Indian Political Thought

2

Manu: Social Laws

Nalini Sinha

Manu, the author of Manusmriti, is the first teacher, according to legends, to reveal the essence of humanity to mankind and was the first legislator to prescribe norms of social life and practices, later incorporated in various Dharmashastras and Samhitas, premised on a moral view of history. Manusmriti is a pivotal text, which was presumably compiled, especially the passages on the caste system, only during the early centuries CE.¹ It encompasses pragmatic visualization as well as idealization of life or how life should be lived. It is primarily concerned with dharma, which includes but also transcends the Western concepts of religion, duty, law, right, justice, practice and principle. It gives us a bird’s eye ...