I am reading Manu Smriti now. As is my habit, I start with an
authentic sutra by sutra translation in English or Tamizh and then go to the original in
Sanskrit for significant passages. In Manu Smriti, there are so many
significant passages.
First, I find that Manu Smriti is probably one of many
Dharma Smritis and probably is derived from an extinct Manava Dharma Shastra.
I understand that the suggestions from the Shastras are condensed into sutras.
Sutras get modified by metric and versification into Smriti. And, then a
follower writes an explanation with elaboration and that is called Nibhandana.
Manu Smriti 2:10 says that shruti is Veda and smriti is
shastra and these two should not be questioned on matters relating to
dharma. (shrutis tu vedo vigneyo; shastram tu vai smrithih)
Next, I learn that an
injunction as sutra is followed by stanza in metric or chandas (such as anushtup)
and then a supporting Vedic statement. Elaborative texts then explain the
actual performance of the ritual and include mantras, which come from
the Vedas (for example, the mantras for weddings).
The main injunction (dharma) for the wedding says: “ let mutual
fidelity continue until death, this may be considered the highest law for
husband and wife”. (Manu 9:101). The actual mantra for the wedding comes from
Rg Veda 10:85; 36-47.
Topics included in Manu Smriti are: sacraments,
householder’s duties, marriage, daily rites, laws regarding acceptable and
forbidden food, impurities and purification, duties of hermits and ascetics,
judicial procedures, recovery of debts, sales and ownership, sale and purchase,
disputes regarding boundaries, theft, violence, adultery, gambling and betting.
It is interesting that there is a section on other Doubtful Points of Law!
As a comparison, Talmud of the Jewish
tradition is like the Dharma shastras in the subjects covered.
The final chapter (12) of Manu ends with some general
comments. Sloka 12:119 is practically the same as many of the Upanishads. “The
Self alone is the multitude of the gods, the universe rests on the Self” . Manu
asks us to meditate on space as identical with the cavitation of the body, on
the wind as identical with the organs of movements and touch, on light as the
same as digestive organs, on water as the body fluids and on the earth as solid
parts of the body etc.
Manu refers to the Supreme Purusha as male and says: “some
call him Agni, others Manu, Prajapati, others as Indra, Prana and also as
Brahman”. He concludes with “he who recognizes the Self through the Self in all
created beings becomes equal-minded towards all and enters the highest state,
Brahman”. This is the same as sloka 6 of
Isa Upanishad.
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