|
THE LAWS OF MANU:
The Maharishi's Natural Law
Entire text
Ever wonder what the natural law in the Natural Law Party means?
TM outsiders seem to slide right by this piece of TM jargon, perhaps assuming it means allegiance to some pseudo-scientific rigamarole. After all, John Hagelin, the head of the Natural Law Party-USA is, or was, a physicist. As reasonable as it sounds, however, this explanation is only partly true.
Most TM insiders think of natural law as Vedic Law. After all, the Maharishi not only teaches that the Vedas are revealed truth -- he teaches that the very sound of the Vedas structure the universe in some mystical way. He and his followers believe Vedic Law to be "scientific" because anyone who attains a sufficiently "evolved" consciousness -- by spending $100,000+ on TM courses -- will verify the "objective truth" of Vedic Law for themselves.
TM teachers know that natural law is inextricably intertwined with the Hindu Gods like Indra, Lakshmi, and Ganesh. The Maharishi refers to them as Agents, Forces of Nature, or Laws of Nature. Hence the Natural Law Party slogan, "If you favour Natural Law, Natural Law will favour you." (For a discussion of the Maharishi's bizarre theology, see "Soma and the Gods.")
But the concept of natural law has a much more specific meaning within the innermost circles of TM: It literally refers to the "Laws of Manu," the smriti or Vedic law to which every TM teacher must swear allegiance. The Maharishi refers to the Laws of Manu as the "ideal law for an ideal society." As the Maharishi "explains":
The SHRUTIS are divine revelations which constitute the VEDAS. The SHRUTIS were not formulated by anyone either human or superhuman. They are
self-expressed and divinely exposed as impulses of the Absolute to the profound vision of the seers. They bring to light the eternal truths of existence and so
they are the ultimate authority of the wisdom of life and the key to its fulfilment on all levels.
From these unchallengeable and irrefutable expressions of divine truth, the sages distilled codes of behaviour for the individual and for society. The codes they
prescribed are man-made laws, but entirely based on the authority of the SHRUTIS, bringing to light all the do's and don'ts of behaviour. The codes are called
SMRITIS.
(TM insiders may be amused to note the source of many TM superstitions in the Laws: the admonition against eating garlic and mushrooms comes from V.5, the arrangement of the World Government in 10 ministries from XII.110, and so forth.)
Sacred to orthodox Hindus, most date the "Laws of Manu (Manu Dharma Shastras) as written ca 400CE. Its 2,685 verses codify cosmogony, four ashramas, government, domestic affairs, caste and morality
(others date at -600 BCE)." The Maharishi, however, dates them at least 5,000 years earlier.
As one might imagine, the laws that Manu wrote around the time of the Code of Hamurabi are pretty raw. Yet the Maharishi has said that the Laws of Manu will be appropriate again when "world consciousness" has risen sufficiently. He is particularly fond of the caste system, which he feels fosters purity of the races and allows those who follow it a simpler life, with more time for meditation.
We'd also like to point out that the Laws were, in their time, quite a step forward
by almost anyone's measure. Manu wrested his society's rules out of the hands of a
whimsical nobility and created a public "constitution" that protected all levels of society. The Laws are a milestone much like the Magna Carta in that regard. Although we suspect you will find few takers
in 20th/21st Century America.
A few highlights from your future -- if the Natural Law Party assumes power:
On Women:
Unclean during menstruation
III.239. A Kandala, a village pig, a cock, a dog, a menstruating woman,
and a eunuch must not look at the Brahmanas [highest caste] while they eat.
IV.40. Let him, though mad with desire, not approach his wife when her
courses appear; nor let him sleep with her in the same bed.
41. For the wisdom, the energy, the strength,
the sight, and the
vitality of a man who approaches a woman covered with menstrual
excretions, utterly perish.
57. Let him not sleep alone in a deserted dwelling; let him not
wake (a superior) who is sleeping; let him not converse with a
menstruating woman; nor let him go to a sacrifice, if he is not chosen
(to be officiating priest.
207. Let him never eat (food given) by intoxicated, angry, or
sick (men), nor that in which hair or insects are found, nor what
has been touched intentionally with the foot,
208. Nor that at which the slayer of a learned Brahmana has
looked, nor that which has been touched by a menstruating woman, nor that
which has been pecked at by birds or touched by a dog
Subservient to their husbands
V.154. Though destitute of virtue, or seeking pleasure (elsewhere), or devoid of good qualities, (yet) a husband must be
constantly worshipped as a god by a faithful wife.
156. A faithful wife, who desires to dwell (after death) with her husband, must never do anything that might displease
him who took her hand, whether he be alive or dead.
157. At her pleasure let her emaciate her body by (living on) pure flowers, roots, and fruit; but she must never even
mention the name of another man after her husband has died.
(A verse in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
reads: "If she does not grant him his desire, he should beat her with a stick or his hand and overcome her saying with manly power and glory, 'I take away your
glory.'(VI.4.7))
Abortion as a sin
89. Libations of water shall not be offered to those who ...
90. To women who have joined a heretical sect, who through lust
live (with many men), who have caused an abortion, have killed their
husbands, or drink spirituous liquor.
Homosexuality as a sin
XI.68. Giving pain to a Brahmana (by a blow), smelling at things which
ought not to be smelt at, or at spirituous liquor, cheating, and an
unnatural offence with a man, are declared to cause the loss of
caste (Gatibhramsa)
175. A twice-born man who commits an unnatural offence with a
male, or has intercourse with a female in a cart drawn by oxen, in water, or
in the day-time....
On adultery and prostitution
VIII.352. Men who commit adultery with the wives of others, the kind shall case to be marked by punishments which cause terror, and afterwards banish.
357.Offering presents (to a woman), romping (with her), touching her ornaments and dress, sitting with her on a bed, all (these acts) are considered adulterous acts (samgrahana).
359. A man who is not a Brahmana ought to suffer death for adultery (samgrahana); for the wives of all the four castes even must always be carefully guarded.
XI.54. Those who committed mortal sins (mahapataka), having passed during large numbers of years through dreadful hells, obtain, after the expiration of (that term of punishment), the following births.... 58. The violator of a Guru's bed (enters) a hundred times (the forms) of grasses, shrubs, and creepers, likewise of carnivorous (animals) and of (beasts) with fangs and of those doing cruel deeds. 59....those who have intercourse with women of the lowest casts, [become] Pretas [a type of demon or hungry ghost who eats impure substances, pus, insects, and corpses]. 60... he who has associated with outcasts, he who has approached the wives of other men, ... become Brahmarakshasas [a demon].
Charging for teaching the Vedas as a sin
III.156.He who teaches for a stipulated fee and he who is taught on that condition,....
X.61.... adultery,... 62....defiling a maden,... breaking a vow,... 63.... teaching (the Veda) for wages, learning (the Veda) from a paid teacher,... 67.... intercourse with women who drink spirituous liquor,... an unnatural offence with a man, ... cause the loss of cast.
[ continue on to Chapter 1 of The Laws of Manu ]
Member of the Internet Link Exchange
|
