Manusmṛti
⚠️ Content warning
- Language:
- English
- Translation:
- Georg Bühler
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Attributed (authorship debated)
- Condition of the text:
- Some scanning errors · 23 illegible passages, excluded from answers
- Extent:
- ~240,000 words · 1,144 passages
Cite this work
- APALaws of Manu. (n.d.). Manusmṛti. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/laws-of-manu/the-laws-of-manu-manusmriti-sbe-vol-xxv
- MLALaws of Manu. "Manusmṛti." SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/laws-of-manu/the-laws-of-manu-manusmriti-sbe-vol-xxv.
- ChicagoLaws of Manu. Manusmṛti. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/laws-of-manu/the-laws-of-manu-manusmriti-sbe-vol-xxv.
What it is about
The Manusmriti in the English translation of the Sacred Books of the East: a treatise of dharma on duties according to varna and stage of life, on the king, marriage, inheritance and penance.
Context and history
It matters to know what this text is and is not. It is a normative treatise — it says what ought to be done — and not a description of how people lived; historians warn against reading it as a portrait of ancient Indian society. And a later fact weighs heavily: the British administration used it as a code of 'Hindu law', which gave it a legal authority it had not had before. Much of its modern influence comes from that use.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
2. ' Deign, divine one, to declare to us precisely and in due order the sacred laws of each of the (four chief) castes (vama) and of the intermediate ones. 3. ' For thou, O Lord, alone knowest the purport, (i. e.) the rites, and the knowledge of the soul, (taught) in this whole ordinance of the Self-existent (Svayambhu), which is unknowable and unfathomable.' 1. 1. Kull. thinks that pratipu^y a, ' having worshipped,' may also mean ' after mutual salutations/ and he connects, against the opinion of the other commentators, 'duly' with ' spoke.' Gov., Nar., Ragh., and K., as well as various MSS. (Loiseleur I, p. 313 ; Bikaner Cat. p. 419), begin the Sawhita with the following verse, omitted by Medh., Kull., and Nand. : ' Having adored the self-existent Brahman, possessing immeasurable power, I will declare the various eternal laws which Manu promulgated/ 2. After this verse Nand. inserts four lines, the first and last of which are also found in K. : (a) ' The origin of the whole multitude of created beings, of those born from the womb, of those born from eggs, of those produced from exudations and from germinating seeds, and their destruction;' (b) 'The settled rule of all customs and rites deign to describe at large, according to their times and fitness/ 3. 'The ordinance of the Self-existent,' i.e. 'the Veda' (Kull., Nar., and Ragh.), or 'the Veda or the prescriptive rules (vidhi) LAWS OF MANU. 4. He, whose power is measureless, being thus asked by the high-minded great sages, duly honoured them, and answered, ' Listen !' 5.← Back to Laws of Manu