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The Manusmṛti (Sanskrit: मनुस्मृति), also known as the Mānava-Dharmaśāstra or the Laws of Manu, is one of the many legal texts and constitutions among the many Dharmaśāstras of Hinduism.[1][2]
Over fifty manuscripts of the Manusmriti are now known, 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".[3] Modern scholarship states this presumed authenticity is false, and the various manuscripts of Manusmriti discovered in India are inconsistent with each other.[3][4]
The metrical text is in Sanskrit, is dated to the 1st to 3rd century CE, and 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 influence had historically spread outside India. The text influenced Hindu kingdoms in Cambodia and Indonesia.[5][6][7]
In 1776, Manusmriti became one of the first Sanskrit texts to be translated into English, by British philologist Sir William Jones.[8] Manusmriti was used to construct the Hindu law code for the East India Company-administered enclaves.[9][10]
- ^ Manusmriti, The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History (2009), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195134056, See entry for Manusmriti
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srikantanwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Robert Lingat (1973), The Classical Law of India, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0520018983, p. 77
- ^ Patrick Olivelle (2005), Manu's Code of Law, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195171464, pp. 3–4
- ^ Steven Collins (1993), The discourse of what is primary, Journal of Indian philosophy, Volume 21, pp. 301–393
- ^ "Flood (1996)". p. 56.
- ^ P Bilimoria (2011), "The Idea of Hindu Law", Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia, Volume 43, pp. 103–130
- ^ Donald Davis (2010), The Spirit of Hindu Law, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521877046, pp. 13–16, 166–179