MANU 613 MANU
he contracted through his care of the sick. From had to know by heart. Every Vedic school of im* 1466 to 1584, the see of Mantua was occupied by portanoe had its appropriate aUtrcu, among whidi bishopsofthe House of Gonzaga: Cardinals Francesco, were the Grihya-«Otras", deahng with domestic Ludovico, Sigismondo, Ercole, Federigo, Francesco II, ceremonies, and the *' Dharma-sQtras ", treating of the Marco Fedele; only in 1566 was this series interrupted, sacred customs and laws. A fair mmiber of these by the Dominican Gr^orio Boldrino. After Ales- have been preserved, and form part of the sacred sandro Andreasi (1584-97), who founded a house for Brahmin literature. In course of time, some of the Jewish converts and a hospital for 8ick pilgrims, the more ancient and popular Dharma-sQtras'[ were en- diocese was once more governed by a Gonzaga, Car- larged in their scope and thrown into metrical form, dinal Francesco III (1587-1620), a Franciscan whose constituting the so-called Dharmansastras". Of secular name was Annibale. Mention should be made these the most ancient and most famous is the ** Laws also of Mgr Pietro Rota (1871-79), who was the ob- of Manu", the "Mftnava Dharma-sastra '*, so called, ject of much persecution at the hands of the govern- as scholars think^ because based on a " Dharma- ment, and of Uiuseppe Sarto (1884-05), now Pius X. sQtra" of the ancient M&nava school. The associa-
A synod was held at Mantua in 827, to settle a con- tion of the original suira "with the name M&nava
troversy between the metropolitan bishops of Aquileia seems to have suggested the myth that Manu was
and of Urado, one in 1053 for disciplinary reform, an- its author, and this myth, incorporated in the metri-
other in 1064, in relation to the controversy be- cal "Dharma-sfistra", probably availed to secure the
tween Alexander II and the antipope Honorius II. new work universal acceptance as a divinely revealed
At first (1537) it was proposed to hold the Coimcil of book.
Trent iit Mantua. The "Laws of Manu" consists of 2684 verses, di-
The diocese was once su£fragan of Aquileia, but in vided into twelve chapters. In the first chapter is
1452 it became immediately dependent on the Holy related the creation of the world by a series of emanar
See; in 1803, however, it was made a suffragan of tions from the self-existent deity, the mythical origin
Ferrara, and in 1819 of Milan. It has 153 parishes, of the book itself , and the great spiritual advantage to
and 257,500 inhabitants; there are 3 religious houses be gained by the devout study ot its contents. Chap-
of men, and 21 of women; 4 educational establish- ters two to six inclusive set forth the manner of life
ments for boys, and 10 for girls, and one Catholic daily and regulat ion of conduct proper to the members of the
paper. three upper castes, who nave been initiated into the
DoNmuoNDj.Ddlai^maeaUs.diMantovai^^ Brahmin religion by the sin-removing ceremony
iSl'e^S"a'iS£?d/ilf^;iS;; fM^a^ru A?^f i(Iif?SS,SrS ^o^ ?f the rnvesUture with the sacred cord. First
municipio di Mantova (Mantua. 1871-74); Volta, Compendio IS descnbed the period of studentship, a time of as-
deUa atoria di ^ontowo (Mantua. 1807-38), 6 V9to,; Davahi. cetic discipline devoted to the Study of the Vedas
i^J^i^^ cWte cttta di Mantova n« ^h is^is ^j^^ ^ Brahmin teacher. Then the chief duties of
XJ. B£2>nGNi. the householder are rehearsed, his choice of a wife,
marriage, maintenance of the sacred hearth-fire, sao-
ManUfTHELAWsoF. — "The Laws of Manu "is the rifices to the gods, feasts to his departed relatives,
English designation commonly applied to the "Ma- exercise of hospitality. The numerous restrictions,
nava Dharma-sdstra", a metrical Sanskrit compen- also, regulating nis daily conduct, are discuussed in de-
dium of ancient sacred laws and customs held in the tail, especially in regard to his dress, food, conjugal
highest reverence by the orthodox adherents of Brah- relations, and ceremonial cleanness. After this comes
minism. The Brahmins themselves credit the work the description of the kind of life exacted of those who
with a divine origin and a remote antiquity. Its re- choose to spend their declining years as hermits and
puted author is Manu, the mythical survivor of the ascetics. The seventh chapter sets forth the divine
Flood and father of the human race, the primitive dignity and the manifold duties and responsibilities of
teacher of sacred rites and laws, now enjoying in kings, offering on the whole a high ideal of the kingly
heaven the dignity of an omniscient deity. The open- office. The eighth chapter treats of procedure in
ing verses of the work tell how Manu was reverently civil and criminal lawsuits, and of the proper punish-
approached in ancient times by the ten great sages and ments to be meted out to different classes of crim-
asked to declare to them the sacred laws of the castes, inals. The next two chapters make known the cua-
and how he graciously acceded to their request by toms and laws governing divorce, inheritance, the
having the learned sage Bhrigu, whom he had care- rights of property, the occupations lawful for each
fully taught the metrical institutes of the sacred law, caste. Chapter eleven is chiefly occupied with the
deliver to them this precious instruction. The work various kinds of penance to be undergone by those
thus pretends to be the dictation of Manu through the who would rid themselves of the evil consequences of
agency of Bhrigu; and as Manu learned it himself from their misdeeds. The last chapter expounds the doo-
the self-existent Brahma, its authorship purports to trine of karma, involving rebirths in the ascending or
be divine. This pious Brahmin belief regarding the descending scale, according to the merits or demerits
divine origin of the " Laws of Manu" is naturally not of the present life. The closing verses are devoted to
shared by the Oriental scholars of the western world, the pantheistic scheme of salvation leading to ab-
Even the rather remote date assigned to the work by sorption into the all-embracing, impersonal deity.
Sir William Jones, 1200-500 b. c. has been very gen- The "Laws of Manu" thus offers an interesting
erally abandoned. The weight ot authoritjyr to-day is ideal picture of domestic, social, and religous life in
in favour of the view that the work in its present India under ancient Brahmin influence. The picture
metrical form dates probably from the first or second has its shadows. The dignity of the Braimiin caste
century of the Christian era, though it may possibly be was greatly exaggerated, white the Sudra caste was so
a century or two older. Most of its contents, however, far despised as to be excluded under pain of death
may be safely given a much greater antiquity, from participation in the Brahmin religion. Punishr
Scholars are now pretty well agreed that the work is an ments for crimes and misdemeanours were lightest
amplified recast in verse of a "Dharma-sQtra", no when applied to offenders of the Brahmin caste, and
longer extant, that may have been in existence as increased in severity for the guilty members of the
eariy as 500 b. c. ' warrior, farmer, and serf caste respectively. Most
The siUras were manuals composed by the teachers forms of industry and the practice of medicine were
of the Vedic schools for the guidance of tlwir pupils, held in contempt, and were forbidden to both Brah-
They summed up in aphorisms, more or less methodi- mins and warriors. The mind of woman was held to
cally arranj^ed, the enormously complicated mass of be fickle, sensual, and incapable of proper self-direo-
rult's, l;iws, cii^tdins, rites, that the Brahmin student tion. Hence it was laid down tlmt women wore to be
