Controversial And Interesting Laws In Manu Smriti - Part 1

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Controversial And Interesting Laws In Manu Smriti - Part 1

Author:

London Swaminathan

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Table of Contents

Foreword

1. Foreign Travel Banned for Brahmins!

2. Thirty Important quotations from Manu

3. More Interesting quotations from Manu’s Law Book

4. Manu Smriti on Low Caste Women

5. Wonderful and Strange Facts in Manu Smriti

6. ‘Save the Trees’ and ‘Save the Forests’ in Manu Smriti!

7. Black Hole in Manu!! Wonderful and Strange Facts in Manu Smriti

8. Black Antelope in Manu: Strange Facts

9. A Wife is a Gift from the Gods - Manu Smriti

10. Manu’s Beautiful Definition of Dharma!

11. Manu, not only a Law Maker but also a Great Botanist!

12. Science and Linguistics in Manu

13. Extra Terrestrial Civilization in Manu Smriti?

14. Valluvar and Manu agree on Violence, Non-Violence, Leadership and Householder

15. Manu’s Most Beautiful 12 Couplets

16. Manu’s Mystery about Sarasvati, Black buck, Mlechcha land and Gold Medicine

17. Dont Smack Boys; Be Nice to Them - Manu’s Advice

18. Manu on Students Who will be born as Animals!

19. Manu’s Precautionary Measures to avoid Sex Abuse

20. Sexual Intercourse: Manu’s Recommendation

21. Manu’s Strange Rules on Hospitality

22. Blood cannot wash Blood: Manu and Shakespeare!

23. Manu says Departed Souls are more Important than Gods!

24. Dos and Don’ts for Brahmins - They must not Save Money

25. Hindus taught the World Amazing Weekly Holidays!

26. Garlic and Onion Banned for Brahmins

27. Women’s Mouth and Artisan’s Hands are Always Pure

28. Ten Point Plan of Manu for LIiberation

29. My Visit to St Paul’s Cathedral to see Manu Smriti

30. Manu and Longfellow: Great Men think Alike!

31. Political Ideas of Tamil Poets Vs Manu and Other Law Makers.

32. ‘Women in state affairs are like Monkeys in Glass Shops’ (Post No 2625)

33. Attention Narendra Modiji! Vyasa and Manu on Rulers

34. Manu on Camels

Foreword

Manu Smriti, the Hindu Law Book, is the oldest law book in the world. It is older than Hammurabi’s law book. I have given the details for my dating in this book. Manu Smritis is not followed anywhere in India now or earlier. But all ancient Tamil and Sanskrit authors have praised Manu Neeti (Manu’s Justice). Though we have more than 20 Hindu law books, Manu being the first, everyone praised it as a model book. Politicians and Caste enthusiasts have made it controversial by quoting certain couplets out of context. For instance, women are praised sky high in three or four couplets. But no one has shown them. They show only the 40 interpolated Anti - Shudra Slokas. Foreigners who spoke about interpolation in every Hindu book kept quiet about interpolation in Manu Smriti; it shows they are the culprits.

Politicians, when they are in opposition, oppose everything without rhyme or reason. They are like beating the dead snake again and again to project them as heroes. But majority of the people know they are Zeroes; unfortunately, the majority is always silent.

But I am not supporting all that was said by Manu. For instance, he banned Brahmins travelling abroad; he banned using garlic and onion. But no brahmin listened to him for at least 2000 years. Two great Brahmins Agastya and Kaundinya travelled to South East Asia to establish Hindu empire there which lasted for 1500 years.

Apart from the controversial bits, there is amazing information about A to Z in the Smriti. I have not given the full script of Manu Smriti in this book; but I have quoted the important slokas. Full Manu Smriti is available on websites free of cost. My book may be used as a summary or gist of the Smriti. I have posted them in my two blogs. This is the first part. I have given the date and post number in every article. First part covers six chapters of the Smriti and the second part covers the last six chapters.

Since Manu Smriti is used by politicians now and then, I hope this book will answer many of the questions raised by them.

London Swaminathan March 2023

1. Foreign Travel Banned for Brahmins!

Post No. 723 dated 26th November 2013

Hindu Dharma Sastras (ancient law books) ban foreign travel. Crossing the sea was a taboo in those days. There were reasons for it. But great Brahmins like Agastya and Kaundinya travelled to South East Asia and established a Hindu empire which lasted 1300 years in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. I have written a lot about it my earlier posts.

His Holiness Sachidananda Siva Abhinava Narasimha Bharati Svaminah of Sringeri Mutt (33rd Head of Sringeri Shankara Mutt) answered a devotee’s question on the ban on orthodox Hindus travelling abroad.

Some gentlemen pleaded with His Holiness for relaxation of the rules prohibiting foreign travel and urged the great need and the advantages of such travel in the interests of the welfare and advancement of our country. His Holiness said:

"Brahmanyam is the highest asset of a Brahmana and for preserving it he is asked not to mix with all and sundry people even in this land whose contact or company is likely to affect the Brahmanyam. How can a Brahmana then be permitted to go to foreign lands and stay there with people of quite different tastes, tendencies and habits? No kind of expiatory rite can completely eradicate the effect of such contact. So, the Sastras do not permit free intercourse as before with one who has returned from foreign lands though he may have performed some expiation ceremony. It is in no sense cruel to have such segregation.

Though we equally love all the portions of our body, do we not allow some portions to be operated upon and even removed if we find that they are likely to affect the general health of the whole body? It may be a painful process but is a necessary one. Similarly, a person who has seriously impaired or lost his Brahmanyam is sure to affect the purity of others and nothing wrong in segregating him from the main society.

It will be well to bear in mind that the prohibition as regards foreign travel applies only to the small communities of Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaisya collectively called Dvija’s and not to Sudras and other castes which form the overwhelming majority in our society. Let the latter take to foreign travel and the former encourage and help them. If they do so, this will incidentally reduce the heart burning and hatred caused by the Brahmanas competing with others in all fields of worldly enterprise.

If it is said that the Brahmanas particularly are required for foreign travel by reason of their superior intelligence, quick grasp of new ideas, power of adjustment to circumstances etc., we must recollect that this superior capacity is not the result of physical labour but only of their habits of self-restraint, strict adherence to the Sastras, frequent exercise of their intellect in the pursuit of subtle problems of life and more so of their inborn state of contentment.

If the Brahmana is allowed to give up all these and join in the race for worldly prosperity and imbibe the spirit of discontent, the superiority will vanish in no time and he will be just like others and sometimes even inferior to them. It is therefore dangerous to try to dilute and ultimately eradicate Brahmanyam from our land and make the Brahmanas remain so only in name to be treated with contempt."

From the book ‘Golden Sayings’,1969 publication by Sri Jnanantha Grantha Prakasana Samiti, Thenkarai, Madurai District.

My (London Swaminathan) comments: What Swamiji said several decades ago is very true. It is a bitter truth that we are not ready to admit. No one will follow Swamiji’s advice. We have hundreds of excuses to put forth before him. But the religious heads can’t dilute the Sastras. I myself have noticed the following changes during my 27 years stay in London:

1. We can’t follow all the rituals in foreign countries which we followed in India.

2. Our sons and daughters are not following or believing what we believed when we were young.

3. Every family got marital connection with a non-Hindu. The minute it happened, their entire tone changed and began to talk about universal brotherhood!

4. Names of Sri Lankan and Mauritian Tamil children have been distorted beyond recognition. By the third generation they didn’t even understand their names. Neither do their parents! When they followed false numerology, their names got wrong and negative connotations.

5. The Non-residents did not see anything wrong in religious conversions.

6. They did not attend their parents’ funerals for the fear of losing their asylum status

7. Most of the youths lost their roots and forgot their mother tongue. Most of their religious hymns are in their mother tongue. When they read them through Roman letters, they sound awkward.

8. Few old people have become mental patients because of cultural and religious conflicts in their families.

9. Children who are born to couples belonging to two different religions feel like rudderless ships!

10. First generation forget their mother tongue. By second generation, they forget their culture. By third generation they forget their religion. By fourth generation they are rootless and feel like rudderless ships. Since their parents also forgot most of their language and culture, they are unable to help their children.

11. The writer can give hundreds of incidents to substantiate the above statement. Very few Brahmins do Sandhya Vandhana three times a day and monthly rituals like Tharpanam. Going to temples is rarer.

12. We must see His Holiness in the right context. He advised Brahmins to be content and be the torch bearers of religion and culture like in the olden days. You and I look at present day and care for our family and our friends, but Shankaracharyas and saints like him look at future and care about generations to come.

2. Thirty Important quotations from Manu

Post No. 1006; Date 27th April 2014

Manu was the greatest of the Hindu Law Givers. Though there were several Law Books, Manu was considered the best. But the present Manava Dharma Sastra is not the original book. Lot of people have added unwanted remarks against the lower castes. The contradictions in the book itself are a proof for these interpolations. It has got 2694 verses (slokas). Foreign scholars who found interpolations and additions in all the Indian books from the Rig Veda to Tolkappiam in Tamil never said a word about such things in Manu’s law book. It suited their purpose to spread lies against Hinduism. This is the only book where they kept quiet about interpolations!!

Another mystery about Manu is that he lived during Vedic age. The present book is dated to 2nd century CE by foreigners. There is no historical proof for such a person at that time of history. Original Manu must have lived during Vedic times i.e., at least 3500 years ago. There are several Manus in the Rig Veda, the oldest scripture in the world.

Manu is not a personal name. It is a generic name like Dalai Lama, Pope, Shankaracharya, President, Magistrate, Prime Minister etc. All the English words about Man, Mankind and words such as Manual came from this Manu. Here are some important quotations from the Manava Dharmasatra. Tamils proudly declared that they follow Manu Dharma Sastra in their ancient epigraphs and inscriptions. One Choza king was even named Manu Neethi Choza for his equal justice to an animal and human being. He executed his son under the wheel of a chariot which ran over a calf. The calf came to his palace add rang the Bell of Justice at the gate. The king ordered the execution of his son for killing the calf under his chariot wheel.

This story went far and wide and found even in the Mahavamsa of Sri Lanka. The story is repeated in Tamil epic Silappadikaram, Pazamozi 400, Periapuranam and local Sthalapuranas. In all these stories they praised the Laws of Manu.

Man is a Teachable Animal

Man is a teachable animal. That is why we have framed rules for him. Animals have no morality. They can’t learn morals. Hindus believed in changes. So, they had various law books during different periods. Nothing remained static in the Hindu world. It kept on changing. Manu was one of the law givers. Parasara Smrti (Smrti = law book) declared that in the four ages Krta, Treta, Dwapara and Kali the Laws of Manu, Gautama, Sankhalikita and Parasara are respectively of the highest authority. So, no one needs to worry about the interpolated shortcomings or discrepancies in the present law book. It was only used by anti-Hindus, atheists and foreigners who came to rule India and spread their religion. There was no major historical incident in the past to show that Manu’s law discriminated against any particular community. In the last few centuries vested interests misused this law book.

The present book with all the interpolations was put to writing around second century CE. Before that, it should have existed in its purest form. No foreign traveller said anything against this law or the book. On the contrary they praised that this was a country where there were no locks for the houses and Hindus never locked their doors. Such was the morality during Gupta period.

Several of Manu’s slokas are found in Tamil Veda Tirukkural and Sangam Tamil literature.

Here are some Laws of Manu:

Fathers, brothers, husbands, and brothers-in-laws who wish for great good fortune should revere women and adorn