Manusmriti

Learn that sacred law which is followed by men learned (in the Veda) and assented to in their hearts by the virtuous, who are ever exempt from hatred and inordinate affection.

The Manusmriti (Sanskrit: मनुस्मृति), also known as the Mānava-Dharmaśāstra or Laws of Manu, is believed to be the first ancient Sanskrit legal text in the Dharmaśāstra tradition of Hinduism.

Quotes

(full text, multiple translations and formats)

  1. The great Seers having approached Manu seated intent, having reverenced him, duly spoke this speech.
  2. Lord! deign to tell us truly in order the rules of all the castes and of all the castes that arise between (them).
  3. For thou, Lord, alone knowest the true sense of the objects of this universal, self-existent system, unattainable by (simple) reason, not to be reasoned out.
  4. He whose glory is unmeasured, being duly questioned those magnanimous ones, having saluted all the great Seers, answered them: Hear!
  5. This (All) was darkness, imperceptible, without definite qualities, undiscoverable, unknowable, as if wholly in sleep.
  6. Then the self-existent Lord became manifest, making this undiscrete (All) discernible with his power, unobstructed by the chief elements and the like, removing the darkness.
  7. He who can be apprehended by the suprasensual, (who is) subtile, undiscrete, eternal, who consists of all elements, incomprehensible, he verily became manifest of himself.
  8. Wishing to produce different beings from his own body, he -having desired, first created water alone; in that he cast seed.
  9. That became a golden egg, like in splendour to the thousand - rayed (sun); in that was born spontaneously Brahma, the grand parent of all the worlds.
    • Lecture One, p 1-2, (Translation by Arthur Coke Burnell)
  • Those who seek great prosperity and happiness should never inflict pain on women. Where women are honored, in that family great men are born, but where they are not honored, all acts are fruitless. Where women pass their days in misery and sorrow because of the misdeeds of their husbands, that family soon entirely perishes, but where they are happy because of the good conduct of their husbands, the family continually prospers.
    • Manusmriti (3:55-57)
  • पूजयेदशनं नित्यं अद्याच्चैनमकुत्सयन् ।
    दृष्ट्वा हृष्येत् प्रसीदेच्च प्रतिनन्देच्च सर्वश: ॥
    पूजितं ह्यशनं नियं बलमूर्जं च यच्छति ।
    अपूजितं तु तद्भुक्तं उभयं नाशयेदिदं ॥
    • Food should always be worshipped and taken with the utmost reverence. The sight of food should delight one’s heart and fill it with joy. It should always be cherished whatever the situation. Food thus honoured gives one strength and energy. Food taken irreverently destroys both strength and energy.
      • 2.54-55
  • अनारोग्यमनायुष्यं अस्वर्ग्यं चातिभोजनं ।
    अपुण्यं लोकविद्विष्टं तस्मात् तत्परिवर्जयेत् ॥
    • Excessive eating is prejudicial to health, to fame, and to (bliss in) heaven; it prevents (the acquisition of) spiritual merit, and is odious among men; one ought, for these reasons, to avoid it carefully.
      • 2.57; translated by George Bühler
  • इन्द्रियाणां विचरतां विषयेष्वपहारिषु ।
    संयमे यत्नमातिष्ठेत् विद्वान् यन्तेव वाजिनां॥
    • The five senses chase the objects of their desire which powerfully attract them. Wise men should endeavour to keep them under control like a horseman controls his horses.
      • 2.88
  • Evil actions performed in this world do not bear fruit immediately like the cow, which gives milk after being fed, but gradually gnaw the roots of him who commits them.
    • 4.172
  • Meat can never be obtained without injury to living creatures, and injury to sentient beings is detrimental to (the attainment of) heavenly bliss; let him therefore shun (the use of) meat. Having well considered the (disgusting) origin of flesh and the (cruelty of) fettering and slaying corporeal beings, let him entirely abstain from eating flesh.
    • 5.48-49; translated by George Bühler
  • धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः
    • Dharma protects those who protect dharma.
      • 8.15
      • Variant translation: Dharma protected protects.
  • Learn that sacred law which is followed by men learned (in the Veda) and assented to in their hearts by the virtuous, who are ever exempt from hatred and inordinate affection.
    • 2.1; George Bühler translation
  • That land where the black antelope naturally roams, one must know to be fit for the performance of sacrifices; (the tract) different from that (is) the country of the Mlekkhas.
    • Manu Smriti 11.22 (2.23)
  • Where women are honored there the gods are pleased; but where they are not honored no sacred rite yields rewards.
    • Manu Smriti (III.56)
  • [Brahmāvarta or] ―the district between the Sarasvatī and Dṛṣadvatī is the home of the Veda.
    • Manu 11.17

Quotes about the Manusmriti

  • To draw up such a law–book as Manu's means to lay before a people the possibility of future mastery, of attainable perfection—it permits them to aspire to the highest reaches of the art of life.

See also

This page is issued from Wikiquote. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.