version that has been in use since its first use in British India. The role of then extant Manusmriti as a historic foundation of law texts for the people of Southeast Asia has been very important, states Hooker. Comparison with other dharmasastras. Further information: and Along with Manusmriti ( Manava Dharmasastra), ancient India had between eighteen and thirty six competing Dharma-sastras, states John Bowker.

Many of these texts have been lost completely or in parts, but they are referred to in other ancient Indian texts suggesting that they were influential in some regions or time. Of the numerous jurisprudence-related commentaries and Smriti texts, after Manu Smriti and other than the older Dharma Sutras, Yajnavalkya Smriti has attracted the attention of many scholars, followed by Narada Smriti and Parashara Smriti (the oldest Dharma-smriti). Evidence suggests that, state Ghose and other scholars, was the more referred to text than Manu Smriti, in matters of governance and practice.

This text, of unclear date of composition, but likely to be a few centuries after Manusmriti, is more 'concise, methodical, distilled and liberal'. According to Jois, Regarding the 18 titles of law, Yajnavalkya follows the same pattern as in Manu with slight modifications. On matters such as women's rights of inheritance and right to hold property, status of Sudras, and criminal penalty, Yajnavalkya is more liberal than Manu. (.) He deals exhaustively on subjects like creation of valid documents, law of mortgages, hypothecation, partnership and joint ventures.

Downloads Maharaja Bhagiratha prays for the celestial Ganga to descend to the earth. Lord Siva absorbs the impact of the Ganga by catching it on His head. As part of their policy of psychological warfare in India to destroy Krsna's Vedic culture the British paid unscrupulous collaborators to quote scriptural texts out of context in order to substantiate beef eating and allow cow slaughter in India. One such text was called Beef in Ancient India. The text we are providing A Review of 'Beef in Ancient India' attacks the premise of the former book and demonstrates it for what it is, a British propaganda lie. Please distribute widely.

An essay by Bhaktisiddhanta showing the superiority of Vaisnavas over Brahmanas supported by numerous quotations from the sastras. As a corrollary it clearly demonstrates that a Brahmana is not determined by his birth but by his qualities and actions. (PDF 1 MB) zipped file (1 MB) Complete copy of the 12 volume Ganguli translation of the in PDF format. (13 MB zipped) The history of (PDF 165 k) from the Mahabharata., (11 MB) a canto of Agnivesa's Caraka Samhita.

This is a chapter of a classical treatise on ayurveda dealing with how the body is created, propagating good children, pregnancy, embryology, etc. Useful for all practitioners of Vedic culture especially grihastas.