Manu’s Code of Law, which dates back to about the second century CE, has long been considered the most authoritative work on Hindu law, religion, and social mores. In this volume is contained the first critical edition of the Code, as well as an accurate and elegantly worded translation. The Code has often been the subject of criticism as it is believed to propagate a negative and unjust attitude towards women and persons of low caste. The editor points out that it is important to understand the authentic material and words of the original before taking any position about its social value. In a substantive introduction Patrick Olivelle explains the sources, structure, and socio-political background of the treatise. He goes on to examine its nature and purpose, as also the contradictions within it. In a major contribution to debate and study in the field, Olivelle discusses in detail his conclusion that the subtle, yet clear, structure of Manu’s Code shows that it is the work of a single author. Further, on the basis of his finding that the self-references in text, the colophons at the end of each chapter, and at the very end of the work, all speak of the treatise as sastra’, he has used the Sanskrit title Manava-Dharmasastra, rather than the more usual Manu Smriti. This major scholarly work is based on a painstaking and systematic search of original manuscripts. The final outcome is the result of the collation of 53 manuscripts and citations by 12 authors, the study of 38 other manuscripts, and a close reading of 9 commentaries.
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