Manusmriti

Manusmriti

Manusmriti is the first book on the law in the world, which deals with the social and moral conduct of a person. It falls in the Smriti category of Hindu scriptures and hence, it is less authoritative than the Vedas and the Upanishads.

It is also one of the most defamed Hindu books as Dr. Ambedkar had burnt the copies of it to protest against the Hindu caste system. To date, many people look at it as a symbol of the caste system. The evangelists use this book as a weapon against Hinduism to provoke Dalits.

Manusmriti was written in the post-Vedic period after the fall of the Mauryan Empire but they are based on Dharma Sutras written in the Vedic period. The sages who wrote it modified Dharma Sutras to fit the era of a rigid caste system that prevailed during the post-Vedic period.

Another name of Manusmriti is “Dharmasutras of Manava”. There are other Smritis also like Narad Smriti, Yajnavalkya Smriti, Brihaspati Smriti, etc. but Manusmriti is the most famous of them all.

Manusmriti does not talk about caste but it talks about Varna, viz. Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaisya, and Shudra. There is no mention of the Varna system according to birth but it advocates the system based on the qualities of a person. If a Shudra possesses qualities of a Brahmin, he could be promoted as a Brahmin but if a Brahmin does not possess the qualities required, then he could be demoted as a Shudra.

There are 12 chapters in Manusmriti. It was translated into English by George Buhler. You can read Manusmriti online by following the links given below:

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

Chapter X

Chapter XI

Chapter XII

Image Credit: Katyare

Image Link

If You Like This Article, Then Please Share It
Comments (14)
  • “Manusmriti is a holy book to be read and followed by all” you wrote

    Why a Sudra as you people designated and suppressed millions of years should follow? What he will get by following it. Can you find a religion that dictates not to study, not to dress properly, not to eat good food -all have been done with the tacit collusion of the then Kings who are mostly selfish

  • “I would prefer to read any Sanathana Dharma texts translated by Sanathanees. British Misinterpreted with an agenda”

    This is what every Sanatanee claims. Why hey should misinterprete your scripts. What agenda they should have and get the benefit. We got the benefits inumerable from British. Why Shivaji looted his own country people-example, Surat was so rich a port city was looted by Shivaji. Then the British naturally tried to exploit the wealth of our country. The very starting of Varna system is a foolish system dividing people as high and low. Read the Valmiki Ramayana.Meat was freely used then as food. After Buddha appeared the whole approach of Sanatanees changed from meat to non-meat- as Asoka issued a dictate not to kill animals for Gods as sacrifice.

    • They might have misinterpreted Hindu books to prove that Hindus are inferior. Shivaji looted Surat because the Mughals looted Maharashtra and the whole India. Varnashrama is a different thing than caste system. It is an eternal law but its implementation is difficult. If you want to eat meat, go ahead. Killing animals is a sin for some people, so they don’t eat. It is free will.

  • The sad thing about interpretation of any text Roman, Sanskrit, Maya etc., forgets that they were not written down by any one at the time of their creation. They were repeated, learned by heart and thus because they were learned via Ear(Karna) , later versions were modified slowly and when written down very very late, the text have undergone changes. This can be seen even in Muslim Kuron and a recent discovery of a handwritten note on the margin of one of the Koran makes note that Friday prayer is not mandated but could be practiced if one wants. But today it is assumed like a command. The same thing happened with Sanskrit texts. Thus, there is no untouchability in GODs – black Vishnu, while Laxmi, black Parvathi, Ash colored Siva etc., are all non-Brahmins – Shaktrias. Inter caste marriage were allowed. Thus, caste were introduced by some misguided people to gain power. British encouraged it. Sp, Ambedkar without doing any research and just reading misinterpreted text has failed to understand the original ordering. Just studying physics people think that we have fully understood the world. But we are still learning.
    Thus, caste is a bribing misdeed and the whole society is responsible for accepting it. Discrimination is part of life in the whole world. The current generation is also guilty as our misrepresented ancestors.

    • “British encouraged it. Sp, Ambedkar without doing any research and just reading misinterpreted text has failed to understand the original ordering”

      This is what you have written. First of all why one whoever he or she may be created, as claimed, four varnas and resulted high and low. Did you people (Aryans) allow others to read these so-called divine dictates? Only British people brought out the actual content of these smutis and exposed them. Till 1776 no one knows what Manusmuti is except Pandits. Now you say Ambedkar misinterpreted. what is this kind of allegation? Till 1860 the IPC, who got what punishment based on Manusmruti. British engaged Pandits especially to interpret and give opinions to the Judges including William Jones the lover of Sanskrit. Who designed four Varnas, probably during the period of Pushya Mitra time .

      • I did not say Ambedkar misinterpreted Manusmriti. I appreciate British scholars’ efforts for translating the Hindu texts to English, but it is possible that there might be some politics involved.

  • I would prefer to read any Sanathana Dharma texts translated by Sanathanees. Westerners who translated our texts either misunderstood them or mistranslated them because they had some agenda. Please get a complete and fair translation from a proper Indian Sanskrit expert and post.

  • There are too many negative points about ‘Manusmriti’. Some examples: the maligning of women, the severity of punishments for the same offence depending upon the ‘varna’ of the person punished, the guidelines for barren men’s wives for begetting children, etc. We are not for burning any work but to worship such works as Brahmins in particular do is revolting, to say the least.

  • Manusmriti is a holy book to be read and followed by all. Burning of a holy book should be declared a serious offence. Action should be taken accordingly.
    Ram Nivas kumar, the Author

    • Yesbyrning to contained we toseek scholors advise to understand only vda knowing only can xplain i t is just vedas

  • Manu smriti should be judged in the context of the times in which was written. It should be compared with the literature and social norms of other advanced contemprory societies. I am sure it will come out favourably in such comparison. Further, the shame of our civilization is not the caste system. It is untouchablity. There is no evidence of untouchablity in the the smriti. Untouchablity is a later development -the result of changed social mores and, much later, aggravated by the inwardness of an enslaved race. It is also probable that Manu wanted to preserve racial purity which was diluted gradually(refer to Panini). Ambedkar’s action in burning the smriti books was probably the result of misunderstanding. Finally, the smriti is one of the many dharma shastras guiding Hindu religious and social laws.

    • Quoting Bhagwat Manral – ‘Further, the shame of our civilization is not the caste system. It is untouchability.’ – Unquote Case system itself is the shame, as it is founded on exploitation. Untouchability is further degradation.

      Smriti means that which is remembered. As the human body, though highly complex in its structure and equally sophisticated in its function, suffers from infirmities, what is remembered need not necessarily be the same as what was heard. Therefore, indiscriminate adherence to smriti must be discouraged and rational analysis of what is said has to be undertaken.

      Adhi Sankara’s words on shraddha, in his ‘Viveka Chudamani’, a treatise far superior to Bhagwat Gita (my perception having studied both) is highly pertinent

      It is unfortunate that we, of the present generation, suffer from an inferiority complex, placing undue importance to the wisdom of our ancestors, underestimating our own analytical capability and vast knowledge base available.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *