The Laws of Manu

by The Laws of Manu (retail) (epub)

  [87] But to protect this whole creation, the lustrous one made separate innate activities for those born of his mouth, arms, thighs, and feet. [88] For priests, he ordained teaching and learning, sacrificing for themselves and sacrificing for others, giving and receiving. [89] Protecting his subjects, giving, having sacrifices performed, studying, and remaining unaddicted to the sensory objects are, in summary, for a ruler. [90] Protecting his livestock, giving, having sacrifices performed, studying, trading, lending money, and farming the land are for a commoner. [91] The Lord assigned only one activity to a servant: serving these (other) classes without resentment.

  [92] A man is said to be purer above the navel; therefore the Self-existent one said that his mouth was the purest part of him. [93] The priest is the Lord of this whole creation, according to the law, because he was born of the highest part of the body, because he is the eldest, and because he maintains the Veda. [94] The Self-existent one emitted him from his own mouth, first, when he had generated inner heat, to convey the offerings to the gods and the ancestors, and to guard this whole (creation). [95] What living being is greater than him? For it is through his mouth that those (gods) who live in the triple heaven always eat their offerings, and the ancestors (eat) their offerings. [96] The best of living beings are those that have the breath of life; and (the best) of those that have the breath of life are those that live by their intelligence; the best of those that have intelligence are men; and priests are traditionally regarded as (the best) of men. [97] Among priests, learned men (are the best); among learned men, those who understand their obligations; among those who understand their obligations, those who fulfil them; and among those who fulfil them, those who know the Veda.

  [98] The very birth of a priest is the eternal physical form of religion; for he is born for the sake of religion and is fit to become one with ultimate reality. [99] For when a priest is born he is born at the top of the earth, as the lord of all living beings, to guard the treasure of religion. [100] All of this belongs to the priest, whatever there is in the universe; the priest deserves all of this because of his excellence and his high birth. [101] The priest eats only what is his own, he wears what is his own, and he gives what is his own; other people eat through the priest’s mercy.

  [102] To distinguish the (priest’s) innate activity and those of the rest (of the classes) in their order, the wise Manu, son of the Self-existent, made this teaching. [103] A learned priest – but no one else – should study it carefully and explain it to his pupils properly. [104] A priest who studies this teaching and has fulfilled his vow is not constantly smeared with the faults of the effects of past actions born of mind-and-heart, speech, and body. [105] He purifies the rows for seven generations in the past and seven in the future; and he alone deserves this entire earth. [106] This (teaching) is the best support for well-being; it increases intelligence; it is conducive to fame, long life, and the supreme good.

  [107] This (teaching) describes religion in its entirety, as well as the virtues and vices of the effects of past actions and the eternal rule of conduct for the four classes. [108] The rule of conduct, the highest law, is described both in the revealed canon and in tradition; therefore a twice-born person who is self-possessed should always engage in it. [109] A priest who has slipped from (proper) conduct does not reap the fruit of the Veda; but one who is engaged in (proper) conduct is traditionally said to enjoy the full fruit. [110] When the hermits saw that the course of religion thus comes from (proper) conduct, they understood that (proper) conduct was the ultimate root of all inner heat.

  [111] In this teaching, Manu has declared the origin of the universe and the rules for the transformative rituals, the carrying out of vows and attendance upon (a teacher) and the ultimate rule for the graduation bath; [112] the taking of a wife and the mark of (different kinds of) marriages, the regulations for the great sacrifices and the obligatory rule of the ceremonies for the dead; [113] the mark of the (various) means of livelihood, the vows of a Vedic graduate, what is to be eaten and not to be eaten, purification and the cleansing of things; [114] the application of the duties of women, the rules for the generation of inner heat, Freedom, and renunciation, all the duties of a king, and decision-making in lawsuits; [115] the regulations for questioning witnesses; the duties of husband and wife; the law for the division (of inheritances), gambling, and ‘cleaning out thorns’; [116] attendance by commoners and servants, and the origin of confused classes; the religious duties of (all) classes in extremity, and the rules for restorations; [117] the threefold course of transmigration that arises from the effects of past actions; the supreme good, and the examination of the virtues and vices of the effects of past actions; [118] the obligatory duties of (particular) countries, castes, and families; and the duties of sects of heretics.

  [119] Learn this teaching, all of you, from me today, just as Manu told it to me long ago when I asked him.

  End of Chapter 1

  [2] Here and throughout this translation, ‘duty’ will always be a translation of dharma, though other English renderings for dharma (such as ‘religion’, ‘justice’, ‘law’, and ‘right’) will also be used. See the discussion of dharma in the introduction and the range of meanings given in the glossary under dharma. The classes (varṇas) are described at 1.31ff.

  [5] This passage is roughly based upon the great ṛg Vedic creation hymn, RV 10.129, and agrees in many particulars with creation accounts in the Mahābhārata, such as 12.187, 224–6, and 239–40. It expresses the philosophy of the Sānkhya school.

  [6] The great elements, consisting of the five gross elements (ether, wind, light, water, and earth) and the sixth, the great element of mind, are described in greater detail at 1.75–8.

  [7] The five sensory powers of perception (indriyas) are both the senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch) and the sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue, and skin). They, and the five motor powers, are described at 2.90–91.

  [11] The Man is puruṣa, the primeval spirit.

  [14] The term manas designates the organ that the Hindus regard as the seat of both reason and emotion; since we separate these capacities into mind and heart, we need ‘mind-and-heart’ to render the Sanskrit.

  [15] The great one is often identified with the supreme soul or paramātman. The qualities or characteristics (Sanskrit: guṇas) are the three constituent ‘strands’ of matter, entwined together like a braid: darkness or torpor (tamas), energy or passion (rajas), and lucidity or goodness (sattva).

  [16] The six are the five sense organs and the mind, or the six elements.

  [17] This verse depends upon an etymological pun that connects ‘they embody’ (more literally, ‘inhabit’ [Sanskrit āśrayanti]) with ‘the body’ (śarīra).

  [19] The term Man (Sanskrit puruṣa, also translated as Male or Person) usually refers to a single divine figure, as in 1.11. Here, however, it is extended, apparently metaphorically, to the six elements or the six senses. The concept of seven Men (puruṣas) as elements of a single person (puruṣas) occurs at Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 6.1.1.3, 6.

  [20] Thus, for instance, the third element, light, has three qualities: its own and the qualities of wind and ether that precede it.

  [21] Innate activities (karmans) here designate different courses of action (‘those that should be done and those that should not be done’, or ‘the proper activity of a priest versus the proper activity of a ruler’), or different sorts of rituals, or good and evil action (‘performing a horse sacrifice versus killing a priest’, as one commentary puts it), or karmans in the more technical sense of the accumulated consequences of past actions.

  [22] The Amenables are the sādhyas, a class of gods.

  [26] ‘Right’ and ‘wrong’ render dharma and adharma.

  [31] These are the four classes or varṇas of Hindu society: priests (Brahmins), rulers or warrior kings (Kṣatriyas), the common people (Vaiśyas), and servants (Śūdras). Their creation from the mouth and other parts of the primordi
al Man (puruṣa) is described in ṛg Veda 10.90.

  [32] Several commentaries say that this Virāj was a human male; he may have been a demigod.

  [36] The Manus are the creators, each of whom presides over an Epoch of a Manu (manvantara).

  [37] Here, and throughout, the following terms are used to translate what are in fact untranslatable names of particular classes of creatures: genies (yakṣas, servants of Kubera, the god of wealth), ogres (rākṣasas), ghouls (piśācas), nymphs (apsarases, heavenly dancers and courtesans in the court of Indra, king of the gods), demons (more properly anti-gods: asuras), centaurs (Gandharvas, demigods associated with horses, music, and fertility, the male consorts of the celestial nymphs), and dragons (Nāgas, demigods, often serpents from the waist down, who inhabit the subterranean watery worlds).

  [39] Quasi-men (kinnaras, literally, ‘What?men’) may be a species of ape. In the mythology, they are said to be creatures with the heads of horses and bodies of humans, or, occasionally, the heads of humans and the bodies of horses. The animals with two rows of teeth are equines.

  [45] These insects are born of sveda, literally sweat, and may indeed be born of sweat, though sveda may also mean steam and is usually taken in that sense in this context.

  [51] Some commentaries suggest that Brahmā pushes out a period of creation by means of a period of doomsday; others, that he pushes out a time of happiness with a time of unhappiness, and a time of unhappiness with a time of happiness.

  [52] There is a pun here on the word for universe (jagat, which actually means ‘moving, in motion’) and the verb to awaken or be awake (jāgarti).

  [53] ‘Mind-and-heart’ might refer to the mind-and-heart of these creatures or to the mind-and-heart as the great element in the universe.

  [55] This and the following sentence seem to describe simultaneously two parallel processes: ‘he’ is the Lord who sheds the universe, moving and still, at the time of doomsday, but ‘he’ may also be the individual transmigrating soul, who, in these two sentences, sheds his physical form in something moving (animal) or still (vegetable) in preparation for uniting with a new physical form.

  [62] The son of ‘Self-luminous’ is svārociṣa, of ‘Uppermost’ is auttami, of ‘Dark’ is tāmasa, of ‘Wealthy’ is raivata, of ‘Gazing’ is cākṣuṣa, and ‘the Shining Sun’ is vivasvant.

  [64] A blink of the eye is a nimeśa, about .18 seconds; a ‘race-course’ is a kāṣṭhā, 3.2 seconds; a ‘fraction’ is a kalā, 1.6 minutes; a ‘moment’ is a muhūrta, 48 minutes. And thirty ‘moments’ make a 24-hour period of day and night.

  [68] The Winning Age is the kṛta yuga; the Age of the Trey, the tretā yuga; the Age of the Deuce, the dvāpara yuga; and the Losing Age, the kali yuga. Where Western tradition names the four Ages after metals, the Indian system names them after throws of the dice. Dice are important in ancient India both as a metaphor for chance and as an actual element in the ceremony of royal consecration.

  [81] Religion (here rendering dharma) stands firm, four-square, like the four-footed bull in 8.16. These four feet (or four quarters) may represent the four classes, the four virtues (as in 5.76), or any or all of a number of other important quartets.

  [82] That is, a quarter of religion departs in each age after the Winning Age.

  [84] Innate activities here may also designate good actions or ritual actions.

  [97] Brahman may designate the Veda or ultimate reality.

  [101] The word ānṛśaṃsya, literally ‘lack of cruelty’, is often translated as ‘mercy’.

  [105] The rows (panktis) are the group invited to eat at the funeral celebration, constituting acceptable society, defined in 3.151–68. The seven generations on each side are the group connected through the offerings in the ceremony for the dead.

  [106] The supreme good (niḥśreyasam param) is, literally, that which has no better, a term that generally refers to the knowledge that leads to Freedom.

  [111] The phrase ‘In this teaching, Manu has declared’ actually occurs at the end of the list, in verse 1.117; it has been moved up to the beginning of the list as it would appear in English.

  [115] ‘Cleaning out thorns’ is a euphemism for the extermination of dissidents and other criminal types.

  [118] ‘Sects’ (gaṇas) in this context seems to refer to bands or castes of heretics (pāṣaṇḍas, mentioned in this verse), outcasts (apasadas), outlaws (vrātyas, literally ‘Men of (Unorthodox) Vows’), and other despised individuals, such as are discussed in Chapter 10, rather than to guilds of merchants (which is what the commentators suggest). Heretics are not in fact discussed in any single part of this text, but they are referred to on several occasions, often in association with outcasts, men fallen from caste, and various religious hypocrites.

  CHAPTER 2

  [1] Learn the religion that is constantly followed and assented to in the heart by learned men, good men who have neither hatred nor passion.

  [2] Acting out of desire is not approved of, but here on earth there is no such thing as no desire; for even studying the Veda and engaging in the rituals enjoined in the Veda are based upon desire. [3] Desire is the very root of the conception of a definite intention, and sacrifices are the result of that intention; all the vows and the duties of restriction are traditionally said to come from the conception of a definite intention. [4] Not a single rite is ever performed here on earth by a man without desire; for each and every thing that he does is motivated by the desire for precisely that thing. [5] The man who is properly occupied in these (desires) goes to the world of the immortals, and here on earth he achieves all the desires for which he has conceived an intention.

  [6] The root of religion is the entire Veda, and (then) the tradition and customs of those who know (the Veda), and the conduct of virtuous people, and what is satisfactory to oneself. [7] Whatever duty Manu proclaimed for whatever person, all of that was declared in the Veda, for it contains all knowledge. [8] So when a learned man has looked thoroughly at all of this with the eye of knowledge, he should devote himself to his own duty in accordance with the authority of the revealed canon. [9] For the human being who fulfils the duty declared in the revealed canon and in tradition wins renown here on earth and unsurpassable happiness after death. [10] The Veda should be known as the revealed canon, and the teachings of religion as the tradition. These two are indisputable in all matters, for religion arose out of the two of them. [11] Any twice-born man who disregards these two roots (of religion) because he relies on the teachings of logic should be excommunicated by virtuous people as an atheist and a reviler of the Veda.

  [12] The Veda, tradition, the conduct of good people, and what is pleasing to oneself – they say that this is the four-fold mark of religion, right before one’s eyes. [13] The knowledge of religion is prescribed for those who are not attached to profit and pleasure; the revealed canon is the supreme authority for those who wish to understand religion. [14] But where the revealed canon is divided, both (views) are traditionally regarded as law; for wise men say that both of them are valid laws. [15] (For example), the sacrifice is performed at all times – when the sun has risen, when it has not risen, and at the very juncture of daybreak: this is what the revealed Vedic canon says. [16] The man whose ritual life, beginning with the infusion (of semen) and ending with cremation, is dictated by Vedic verses should be recognized as entitled to (study) this teaching, but not anyone else.

  [17] The country that the gods made between the two divine rivers, the Sarasvatī and the Dṛṣasadvatī, is what they call the Land of Veda. [18] The conduct of the (four) classes and intermediary classes in that country, handed down from one person to another, is called the conduct of good people. [19] The Field of the Kurus, the Matsyas, Pañcālas, and Sūrasenakas constitute the Country of Priestly Sages, right next to the Land of the Veda. [20] All humans on earth should learn their own individual practices from a priest from that country. [21] The country between the Himālayas and the Vindhya mountains, to the east of
the ‘Disappearance’ and to the west of Prayāga, is known as the Middle Country. [22] From the eastern sea to the western sea, the area in between the two mountains is what wise men call the Land of the Aryans. [23] Where the black antelope ranges by nature, that should be known as the country fit for sacrifices; and beyond it is the country of the barbarians. [24] The twice-born should make every effort to settle in these countries; but a servant may live in any country at all if he is starved for a livelihood.

  [25] The source of religion has thus been proclaimed to you concisely, and the origin of this whole (universe); now learn the duties of the classes.

  [26] The transformative rituals for the bodies of the twice-born, beginning with the rite of the infusion (of semen), which purify them here on earth and after death, should be performed with excellent Vedic rites. [27] The offerings into the fire for the embryo, the birth rites, the ceremonial haircut and the tying of the belt of rushes, wipe away from the twice-born the guilt of the seed and the guilt of the womb. [28] By the study of the Veda, by vows, by offerings into the fire, by acquiring the triple learning, by offering sacrifices, by sons, and by the great sacrifices and the (other) sacrifices, this body is made fit for ultimate reality. [29] Before the umbilical cord of a male child is cut, the birth rite is performed; and he eats gold, honey, and butter with the Vedic verses.

  [30] The name-giving should be done for him on the tenth day (after birth) or the twelfth day, or on an excellent lunar day or moment, or under a constellation that has good qualities. [31] (The name) of a priest should have (a word for) auspiciousness, of a ruler strength, of a commoner property, and (the name) of a servant should breed disgust. [32] The name of a priest should have (a word for) secure comfort, of a king it should have protection, of a commoner it should be connected with prosperity, and of a servant it should be connected with service. [33] (The names) of women should be easy to pronounce, not harsh, of patent meaning, and auspicious; they should captivate the mind-and-heart, end in a long vowel, and contain a word for blessings. [34] The child’s (ceremony of) going out from the house should be performed in the fourth month; his eating of food, or whatever auspicious ceremony is preferred in the family, in the sixth month. [35] The ceremonial haircut of all the twice-born is to be done in the first year or in the third year, according to law and the command of the revealed canon.