Manusmriti for Our Times? BHU Criticised for Its New Research Fellowship

Manusmriti remains hugely controversial for its endorsement of caste system and women's subjugation.

Banaras Hindu University.

(Photo: File photo)

Banaras Hindu University's Department of Dharmashastra and Mimansa has put out an advertisement for a research fellowship on 'Applicabilety of Manusmriti in Indian Society' (sic). The selected candidate will get Rs 25,380 per month as stipend.

Manusmriti, also called as Manav Dharma Shashtra, is an ancient Sanskrit law text supposed to have been composed in the early centuries of the first millennium. The text remains hugely controversial for its endorsement of caste system and women's subjugation.

When asked if the fellowship amounts to endorsing the text, the department head Shankar Kumar Mishra told The Quint that the Vedic tradition and rishis and munis have already endorsed it so there is no question of separately endorsing it. Mishra also disagreed that the law treatise sanctions caste and secondary status for women.

"A single word has multiple meanings. The word Hari can mean Lord Vishnu, monkey, frog or elephant. It depends on how you interpret it. It's the same with these text. No religious work asks you to lie or behave badly. They all say help the weak, indulge in charity, take care of your family and so on," he said.

Senior journalist and writer Dilip Mandal said that there is no scope for Manusmriti in the contemporary times.

"After independence, India adopted the modern system of governance, that is, constitutional democracy. We cannot go back in time. This country will not be ruled by the writ of the Manusmriti but by the collective will of the people," he told The Quint.

Notably, Dr Br Ambedkar, who is known as the architect of India's constitution, had burned Manusmriti in 1927 at a conference organised in Mahad, Maharashtra.

A resolution passed at the time read,

"Taking into consideration, the remarks in the Manusmriti and such other books which are most vulgar and which most flagrantly violate the human rights, this meeting condemns them emphatically and as an expression of that condemnation resolves to burn them."

– Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches, Vol 17

Every year Ambedkarite groups mark this event by celebrating Manusmriti Dahan Divas on 25 December.

Social media users criticised the BHU for instituting the research grant.