The Laws of Manu
Page 51
Veda, the canon of orthodox Hinduism, 1.21, 84, 109, 2.2, 6–14, 76–8, 81, 97, 117, 140–41, 165–8, 171–2, 183, 230, 3.2, 96, 161, 179, 184, 186, 259, 4.14, 19, 31, 92, 125, 147–9 conflicting passages of, all authoritative, 2.14–15
definition of the term, 2.10
first source of the law, 2.6–15
greatness and power of, 1.21, 12.94–104
offences against: condemning, 3.161, 4.163, 11.57;
forgetting, 11.57;
scorning, 2.11. See also restoration for divulging;
servant, disabilities of origin of, 1.23, 12.49
purifying power of, 11.264. See also Veda-recitation recitation of, see Veda-recitation
as restoration, 11.246–66
riddles from, 3.231
stealing the, 2.116, 11.51
subsidiary texts of (angas), 2.141, 242, 3.184–5, 4.98 See also Atharvan; Brāhmaṇa; Sāma-veda;
Upaniṣads; Yajur-veda. See also brahman
vedānga (‘members of the Veda’), the six subsidiary sciences appended to the Veda, 1.141; vedopakaraṇa, supplementary texts of the Veda, 2.105
Vedānta (the ‘end’ or ‘epitome’ of the Veda), i.e. the Upaniṣads; later the name for one of the principal philosophical schools of Hinduism, i.e. monism, 2.160, 6.83, 94
vedapāraga (‘one who has crossed to the far shore of the Vedas’), i.e. someone who knows the Vedas by heart, 2.148, 3.130, 136–7, 145,7.85, 9.245, 11.37
Veda-recitation (and study: adhyāya) ceremonies on beginning, 2.70–74, 5.145
destroys guilt, 11.246–7, 264
duration of annual term, 4.95–6
duty of, 2.28, 156–8, 164–8, 4.17–20, 35, 6.36–7, 83, 7.43, 10.1, 75–8, 12.83
general rule of, 4.99–100
interruptions of, 3.188, 4.101–27;
exceptions, 2.105–6
neglect of, 3.151.
See alsorestoration for neglecting private daily: duty of, 2.106, 166–7, 3.70, 74, 81, 4.58, 145–9, 6.8;
neglect of, a minor crime, 11.60;
results of, 3.63;
rewards for, 2.107, 3.66.
See also restoration for neglect
Vedasannyāsika, see ascetic, householder
Vena, king, 7.41, 9.66–7
veṇa caste, 10.19, 49
verbal abuse, see abuse
verbal assault, see assault
verse, Vedic (mantra), sacrificalspell, verbal ritual, 2.16, 29, 64, 66, 105, 3.65–6, 121, 129, 131, 133, 137, 212, 217, 4.93, 9.18; counsel, 7.146–8, 8.1
verse to the sun-god (gāyatrī, sāvitrī), the hymn to Savitṛ, 2.38–9, 77–83, 101–2, 104, 118, 148, 170, 11.193, 195, 226. This is ṛg Veda 3.62.10,
which is taught to every twice-born man on his initiation and is recited daily. It begins, ‘That excellent (light) of Savitṛ’ (tat savitur vareṇyam). efficacy of recitation, 2.78–82, 102–18
manner of recitation, 2.101, 104
mother of the student, 2.170
vibhāga, see partition (of inheritances)
vice, see doṣa; vyasana
vidhi, rule, 2.69; ritual life, 2.16;
ritual, 2.40, 67, 104
vidyā, learning, knowledge, particularly of the Veda. See Veda; trividyā
vighasa, leftover offerings, 3.285. See also ucchiṣṭa
vijanman caste, 10.23
village, see grama
Vinaśana, a place, 2.21
vinaya, see humility
Vindhya mountains, 2.21
violence, against living beings (hiṃsā, hiṃsra), 2.177, 3.164, 4.162, 195, 5.38, 6.60, 9.80, 316, 10.83, 11.146, 12.7, 56–9 excludes from ceremony for the dead, 3.164
forbidden, 4.148, 170, 5.41–8;
even in extremity, 5.43
forbidden particularly to ascetics, 6.39, 46, 52, 68–9, 75. See also animals; non-violence; restoration for killing; sadist
permitted in sacrifice, 5.39, 43–4
violence, physical (sāhasa), 7.48 anybody may be witness in cases of, 8.72
a cause of legal action, 8.6, 344–51
vipra, see priest
Virāj, a primordial creator, 1.32–3, 3.195
vīrāsana, the ‘heroic’ yogic posture, 11.111
virgin (kanyā, kumārī, akṣatayoni), 3.5, 164, 8.225–6, 9.176, 10.5, 11.36, 59. See also girl
virginity, lost (kṣatayoni), 8.205
virile strength (indriya, vīrya), 9.18, 201. See also manliness
virtuous, see sādhu
vīrya, see manliness; semen; virile strength
viṣaya, range of the senses, 2.198. See also sensory object
viśeṣa, leftovers, remains, see ucchistṣṭa
Viṣṇu, a god, 12.121
viśvajit sacrifice, see sacrifice
Viśvāmitra, a sage, 7.41n, 42, 8.110n, 9.315n, 10.42n, 108
vivāha, see marriage
Vivasvant, the shining sun, father of one of the Manus, 1.62
vow (vrata), 1.104, 111, 113, 2.3, 28, 165, 173–4, 180, 189, 3.1, 45, 170,234, 4.80–81, 11.152; particularly the vow of chastity or the vow of a chaste student, 2.187–8, 4.31
‘Ascetic’s Moon-course’ (yaticāndrāyana), 5.20, 11.219
‘Barley-middle’ (yavamadhyama), 11.218
‘Child’s Moon-course’ (śiśucāndrāyaṇa), 11.220
‘Distancing’ (parāka), 11.216
‘Extra-painful’ (atikṛcchra), 11.209, 214
‘Heating’ (sāntapana), 5.20, 11.125, 165, 174;
description of, 11.213
‘Hot’ (tapta), 11.157, 215
‘Moon-course’ (cāndrāyaṇa), 5.20, 6.20, 11.41, 107, 155–6, 164, 172, 178, 217–26
‘Painful’ (kṛcchra, of the Lord of Creatures), 4.222, 5.21, 11.106, 125, 140, 159, 163, 178, 192, 198, 209
description of, 11.212
vrata, see vow
vrātya, see outlaw
vṛṣala/ī, see servant
vṛtthā, uselessly, for no sacrifical purpose, 4.63, 213
vṛtti, see livelihood
vulture (gṛdhra), 3.115, 11.26, 135, 12.63
vyabhicāra, see sexual misconduct
vyāhṛti, see exclamation
vyañj, vyakta, see manifest
vyasana, vice, 7.44, 9.299, 10.38; the eighteen of a king, 7.45–53. See also doṣa
vyavahāra, legal case, legal proceeding, business, business transaction, contract, 2.248, 3.64
vyoman, see atmosphere
wages non-payment of, 8.5, 215–18
of herdsmen, 8.231
of royal servants, 7.125–6
warfare, rules of, 7.87–94, 164–7, 170–71, 181–99
washerman food of, forbidden for priest, 4.219 rules for washing, 8.396
washing (upaspṛś, ‘touch [water]’), 2.53, 58, 3.208, 4.143
water cosmic, 1.8–10, 78 duty of carrying, 4.36
gift of, 4.229
indivisible property, 9.219
prohibition against defilement of, 4.46, 48, 56, 11.174
punishment for diverting or stealing, 3.163, 9.274, 281
water-pot, how replaced, 2.64
way, right of, 2.138–9
wealth: artha, see artha; dhana, see dhana;
draviṇa, 3.31, 4.141
weapons, arms, 3.192, 4.122, 215, 220, 5.98–9, 7.75, 90, 92–3, 192, 222, 8.113, 324, 348, 350–51, 9.278, 293, 10.79, 88, 11.33, 12.45
weaver, amount of cloth to be returned by, 8.397
weights enumeration of, of copper, silver, and gold, 8.131–7 to be examined by king, 8.403
welfare (hita), 2.191, 206, 235, 3.20, 4.19, 35
well, boundaries of, 8.262 restoration for stealing from, 11.164
west, 2.21–2, 52, 3.87n
whore (gaṇikā, puṃscalī, veśa) 4.84–5, 9.15 food of, forbidden for pries 4.209, 219
to be punished, 9.259
widow duties of virtuous, 5.156–60, 165–6
keeps ornaments worn during husband’s lifetime, 9.200<
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son of, excluded from ceremony for the dead, 3.156, 174–5 See also appointment of widow; marriage, second; son begotten on widow; son of remarried woman
wife (bhārya, dāra, patnī, strī), 1.112, 115, 3.121, 262, 4.1, 133 acquires qualities of husband, 9.22–4
and husband indissolubly united, 9.45–6
dines separately, 4.43
duties and position of, 5.148–51, 153–6, 9.2–7, 10–11, 26–30, 96, 101–2;
of wife of emigrant, 9.74–6
explanation of term, 9.8
faithful (pativratā, ‘a woman who keeps her vow [to her husband]’), 3.262
fined for drinking liquor, 9.84
has no property, 8.416;
exceptions: see woman, property of
inherits, 9.187
killing husband, receives no libation, 5.90
manner of burning dead, 5.167–8
may be beaten, 8.299–300
not to make hoard from husband’s property, 9.199
punishment for defaming, 8.275;
for rejecting, 8.389
qualifications required for 3.4–11;
exceptions, 2.238–40
rejection of, 9.46, 77–85, 95
restoration for unfaithful, 11.177–8
sale of, 9.46;
a minor crime, 11.62
seniority among, of equal class, 9.124–5
several, all mothers through one son, 9.183
of several classes, 3.12–13, 9.85–7
theft of, 12.67
unfaithful, 5.151, 161–4 See also adultery; husband; marriage; sex; son begotten on widow or wife
wild animal, see animal
wilderness (araṇya), 2.104, 6.2
Wilderness Book (Āraṇyaka), supplement to the Vedic Samhitās, midway between the Brāhmaṇas and the Upaniṣads, 4.123
wind (vāyu), 1.23, 76–7, 2.82, 3.189, 4.48, 52, 102, 5.96, 7.4, 7, 9.42, 303, 306, 11.120, 12.120
wine (madya), see drinking
Winning Age (rta yuga), 1.81, 83, 85–6, 9.301–2
witchcraft (kṛtyā), 3.58, 9.290; (yātudhāna) 8.110n. See also magic
witnesses (sākṣins), 1.115 conflict of, 8.73
duty of speaking the truth, 8.74–6
exhortation of, 8.79–86, 89–101
false, excluded from ceremony for dead, 3.158
manner of examination, 8.87–8
moral guilt of perjured, 8.75, 82, 89, 93–101;
exceptions, 8.103–6, 112
number of, required, 8.60, 66, 77
persons disqualified to be, 8.64–7
persons qualified to be, 8.62–3;
in special cases, 8.68–72, 254, 256, 258–62
punishment of, for refusal of evidence, 8.107;
for perjury, see perjury
suffer for others, 8.169
to whom disasters occur, pay debt, 8.108. See evidence
wolf, 8.235–6
woman, women (nārī, strī, yoṣit), 1.32, 114, 2.66–7, 123, 129–33, 138,177, 179, 202, 213, 222, 238, 240, 3.6, 20, 48–9, 55, 61, 114, 4.40–41, 53, 133 adhering to heretical sect, receives no libation, 5.90
to be avoided by student, 2.177, 179
causing abortion, receives no libation, 5.90
corruption by, 2.213–15
created from half of creator god, 1.32
dependence of, 5.147–49, 9.2–3, 22–5
excluded from secret conferences, 7.149–50
killing, a minor crime, 11.67, 89;
disqualifies for readmission into caste, 11.191. See also restoration for killing
lying for, justified, 8.112
menstruating, 3.239, 4.40–41, 57, 208, 5.66, 85, 108, 11.17, 88, 174
milk of, not to be drunk, 5.9
mouth of, always unpolluted, 5.130
naked, not to be looked at, 4.53
names of, 2.33, 3.9–10
naming of, 2.33
naturally wicked nature of, 2.213–15, 9.17–20
not allowed to recite Veda, 9.18;
nor to sacrifice, 4.205–6, 11.36–7
not to be divided and distributed, 9.219
woman, women (nārī, strī, yoṣit), not lost when used by others, 8.149 polluted on birth of child, 4.212, 5.85
pollution on death of, 5.72
pregnant, 3.114, 262;
defecating on public road, 9.283;
pays no toll at a ferry, 8.407
property of: appropriation by males punishable, 8.29;
definition of, 9.194;
succession to, 9.104, 131, 192–3, 195–8
punishment of wicked, in next life, 12.69
remarried, husband of, excluded from ceremony for the dead, 3.166. See also marriage, second; son of remarried woman
rights to, not lost by law of limitation, 8.149
rule of rinsing mouth for, 5.139
sacraments for, performed without Vedic verses, 2.66
six causes of the ruin of, 9.13
special punishment for a, 9.230
transformative rituals for, 2.66–7
treatment of, 3.55–62
unchaste, food of, forbidden for a priest, 4.211, 220;
receives no libation, 5.90;
killing of, restoration for, 11.139
a vice, 7.47, 50
without guardian, protected by king, 8.28
without male relative, food of, forbidden, 4.214
witness for women, 8.68;
unreliable witnesses, 8.77 See also bride; daughter; marriage; mother; sister; widow; wife
woman of the family (jāmī, kulayoṣit), female relative, 3.57–8, 3.245
womb (yoni), 2.27, 147, 4.200, 6.63, 9.34–7, 52, 56, 126, 10.25, 27, 57–60, 12.53–5, 74–8 (see also field); metaphorically, source, 2.25, 5.113;
birth, 2.40, 129, 134, 206;
sex, 3.157
world, see loka
writing, 8.154n, 168. See also edicts; instruments
wrong, see adharma
yajña, yaj, see sacrifice
yajur, formula, 11.265
Yajur-veda, third of the Vedas, 1.23, 4.123–4, 11.263, 265, 12.112
yajya, yajamāna, yajvan, see patron
yakṣa, see genie
yama, see restriction
Yama, ‘the Restricter’, Death, the king of the dead, 3.87, 211; called antaka (‘the Ender’), 3.87, 211, 5.96, 6.61, 7.4, 7, 8.86, 92, 9.303, 307, 315n, 12.17, 21–2
yāma, a watch, a period of three hours, 7.145
yāna, see carriage
yaticāndrāyaṇa, see vow
yavamadhyama, see vow
yavana (‘Ionian’, Greek) caste, 10.44
yoga: ‘harnessing (the energies)’, 2.100,191; fraud, 8.165;
performance, see karmayoga
yogurt (dadhi), 2.107, 3.266, 5.10, 8.326, 10.88, 11.213, 12.63
yojana, approximately 10 miles (literally, a yoking, the distance travelled without unyoking the horses), 11.76
yuga, see Age
1. Āpastamba Dharma Sūtra 1.7.20.6. na dharmādharmau carata āvam sva iti. na devagandharvā na pitara ity ācakṣate ‘yam dharmo ‘yam adharma iti.
2. Friedrich Nietzsche, The Antichrist (1895), section 57, in Twilight of the Idols and The Anti-Christ, trans. R.J. Hollingdale (Harmondsworth, 1968), p. 177. Dazu muss es unbewusst gemacht werden: dies der Zweck jeder heiligen Lüge.
3. Sections 3, 4, and 5 of Part I were written by Brian K. Smith; section 2 was written by Wendy Doniger; section 1 was written jointly.
4. Wendy Doniger wrote Parts II and III.
5. See below for a discussion of the title.
6. A ‘model of’ and a ‘model for’, as Clifford Geertz would say.
7. Moriz Winternitz, A History of Indian Literature, vol. 2, pt 2, Scientific Literature, trans. Subhadra Jha (Delhi, 1967), p. 546.
8. A. Loiseleur-Deslongchamps, Lois de Manou (Paris, 1833); G. Strehly, Les Lois de Manou (Paris, 1893).
9. Julius Jolly’s translation of Chapters 8 a
nd 9 in Zeitschrift für vergleichende Rechtswissenschaft, vols. 3 and 4, 1882.
10. G. Pauthier (Goa, 1859).
11. S. D. Elmanovich (St Petersburg, 1913).
12. G. Bühler, The Laws of Manu (Oxford, 1886).
13. J. D. M. Derrett, Manuśāstravivaraṇa, 2 vols. (Wiesbaden, 1975), introduction.
14. ibid.
15. See ‘Zur Kritik des Manu-Gesetzbuches’ and ‘Ausgezogene Stellen aus Manu’, pp. 107–30 of Cultur und Kunst, in Nachgelassene Werke (1882–8), vol. 14 of Nietzsche’s Werke (Leipzig, 1904). See also section 194 of The Will of Power. Presumably, Nietzsche knew Hüttner’s 1797 German translation.
16. Friedrich Nietzsche, The Twilight of the Idols (1889), ‘The “Improvers” of Mankind’, section 3, trans. R. J. Hollingdale, op. cit., p. 57.
17. ibid., section 4, p. 58.
18. Friedrich Nietzsche, The Antichrist, section 56, trans. R.J. Hollingdale, op. cit., p. 176.
19. ibid., p. 175.
20. ibid., p. 176.
21. The best analysis of this ‘agonistic’ mentality may be found in the work of Jan Heesterman, to whom I am greatly indebted for the interpretation presented here. See especially the essays collected in The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society (Chicago, 1985). Heesterman, however, usually places unbridled agonism in a hypothetical ‘preclassical’ age. With the dawn of the ‘classical’ period and the redaction of the Veda as we know it, agonism was supposedly more or less systematically eliminated. The argument set forth here assumes that much of what Heesterman might regard as anachronistic survivals of the ‘preclassical’ period is central to the world-view of ‘classical’ Vedism as it is represented in the Veda.
22. Sylvain Lévi, La Doctrine du sacrifice dans les Brāhmaṇas (Paris, 1898), p.9.
23. For a fuller analysis of this theme and its implications in Vedic texts, see Brian K. Smith, ‘Eaters, Food and Social Hierarchy in Ancient India: A Dietary Guide to a Revolution of Values’, Journal of the American Academy of Religion 50:2 (Summer 1990), pp. 201–29.
24. Satapatha Brāhmaṇa 11.1.6.19.