None knows when Manu Smriti had its last sway, if at all, over the Indian polity but still the Hindu castes that it slighted lazily hold it against the Brahmins that it once exalted, and ominously, the evangelists cynically bash Hinduism with it to lure the former into their Semitic fold. However, this essay is not an exercise to endorse the extinct Smriti per se but an attempt to expose the perceptive vacuity and the intellectual dishonesty, as the case may be, of its debunkers.
No denying
that Manu unambiguously upheld the Brahmanical supremacy albeit with an austere
life-style that is self-denying to say the least, and even otherwise which
society in history has been egalitarian in its concept and construct. But then,
to cite but two examples, what about the Islamic bigotry that negates the
kafirs and the White racism that rendered blacks into slavery. Why the Muslims
have not been able to shed their ill-founded kafir antipathy even in the
multi-cultural settings they happen to live. When was it that the racial
segregation in the U.S. trains and buses in the Land of Liberty did end but in
1956! So, on the discriminatory note, the Manuwad decry, a euphemism for
ant-Brahminism, is a far cry from the ‘Black Lives Matter’ cry.
Besides, Manu’s
detractors tend to smear him by amplifying his restrain-female tunes and muting
his woman-exalted notes. But then, what was his Smriti’s woman-denial compared
to Sharia’s savagery of the fair sex; for that matter, when it was that woman’s
vote began to count in the first full-fledged democracy in the modern world but
in 1920! And for the starters, democracy took birth in India that is Bharat of
yore.
Be that as
it may, there’s no historical evidence that the law of Arya Varta was ever
based on the Manu Smriti for it was not mandatory,
8.309. Know
that a king who heeds not the rules (of the law), who is an atheist, and
rapacious, who does not protect (his subjects, but) devours them, will sink low
(after death).
This and the excerpts that follow are derived from ‘The
Laws of Manu’ by G. Buhler, Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1886, available at the
Internet Archive.
Whatever, a
tangible expostulation of Manu Smriti would be in order, and to start with, it’s
the King, not the Brahmin, above all,
7.5. Because a
king has been formed of particles of those lords of the gods, he therefore
surpasses all created beings in lustre;
7.8. Even an
infant king must not be despised, (from an idea) that he is a (mere) mortal;
for he is a great deity in human form.
Besides,
belying the perceived oppression of the so-called lower castes, apparently there
were rulers among them, never mind Manu is said to have disregarded them -
4.61. Let him
not dwell in a country where the rulers are Sudras, nor in one which is
surrounded by unrighteous men, nor in one which has become subject to heretics,
nor in one swarming with men of the lowest castes.
Just the same,
no denying that the Brahmins, nay the pious among them, were invariably posited
on the social pedestal -
3.212. But if
no (sacred) fire (is available), he shall place (the offerings) into the hand
of a Brahmana; for Brahmanas who know the sacred texts declare, ’What fire is,
even such is a Brahmana’.
But that
entailed quite a spiritual rigour,
2.162. A
Brahmana should always fear homage as if it were poison; and constantly desire
(to suffer) scorn as (he would long for) nectar.
Besides a
curtailed material means,
3.109. A
Brahmana shall not name his family and (Vedic) gotra in order to obtain a meal;
for he who boasts of them for the sake of a meal, is called by the wise a foul
feeder (vantasin).
8.102.
Brahmanas who tend cattle, who trade, who are mechanics, actors (or singers),
menial servants or usurers, the (judge) shall treat like Sudras.
Nevertheless,
the Brahmin-incapacitating Manu dharma was not meant for lesser but freer
souls.
4.80. Let him
not give to a Sudra advice, nor the remnants (of his meal), nor food offered to
the gods; nor let him explain the sacred law (to such a man), nor impose (upon
him) a penance.
4.81. For he
who explains the sacred law (to a Sudra) or dictates to him a penance, will
sink together with that (man) into the hell (called) Asamvrita.
However, in
case of transgressions,
5.140. Sudras
who live according to the law, shall each month shave (their heads); their mode
of purification (shall be) the same as that of Vaisyas, and their food the
fragments of an Aryan’s meal.
Now coming to
women under Manu’s yoke,
5.147. By a
girl, by a young woman, or even by an aged one, nothing must be done
independently, even in her own house.
5.148. In
childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when
her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent.
5.149. She
must not seek to separate herself from her father, husband, or sons; by leaving
them she would make both (her own and her husband’s) families contemptible.
No denying
that male protectiveness is at odds with women’s lib but then while Manu
Smriti, so to say was consigned to flames in the remotest past, the Sharia is still
kicking and alive to oppress and suppress the second sex in many parts of the wide
world.
But then what
is not conceded is that Manu had valued women more than any at any time in
human history,
3.55. Women
must be honoured and adorned by their fathers, brothers, husbands, and
brothers-in-law, who desire (their own) welfare.
3.56. Where
women are honoured, there the gods are pleased; but where they are not
honoured, no sacred rite yields rewards.
3.57. Where
the female relations live in grief, the family soon wholly perishes; but that
family where they are not unhappy ever prospers.
8.28. In like
manner care must be taken of barren women (by the King), of those who have no
sons, of those whose family is extinct, of wives and widows faithful to their
lords, and of women afflicted with diseases.
8.29. A
righteous king must punish like thieves those relatives who appropriate the
property of such females during their lifetime.
8.364. He who
violates an unwilling maiden shall instantly suffer corporal punishment; but a
man who enjoys a willing maiden shall not suffer corporal punishment, if (his
caste be) the same (as hers).
9.90. Three
years let a damsel wait, though she be marriageable; but after that time let
her choose for herself a bridegroom (of) equal (caste and rank).
9.91. If,
being not given in marriage, she herself seeks a husband, she incurs no guilt,
nor (does) he whom she weds.
However, with
the rider,
9.92. A maiden
who chooses for herself, shall not take with her any ornaments, given by her
father or her mother, or her brothers; if she carries them away, it will be
theft.
More relevant
to our times, mixed with much of chaff is plenty of all-season grain in Manu’s 2,684-mound
granary such as -
4.12. He who
desires happiness must strive after a perfectly contented disposition and
control himself; for happiness has contentment for its root, the root of
unhappiness is the contrary (disposition).
4.137. Let him
not despise himself on account of former failures; until death let him seek
fortune, nor despair of gaining it.
4.141. Let him
not insult those who have redundant limbs or are deficient in limbs, nor those
destitute of knowledge, nor very aged men, nor those who have no beauty or
wealth, nor those who are of low birth.
4.159. Let him
carefully avoid all undertakings (the success of) which depends on others; but
let him eagerly pursue that (the accomplishment of) which depends on himself.
4.160.
Everything that depends on others (gives) pain, everything that depends on
oneself (gives) pleasure; know that this is the short definition of pleasure
and pain.
4.161. When
the performance of an act gladdens his heart, let him perform it with diligence;
but let him avoid the opposite.
5.109. The
body is cleansed by water, the internal organ is purified by truthfulness, the
individual soul by sacred learning and austerities, the intellect by (true)
knowledge.
7.139. Let him
not cut up his own root (by levying no taxes), nor the root of other (men) by
excessive greed; for by cutting up his own root (or theirs), he makes himself
or them wretched.
But the crown
of the Smriti is earmarked for justice and justness,
8.17. The only
friend who follows men even after death is justice; for everything else is lost
at the same time when the body (perishes).
8.18. One
quarter of (the guilt of) an unjust (decision) falls on him who committed (the
crime), one quarter on the (false) witness, one quarter on all the judges, one
quarter on the king.
8.128. A king
who punishes those who do not deserve it, and punishes not those who deserve
it, brings great infamy on himself and (after death) sinks into hell.
8.129. Let him
punish first by (gentle) admonition, afterwards by (harsh) reproof, thirdly by
a fine, after that by corporal chastisement.
8.164. That
agreement which has been made contrary to the law or to the settled usage (of
the virtuous), can have no legal force, though it be established (by proofs).
8.165. A fraudulent
mortgage or sale, a fraudulent gift or acceptance, and (any transaction) where
he detects fraud, the (judge) shall declare null and void.
However, the
moot point is whether or not Manu can be exonerated on the grounds that
his original composition was subsequently fouled
by caste prejudices and vested interests, and it seems to be the case.
It all began
thus:
1.1. The great
sages approached Manu, who was seated with a collected mind, and, having duly
worshipped him, spoke as follows:
1.2. ’Deign, divine one, to declare to us precisely
and in due order the sacred laws of each of the (four chief) castes (varna) and
of the intermediate ones.
1.3. ’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.’
1.4. He, whose
power is measureless, being thus asked by the high-minded great sages, duly
honoured them, and answered, ’Listen!’
1.5. This
(universe) existed in the shape of Darkness, unperceived, destitute of
distinctive marks, unattainable by reasoning, unknowable, wholly immersed, as
it were, in deep sleep.
As would be
evident from the following, 1.2 was a later-day interpolation intended to drag
the discourse onto the four caste track from 1.31 onwards with many more
insertions, albeit intermittently, though fatally.
1.25.
Austerity, speech, pleasure, desire, and anger, this whole creation he likewise
produced, as he desired to call these beings into existence.
1.28. But to
whatever course of action the Lord at first appointed each (kind of beings),
that alone it has spontaneously adopted in each succeeding creation.
1.29. Whatever
he assigned to each at the (first) creation, noxiousness or harmlessness,
gentleness or ferocity, virtue or sin, truth or falsehood, that clung
(afterwards) spontaneously to it.
1.30. As at
the change of the seasons each season of its own accord assumes its distinctive
marks, even so corporeal beings (resume in new births) their (appointed) course
of action.
1.31. But for the sake of the prosperity of the worlds
he caused the Brahmana, the Kshatriya, the Vaisya, and the Sudra to proceed
from his mouth, his arms, his thighs, and his feet.
And intriguingly,
much later in the Smriti it is said,
9.67. That
chief of royal sages who formerly possessed the whole world, caused a confusion
of the castes (varna), his intellect being destroyed by lust.
However, the
true give away of the fouling of the original Smriti that apparently originated
before the advent of Atharva veda (1.23) is the mention of Upanishads in it that
succeeded the same (6.29)
1.23. But from
fire, wind, and the sun he drew forth the threefold eternal Veda, called Rik,
Yagus, and Saman, for the due performance of the sacrifice.
6.29. These
and other observances must a Brahmana who dwells in the forest diligently
practise, and in order to attain complete (union with) the (supreme) Soul, (he
must study) the various sacred texts contained in the Upanishads.
Labels: Caste oppression, Caste system, Hinduism, India studies, Manu’s Laws, Political studies, Religion and spirituality, Social discrimination, Social psychology, Social studies
