manusmriti

LAWS OF MANU
Hinduism had to make many changes in its doctrines as a result of an attack made by
Buddha. It gave up Himsa. It was prepared to give up the doctrine of the infallibility of
the Vedas. On the point of Chaturvarna neither side was prepared to yield. .
For Chaturvarna, this new philosophic justification is to be found in the Bhagvat Geeta.
Nobody is able to say for certain what the Bhagvat Geeta teaches. But this much is
beyond question that the Bhagvat Geeta upholds the doctrine of Chaturvarna. In fact it
appears that this was the main purpose for which it was written.
And how does the Bhagvat Geeta justify it?
Krishna says that he as God created the system of Chaturvarna and he constructed it
on the basis of the theory of Guna-Karma--which means that he prescribed the status
and occupation of every individual in accordance with his innate gunas (or qualities).
Two things are dear. One is that this theory is new. The old theory was different.
According to the old theory the foundation of Chaturvarna was the authority of the
Vedas. As the Vedas were infallible so was the system of Chaturvarna on which it
rested.The attack of the Buddha on the infallibility of the Vedas had destroyed that.”
Ambedkar and Buddhism By Sangharakshita; Buddhism: Its Various Manifestations,
edited by Gurmukh Ram Madan
The question now is. Can the being so created with a given proportion of gunas,
change it by itself? Not if the statusquo is maintained. It comes only by causing
disturbance. The whole purpose of the law is to accomplish this. Do not educate the
Sudra. Do not give him an opening to grow. Extreme measure are prescribed for this
in the Laws of Manu.
“A Shudra, whether bought or unbought, he may be compelled to do servile work; for
he was created by the Self-existent (Svayambhu) to be the slave of a Brahmana”
(Ch8, verse 413).
“If a Shudra intentionally listens to the vedas, then his ears should be filled with
(molten) lead and lac; if he utters the veda, then his tongue should be cut off; if he has
mastered the veda, his body should be cut to pieces” (Chapter 12 Verse 4).
So also the women. Struggle is the only way for the changes in the inequality of the
current system It can lead to another class system or destroy the universe in that
process. Hinduism does not really offer a solution for inequality. Hence it affirms it.
The whole world is maintained by the Sudras, they support all the other three who are
simply exploiters, The value is created only by the Sudras. So for the sake of self
satisfaction the statusquo must be maintained.
Because this will be an on going struggle, Hindu wheel of eons will eternally be an up
and down cycle, the process of creation, struggle, destruction. There is no Kingdom
of God or a Heaven where all will be well except in non-existence.
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