Editing Manusmriti (section)

{{Short description|Ancient Hindu text}}
{{italic title}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Hindu scriptures}}

The '''''Manusmṛti''''' ({{langx|sa|मनुस्मृति}}), also known as the '''''Mānava-Dharmaśāstra''''' or the '''Laws of Manu''', is one of the many legal texts and constitutions among the many ''{{IAST|[[Dharmaśāstra]]s}}'' of [[Hinduism]].<ref>[http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195134056.013.0539 Manusmriti], The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History (2009), [[Oxford University Press]], {{ISBN|978-0195134056}}, See entry for Manusmriti</ref><ref name="olivelle18" />

Over fifty manuscripts of the ''Manusmriti'' are now known, but the earliest discovered, most translated, and presumed authentic version since the 18th century is the "[[Kolkata]] (formerly Calcutta) manuscript with Kulluka Bhatta commentary".<ref name=olivellecriticaledition/> Modern scholarship states this presumed authenticity is false, and that the various manuscripts of ''Manusmriti'' discovered in India are inconsistent with each other.<ref name=olivellecriticaledition/><ref name=srikantan/>

The metrical text is in Sanskrit, is dated to the 2nd century BCE to 2nd century CE,<ref name=":0" /> and presents itself as a discourse given by [[Manu (Hinduism)|Manu]] (Svayambhuva) and [[Bhrigu]] on [[dharma]] topics such as duties, rights, laws, conduct, and virtues. The text's influence had historically spread outside India, influencing Hindu kingdoms in modern [[Cambodia]] and [[Indonesia]].<ref>Robert Lingat (1973), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Sauo8iSIj7YC&pg=PA77 The Classical Law of India]'', University of California Press, {{ISBN|978-0520018983}}, p. 77</ref><ref>Patrick Olivelle (2005), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=PnHo02RtONMC&pg=PA3 Manu's Code of Law]'', Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195171464}}, pp. 3–4</ref><ref>Steven Collins (1993), ''The discourse of what is primary, Journal of Indian philosophy'', Volume 21, pp. 301–393</ref>

In 1776, ''Manusmriti'' became one of the first Sanskrit texts to be translated into English (the original Sanskrit book was never found), by British philologist [[William Jones (philologist)|Sir William Jones]].<ref name="Flood 1996, page 562">{{Cite web |title=Flood (1996)|page=56 |url=https://archive.org/details/AnIntroductionToHinduismSeeTantraWesternPhilosophyAscetismFoldersGavinFloodOUP/page/n70}}</ref> ''Manusmriti'' was used to construct the [[Hindu law]] code for the [[East India Company]]-administered enclaves.<ref>P Bilimoria (2011), "The Idea of Hindu Law", ''Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia'', Volume 43, pp. 103–130</ref><ref name="donalddavis">Donald Davis (2010), ''The Spirit of Hindu Law'', Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0521877046}}, pp. 13–16, 166–179</ref>