Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar burnt the ‘Manusmriti’ on 25 December 1927 during the movement at Chavdar Tale in Mahad! Today it is completing 97 years! And in the coming year 2027 it will complete 100 years!
It is said that Manusmriti is a religious scripture. ‘Shrutistu Vedas Vijyo Dharmashastram Tu Vai Smriti:’ Shruti means ‘Veda’ and Smriti means ‘Dharmashastra’, although Manu’s name is found in the Vedas. Nevertheless, after a long time after the Vedas, Smriti texts like Manu Smriti were created. According to most scholarly consensus, the Manusmriti, also known as the Laws of Manu, was written sometime between 200 BCE and 200 CE
There have been many memoirs and memoirists! But Manusmriti holds the most importance! The names and words of famous Smritis like Vishnu, Parashar, Daksh, Samvarta, Vyas, Harit, Shatapat, Vashishtha, Apastambh, Gautam, Deval, Shankha, Likhit, Bhardwaj, Ushan, Shaunak, Yajnavalkya etc. are found in the commentaries named ‘Manvartha’, ‘Muktavali’. But tradition considers Manu’s memories as the most ancient in terms of antiquity. Just as there were many Gitas, but the Bhagavad Gita became immortal. And after the Mahabharata, there were many Puranas. But the Mahabharata became immortal. Similarly, despite the existence of many other Smritis, no Smriti could snatch the top position of the Manusmriti. Till date, Manusmriti is ruling our country, its people and the world with full power. Manusmriti should have been composed by Manu. But its composer is Manu’s disciple Bhrigu. That is, whatever Bhrigu Rishi says, it must have been told to him by Manu. This is said in the first chapter of the Manusmriti. The first chapter tells about the origin of the universe. In which Virat was created by Hiranyagarbha, Aadimanu (who is called Swayambhu) was created by Virat. Ten Prajapatis were created by Aadimanu, of whom Bhrigu Rishi was one. This Bhrigu Rishi was entrusted with the task of narrating or preparing religious texts. Manu went to him. He is shown saying this to all the great sages.
Etavdoyam Bhriguh Shastram Shravayishyatyasheshatah!
एतद्धि मट्टोधिऽजगे सर्वमेशोऽ खिलम मुनिः ||1,59 Manusmriti
(This Maharishi Bhrigu will now narrate this scripture to you in its entirety. He has received it from me only.) Being Bhrigu, he put all the imaginations of Manu into the form of a direct Smriti Granth. At the end of every chapter of Manusmriti, we find the words ‘Bhriguprokta Samhita’.
Iti Manve Dharmashastra Bhriguproktaya Samhita or—-
That is, who was Manu? What does it mean that he was Swayambhu? The name Manu appears in the Vedas! Is that Manu the same Swayambhu Manu of Manusmriti? Like in the Rudra Sukta of the second Mandal of the Rigveda, the sage says –
‘That is, Manu, the eternal father, no!’ (That is, our father Manu also wanted these medicines of Rudra!) Manu was not one, six more descendants were born from Swayambhuva Manu! The names of those six Manus are Swarochisha, Uttam, Tamas, Raivat, Chasush, and the mighty Vaivaswat. (1-62) Manusmriti says –
Swayambhamvadda saptaite manavo bhuritejasah! Sway Sway Ntare Sarvamidmutpaddapuscharacharam!! 1.62
These seven highly brilliant Manus created the entire animate and inanimate world in their respective Manvantaras and also protected them. The one who has the power to create the universe is some powerful imaginary name ‘Manu’, who is the ancestor of all of us humans, as we are told. Kullukha Bhatt created a commentary or commentary named ‘Manvartha Muktavali’ on Manusmriti, which is very famous. This booklet has been written on the basis of Manusmriti along with this commentary. It is necessary to say this because this edition of Manusmriti, published by a very famous press like Nirnaya Sagar, along with the commentary of Kullukha Bhatt, is considered as an evidence among the scholars of the entire country.
Another information about Manu: Scholars like Professor A.H. Salunkhe say in a small booklet named ‘Culture of Supporters of Manusmriti’ that “The name Manu is very ancient! Not only Indians, but all Indo-Europeans believe that there was a previous man whose name was Manu or a similar name! Even in Indian languages, the tradition of using words like Manav, Manushya, etc. continues! And this is a name much earlier than Manusmriti! The age of Manusmriti is two and a quarter thousand years old! And Manu is at least three to four thousand years older than that! And Manusmriti has nothing to do with the respected Manu who had a tremendous influence on the society of that time!” This is Salunkhe’s comment!
Smriti is written by a Brahmin writer of Bhrigu dynasty in the name of Manu. This book is the most distorted book in Indian history from the social point of view. This book has done nothing but degrading at least one hundred generations of Bahujan Samaj and women, along with keeping them ignorant, humiliated, despised, helpless and enslaved, and degrading them in every way. This kind of degraded life is the result of my deeds of my previous life (according to the principle of Karmavipaak) and this is my Dharma and this is my policy. By putting this thought in the minds of the people, the influence of the exploiters started working in the minds of the exploited. It started to seem that the exploited have their own interests in protecting the interests of the exploiters. Bhrigu, in order to maintain the power of the Bahujan Samaj to torment, had cleverly created a social system to serve his hundred generations. Smriti means Manusmriti! Manusmriti has been criticised a lot because of the verses written in it to protect the objectionable interests of Brahmins. And to avoid that commentary, the people who supported it started saying that Manu was a Kshatriya. But was this kind of inhuman text written by Kshatriyas or Brahmins? Is it based on justice? Or is it written on the basis of prudence and morality? This is the most important thing. And if the present Manusmriti was not written by Manu, then the question whether Manu was a Kshatriya or a Brahmin becomes irrelevant. Bhrigu was undoubtedly a Brahmin. So what did Bhrigu take from Manu and what did he add of his own? We don’t know this either. But Bhrigu has written something in Manusmriti from his side. Even the supporters of Manusmriti believe this. Hence, the responsibility of the present Manusmriti. It comes on Bhrigu, that is, on Brahmins only! And this is the reason! Brahmins are worshiped in every way! Because they are the best gods! Now at this place Manusmriti has not cared about scholarship or character and quality! On the contrary, rejecting all these things, only the fact that he is a Brahmin by birth has been considered sufficient!
Looking at the words praising the Brahmins, it seems that this is not just for superficial praise. There is a firm arrangement of legal provisions related to this. For example, if the yagya being performed seems to be incomplete due to lack of money, then the Brahmin is allowed to usurp the property of others. And by donating to a Brahmin, the donor gets double the reward. Only a Brahmin born in the Brahmin caste has the right to preach to the king to fill his stomach. But a Shudra cannot be the king’s preacher under any circumstances. The nation to which a Shudra preaches religion, gets destroyed like a cow stuck in the mud. “If an uneducated Brahmin preaches Dharma to the king, the nation progresses! And if a learned Shudra preaches Dharma to the king, the nation degrades! This means that Manusmriti has no concern for Dharma, virtue, scholarship and quality! This is what is proved by such verses!
To ensure pure progeny, i.e. progeny, women must be protected with all efforts. It is obvious that if a woman is given the right to make her own decisions, she will find her own life partner and break the shackles of the caste system. Due to this fear, it is considered essential to protect women. For the sake of prajavishuddharth, i.e. pure lineage, i.e. the high position of the Brahmin caste should remain undisturbed. Manusmriti has found a way to keep women in shackles. It has been ruled that women should be appointed to household chores, cleanliness, cooking food, arranging household chores, religious conduct and saving or spending money. To make women not only subservient but also disrespectful, she was not given the right to perform rituals with mantras in religion.
Nasti srinaam kriya mantraih iti dharmae systematih! (9.18)
For them, the marriage ceremony itself is their Vedic Upanayan ceremony, say the Smriti Karo! They do not need to study with a Guru, their Gurukul residence is with their husband! And doing household chores in the kitchen is the ‘Homahavan’ for them!
Then comes the most important legal case, which was used to further strengthen the above-mentioned Manu-inspired system of oppressive women against the Shudras. In the 8th chapter named Nyaya Nirnaya which describes the crimes and punishments, it is first ordered that the judges in the courts should always be Brahmins. A Shudra caste judge should never be appointed. Even if that Brahmin judge is a Brahmin only in name.
Jaatimatropjivi wa kam syaad brahminbruvah!
Religious spokesperson Nripateerna tu Shudrah Kathanchen!! 8.20!!
Yasya Shudrastu Kurute Ragyo Dharmavivechanam!
Tasya sidati tadrashtam panke Gauriv pasyatah!! 8.21!!
The nation of the king in whose court a Shudra judge delivers justice is destroyed like a cow stuck in the mud! Thus the entire judicial process was in the hands of the Brahmins! Therefore this system had no shame or hesitation in committing various kinds of injustice against the Shudras! For example, even if a Brahmin commits all kinds of sins, the king should never punish him by killing him! Just expelling him from the nation is enough for him! Even there the king should ensure that all his wealth is safe!
Na Jatu Brahmanam Hanyat Sarva Papaeshvapi Sthitam!
Rashtraden bahih kuryat samagradhamanakstam!! 8.380!!
Where is this punishment and where is the punishment for Shudras! The punishment of pushing a ten-finger long iron rod heated on fire into his mouth is mentioned in 8.271, the punishment of pouring boiling oil in his ears is mentioned in 8.272, and the punishment of cutting his tongue is mentioned in 8.270! What are his crimes? Due to which Manusmriti decides to give such a big punishment? The three crimes of Shudras are uttering the name and caste of Brahmins, preaching religion to them, and using harsh words against them! Not only this, the Brahmins who have completed their education are banned from living in the kingdom of Shudras! Similarly, they are also prohibited from living in the villages of untouchables!
Neither the Shudra kingdoms nor the non-religious people!
Na pashandi gana kante nopsrishtehentya jainribhih!! 4.61!!
Now in Manusmriti of such 2668 verses, from birth to death, not only this, even after death, the rules of Manu do not leave the person. The work of enforcing and collecting these rules must have been going on for a long time. And even today the people of the Sangh are talking about implementing them. What will you call the mentality of those people who think that the dominance of Brahmins and exploitation of women and Shudras should continue as before?
After the declaration of the constitution of our country, the second RSS chief Mr. Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar argued that despite having a constitution as old as Manusmriti, which is thousands of years old, what was the need for a constitution made by copying from other countries? It does not include anything of Indianness. And even today, the people of the RSS are trying to change the current Indian constitution. And the government’s interference in personal matters like reservation and marriage are proof of that. And the Law Minister in a threatening tone to the judiciary says that “the Supreme Court should look only at constitutional matters instead of hearing individual cases! And the Home Minister of the country said that the courts should give decisions keeping in mind the mentality of the people of the majority community! This is what he said about the entry of women in the temple of Sabarimala! And in the decision to build the Ram temple, the biggest court of our country has taken the decision keeping in mind the sentiments of the majority community instead of the Constitution! Meaning that in our country, the situation is such that ‘the question is of faith, not of law’! Similarly, there is an attempt to interfere in the lives of common people from marriage to food, to implement various things mentioned in the Manusmriti! Even if it is being said that under the guise of love jihad, the governments of different states have made different legal provisions regarding inter-caste and inter-religious marriages, an attempt is being made to follow the rules of Manusmriti of two and a half to three thousand years ago regarding the ban on mixed marriages for the superiority of the lineage. Used to be !
Although Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar has said that the most effective step to end the caste system is only and only inter-caste and inter-religious marriages. But the way the Indian government is currently making laws to stop such marriages, under the guise of love jihad, by telling unscientific things like how mixed marriages according to Manusmriti have bad consequences on the coming generation.
97 years ago, on 25 December 1927, Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar, during the Satyagraha movement organized for the water of the Mahad lake, organized the Manusmriti Dahan program on 25 December, which started at 4-30 pm, in which all women and men are of equal status from birth and will remain equal till death, and all the ancient and modern texts supporting inequality were condemned in strong words, in which Shruti Smriti and Puranas were rejected, and the proposal to burn the Manusmriti was put forward by Sahasrabuddheji, and Ya. Na. Rajbhoj gave a tremendous speech in support of that proposal, and at 9 o’clock in the night, a pit was dug at the place of the conference in Mahad, and the Manusmriti was burnt by the hands of an untouchable Bairagi. However, this was not the first program of burning Manusmriti. A year before this, in 1926, the burning was done by the non-Brahmin group in the then Madras state under the leadership of Ramaswamy Periyar. But the burning of Manusmriti by the people of the lowest level, suffering from the caste system, under the leadership of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar ji, in the presence of such a large number of men and women in Mahad, in a community, has a different historical importance.
The word Brahmini Dharmagranth may seem strange to some people. Therefore, I will try to shed some light on it in detail. In the words of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar, the form of Brahmini social system i.e. Manusmriti. It existed in the form of a legal code. In ancient times, many types of Brahmini literary works existed. Among them, the work (Smriti) that unified the social system and its legal codes was Manusmriti. Manusmriti has openly supported Chaturvarnya, caste system and Sridasya in the process of making different types of laws to create Brahmini social system.
Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia has also said that “If there is anyone at the lowest level of society, it is a woman only!” Even if she is a Brahmin! A sweeper’s wife is neglected even more in the sweeper’s house. Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia’s “It is only women who are at the lowest level!” This statement is written at many places on the pages of Manusmriti.
For example, the responsibility of looking after a woman throughout her life has been given to men only. The rules of looking after a woman are written in Manusmriti itself – father in childhood, husband in youth and son in old age. Meaning that women are not independent. They do not have their own personality. Manu says so. And that is why even today, where is a woman’s identity other than being someone’s daughter-in-law, daughter, wife or mother? Meaning, what identity is there in being known by the name of father, husband or son? What other contribution does such a text have other than the slavery of women?
The matter of going to Sati after the death of the husband! Perhaps it is there in any other book or law of the world, I don’t know if it is there or not! But in Manusmriti, the responsibility of living with the husband, no matter how bad he is, right from marriage, has been put on the shoulders of women only! They are not allowed to separate! Even today, in religious rituals, women are not allowed to perform rituals independently! That is why she is called Ardhangini! She has to only touch men! She does not have the right to even listen to the Vedas, let alone read the Vedas! And later Manusmriti says! “That Vedic mantras should not be recited while performing rituals on women!” And that is still going on! So what is the harm if such Manusmriti is declared outdated and dead? And today, 97 years ago, Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkarji has committed the act of burning it! So it is truly the day of women’s liberation! I am of the opinion that even though March 8 is recognized as women’s liberation at the international level, but if seen from the Indian perspective, the true beginning of the liberation of Indian women was on December 25, 1927, when Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar burnt the Manusmriti in Mahad. So, from now on, December 25 should be celebrated as the day of women’s liberation in India!
Dr Suresh Khairnar is Ex. President of Rashtra Sewa Dal
