Manusmriti: The Most Manipulated — Text in Indian History

📜 Shruti vs Smriti — Know the Difference

In Sanatan philosophy, sacred texts are broadly categorized as:

• Shruti – Meaning “that which is heard.” These are divine revelations, including the Vedas and Upanishads, considered eternal and universal.
• Smriti – Meaning “that which is remembered.” These are compositions by sages that reflect the laws and customs of a particular time, such as Manusmriti, Yajnavalkya Smriti, and others.

👉 While Shruti is authoritative and timeless, Smriti is contextual — meant to evolve based on Desh (place), Kaal (time), and Patra (people).

 

 

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🧨 Manusmriti: The Real Villain — But Not as You Think

There isn’t one Manusmriti.

There are over 50 different versions.

Each has variations, contradictions, and later additions.

And even more importantly, Manusmriti was never the Supreme Law of Sanatan Dharma.

 

✅ Original Manusmriti Was Fluid

Despite the controversies, the original Manusmriti did not advocate a birth-based caste system. In fact, it allowed flexibility in social roles:

मनुः स्मृतिः 10.65
"He who performs the duties of another varna becomes that varna himself."

मनुः स्मृतिः 10.64–65
"A Brahmana who neglects his dharma becomes a Shudra. A Shudra who performs noble deeds and gains knowledge can become a Brahmana."

This shows that even Manusmriti originally supported the idea of Guna (qualities) and Karma (actions) over Janma (birth).

Guna (qualities) + Karma (actions) = Your Varna

 

❓ And yet, same book also says:

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Manusmriti 8.413
"If a Shudra verbally abuses a twice-born, his tongue shall be cut off."

Manusmriti 8.272
"A Brahmana may seize the wealth of a Shudra without hesitation."

Manusmriti 5.151
"Food becomes impure if touched by a Shudra."

These statements are cruel, illogical, and completely opposed to Sanatan values.

 

❌ these Shlokas Are Deeply Disturbing 

Over time, Manusmriti was corrupted with shlokas that go completely against the Vedic spirit of unity and Dharma. So we ask:

• Who inserted these shlokas?
• Why do earlier references like Al-Biruni (11th century) mention a Manusmriti of only ~1,200 verses, while modern versions have over 2,600?
• Why do these verses read like tools of social control, not Dharmic wisdom?

The answer: These were not Sanatan insertions, but colonial and post-colonial distortions.

 

 

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💣 The British Didn’t Just Rule India. They Rewired It.

 

In 1861, British census officer Herbert Hope Risley launched the “Caste Census.”

He declared: “ Varna and Jati means race. Brahman, is superior. Shudra is inferior.”

Before this?

No official caste certificates.

No locked surnames.

No rigid hierarchy.

The British froze a fluid Varna system into a fixed caste grid — because divide-and-rule was easier than understanding Dharma.

They translated Manusmriti as the “Hindu Law Code” — ignoring that Hindus never had one book of law.

They taught Indians that our worst distortions were our original truths.

 

🎯 They Weaponized Manusmriti

• In 1794, Sir William Jones, a British judge, translated Manusmriti — not as scripture, but as a legal tool to help administer India.
• Herbert Hope Risley (British Census Commissioner) classified Indians into 2,378 rigid castes based on skull and nose measurements — not Dharma. This was the first time in Indian history that birth-based caste identities were officially recorded and enforced.
• Max Müller and others selectively interpreted Indian texts to paint Hinduism as hierarchical, to justify British imperialism.

🔎 These manipulated texts were used to create divisions that had never existed in this rigid form before. The caste system, as we see it today, is largely a colonial construction, not a product of the Vedas or Dharma.

 

 

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🕉️ Vedas on Varna: No Hierarchy, Only Harmony

The Rigveda’s Purusha Sukta (10.90) presents the Varna system metaphorically:

"Brahmana was His mouth, Kshatriya His arms, Vaishya His thighs, and Shudra His feet."

This is not a ranking — it is a symbol of unity, just like the body’s parts:

• The head, arms, legs, and feet all work together.
• No body part is “inferior” — all are essential.

There is no reference to birth-based hierarchy in this hymn.

It describes the four Varnas as functions, not birthrights:

Brahman: Knowledge, teaching

Kshatriya: Protection, courage

Vaishya: Commerce, productivity

Shudra: Service, support

It never said one was superior or inferior.

Not surnames.

 

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🧭 Bhagavad Gita on Varna: Guna and Karma, Not Janma

Bhagavad Gita 4.13
“चातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं गुणकर्मविभागशः।”
"I created the four Varnas based on qualities (Guna) and actions (Karma)."

This one verse from Lord Krishna destroys all caste-by-birth claims. Nowhere does Krishna say that Varna is fixed by family or birth. In fact, throughout the Gita, he encourages people to act according to their nature, not their birth.

 

 

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🙌  Saints Who Prove Varna Was Fluid

Sanatan Dharma's history is filled with saints and sages whose lives disprove the idea of a rigid caste system:

Rishi Valmiki - once a forest bandit, became a revered Maharishi and wrote the Ramayana.

Maharishi Ved Vyasa - born to a fisherwoman, compiled and authored the Vedas and Mahabharata.

Ravidas - leatherworker by Jati, was one of the most followed Bhakti saints.

Kabir - born to a weaver family, questioned blind rituals and spoke of one truth beyond Varna.

Satyakama Jabala – Born to a single mother, accepted as a Brahmana by Rishi Gautama.

Narada – Born to a maidservant, became a Devarishi.

Krishna – A Yadava (Vaishya) by birth, revered as the Supreme Brahman by all.

None of them were defined by Janma — only by their actions and inner character.

 

 

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👑 Krishna and Narada — Proof That Varna Is Earned

• Lord Krishna: Born in a pastoral (Vaishya) community, yet he guided kings, spoke the Bhagavad Gita, and led the Dharma Yudh.
• Narada Muni: Born in a Shudra household, rose through Bhakti and Tapasya to become a Devarishi who traverses all Lokas.

Their lives are living examples that in Sanatan Dharma, Varna is not a wall — it’s a path.

 

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🛑 Say No to Casteism. Say Yes to Sanatan Truth.

Let’s reclaim the truth buried under centuries of lies and distortion:

• ❌ Reject the caste system based on birth
• 🛑 Expose the interpolated Manusmriti, not Sanatan Dharma
• ✅ Return to the true Varna Dharma — based on qualities and actions
• 🤝 Unite as Humans — not as labels, but as Sons and Daughters of Dharma.

 

 

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This is not rebellion.

This is Remembrance.

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