About Manusmriti

I had bought a copy of Manusmriti from a second hand book dealer at Pattom. Thought it would be nice to read what the fuss is all about. This book has got a very 'good' reputation in India. Routinely ridiculed and defended, it is one of the most quoted books when it comes to discrimination against women and the oppressed classes.

The book, I found, after reading a few verses, was quite boring. It essentially emphasized on the supremacy of Brahmins. Then there are a lot of do's and don'ts - most of them alright, quite a few humorous and some of them really outrageous. One of the odd ones:

"A King is as sinful as a butcher who owns 10,000 butcher shops. One should not accept anything from a king who is not right."(Ahem!)

This one really takes the cake:

"One should not look at one's wife while she eats."

And another one:

"One should never beat anyone other than one's own son or disciple." (What about daughters?)

Of course, everyone knows the more famous ones.
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The important point to note is, this book has enough good points about it too. While disparaging the book, many people forget this fact. One should take into account the good things about anything too.

In fact, I would love to read about what the Indian society was like, before Manu wrote this book. Was one's caste really decided at birth? Or was it acquired? Did woman really have a higher status in the country at any point of time? If so, what caused it? How did some women come to be educated in open defiance of Manu's instructions?

And how did Manusmriti and caste system stand the test of time for so long?