The Manusmriti is the laws of Manu. It is the most important religious book for the Hindu. It is to be followed by all Hindus irrespective of their caste or creed. It is a law of all the social classes. Manusmriti is believed to be the words of Brahma, the Lord. Maharaja Manu is the standpoint of reference for all future Dharmshastras that followed it. The Manusmriti records the words of God, the Supreme Creator. About the Book A compilation. Teachings of the Manusmriti. The most useful book on spirituality. Records of the words of God, the Supreme Creator. Laws of Manu, the progenitor. First Code of Social Conduct for the civilized human race. Structure of the Manusmriti. Creation of the world. All the four Vedas. Varna/Caste system in ancient India. It contains chapters like this:1. Detailed knowledge about Manu and Manusmriti2. Structure of the Manusmriti3. All the four Vedas4. Untouchables, Castes and Verna System5. Teachings of the Manusmriti 6. Thousands of pieces of Sacred Learning to be learnt by one and all7. Conclusion: Manusmriti projects an ideal society. It projects an ideal human conduct. It gives an ideal look to establish an orderly society. It teaches us to lead a divine centred and happy life. Its purpose is to inculcate discipline in people. Manusmriti gives the learning of virtues like compassion, forbearance, truthfulness, non-injury, self-control, non-desiring, meditation, serenity, sweetness and honesty which every person must learn and practise. All the persons must read and learn irrespective of their caste, creed, clan or religion. The book is a need of hour and demand of time.
The Manusmṛiti is an ancient legal text of Hindus. It was one of the first Sanskrit texts to have been translated into English in 1776, by Sir William Jones, and was used to formulate the Hindu law by the British colonial government.Over fifty manuscripts of the Manusmriti are found till, but the earliest discovered, most translated and presumed authentic version since the 18th century has been the "Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) manuscript with Kulluka Bhatta commentary". Modern scholarship states this presumed authenticity is false, and the various manuscripts of Manusmriti discovered in India are inconsistent with each other, and within themselves, raising concerns of its authenticity, insertions and interpolations made into the text in later times. The metrical text is in Sanskrit, is variously dated to be from the 2nd century BCE to 3rd century CE, and it presents itself as a discourse given by Manu (Svayambhuva) and Bhrigu on dharma topics such as duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and others. The text's fame spread outside Bharat (India), long before the colonial era. The medieval era Buddhistic law of Myanmar and Thailand are also ascribed to Manu, and the text influenced past Hindu kingdoms in Cambodia and Indonesia.Manusmriti is also called the Mānava-Dharmaśāstra or Laws of Manu.The modern version of the text has been subdivided into twelve Adhyayas (chapters), but the original text had no such division. The text covers different topics, and is unique among ancient Indian texts in using "transitional verses" to mark the end of one subject and the start of the next. The text can be broadly divided into four, each of different length, and each further divided into subsections:1.Creation of the world2.Source of dharma3.The dharma of the four social classes4.Law of karma, rebirth and final liberationThe text is composed in metric Shlokas (verses), in the form of a dialogue between an exalted teacher and disciples who are eager to learn about the various aspects of dharma. The first 58 verses are attributed by the text to Manu, while the remaining more than two thousand verses are attributed to his student Bhrigu.Manusmriti is usually traslated as "code of Manu", but it literally means "reflections of Manu". It presents itself as a document that compiles and organises the code of conduct for human society.It came into being roughly 1,800 years ago, around the period that saw yagna-based Vedic Hinduism transform into temple-based Puranic Hinduism.Mansumriti is the law book of Hindus, something like the Constitution of India. Manusmriti or Manava-dharma-shastra, is a smriti (that which is recollected): the work of man, subject to change with time (kala), place (sthan) and participants (patra).Hindus believe that to make life meaningful (purusha-artha), we have to pursue four goals simultaneously: be socially responsible (dharma), generate and distribute wealth (artha), indulge in pleasure (kama) and don't get to attached to anything (moksha).The origin of Manusmriti is attributed to Brahma, the creator, who passes it on to the first human, Manu, who passes it on to the first teacher, Bhrigu, who passes it on to other sages. Since its composition, Manusmriti was seen as the foremost dharma-shastra, overshadowing all other law books. Manusmriti aligns with the Vedic view that society is composed of four kinds of communities - those who know the Vedas (brahmins), those who govern the land (kshatriyas), those who trade (vaishyas) and those who serve (shudra).Manusmriti was one of the many dharmashastras, and it was not much in use as India came to be increasingly governed by Muslim rulers, such as the Sultans of Delhi and the Deccan and Bengal. When the British East India Company took over the governance of India from the Mughals, they compiled law for managing their subjects.For Muslims, they accepted the then prevalent Sharia, but for Hindus, they had nothing.
This is the first book to study taxation and revenue collection through a detailed analysis of public finance and financial administration in four major Indian texts, namely Mahabharata, Manusmriti, Shukranitisar and Arthashastra, as philosophers trained in the Indian classic tradition and scholars working on ancient Indian wisdom mostly prefer a more abstract approach. India has a long tradition of at least two millennia of active philosophizing in the fields of logic, ethics, epistemology and metaphysics, though many in the West feel hesitant in according it the title “philosophy” in their sense of the word. Furthermore, few in India have taken it beyond philosophy towards active knowledge. This book re-visits and re-interprets the contexts of these texts with logic and objectivity to bring the pearls of knowledge found within into the present day, showing that Sanskrit is still the lingua franca of intellectual dialogue in India.
Published by Advaita Ashrama, a publication house of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, this is Volume 6 of the nine volume series constituting 'The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda'. In these volumes we have not only a gospel to the world at large, but also, to its own children, the Charter of the Hindu faith. For the first time in history, Hinduism itself forms here the subject of generalization of a Hindu mind of the highest order. What Hinduism had needed was the organizing and consolidating of its own idea, a rock where she could lie at anchor, and an authoritative utterance in which she might recognise herself. What the world had needed was a faith that had no fear of truth. Both are found in the words and writings of Swami Vivekananda. It is the latest gospel of a modern Prophet of religion and spirituality to the mankind.
This book has been considered by academicians and scholars of great significance and value to literature. This forms a part of the knowledge base for future generations. So that the book is never forgotten we have represented this book in a print format as the same form as it was originally first published. Hence any marks or annotations seen are left intentionally to preserve its true nature.
The Laws of Manu form a towering work of Hindu philosophy. Composed by many Brahmin priests, this is an extraordinary, encyclopaedic representation of human life in the world, and how it should be lived. Manu encompasses topics as wide-ranging as the social obligations and duties of the various castes, the proper way for a righteous king to rule and to punish transgressors, relations between men and women, birth, death, taxes, karma, rebirth and ritual practices. First translated into English in 1794, its influence spread from Nietzsche to the British Raj, and although often misinterpreted, it remains an essential work for understanding India today. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
The ?igveda is the first book of humankind and the most sacred scripture of Hinduism. It also happens to be the most ill-understood book of our times. Despite the extensive study by academic and religious scholars, the purpose and meaning of the ?igveda and many ancient Hindu scriptures remain unclear. In this pathbreaking book, the discovery of the ?igveda as a book of ancient cosmology is described, and related to the seals of ancient Indus Valley Civilization, thereby challenging our perception of humanity."The Vedas have always been lauded as containing the secrets of cosmogenesis. Raja Roy in his remarkable book shows how this is true not only from the yogic vison but according to the latest insights of modern physics. The book takes the reader on a vast panoramic journey through the universe of matter, mind and human history as well."David Frawley (Vamadeva Shastri), Director, American Institute of Vedic Studies"Roy presents a new framework for the understanding of the Vedic hymns from the point of view of physics and then he draws parallels with recent theories on the nature of the universe. We celebrate the new path he has hewn through the bush of old scholarship."Professor Subhash Kak, Oklahoma State University
