Manusmriti

At a glance

History, context & interpretation

The text and its story

Rules on duty, ritual, kingship, marriage and social order. Its views on caste and women are strongly criticised, and B. R. Ambedkar publicly burned a copy in 1927.

Traditional attribution

Laws given by Manu, the first human.

Historical scholarship

Composed by Brahmin authors; one of many dharma texts and much debated today.

Context and curiosity

It was the first Sanskrit legal text translated into English, in 1794.

Chronology and transmission

This text belongs to Hinduism & Vedic India (India). The catalogue gives its approximate dating as c. 2nd century BCE – 3rd century CE and original language or script as Sanskrit. The dated manuscript witnesses and traditional claims may not refer to the same historical event.

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Sources and further reading

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manusmriti

Historical descriptions are educational summaries. Religious traditions, scholarly interpretations and unverified claims are distinguished where possible; imagery may be illustrative rather than an artifact photograph.