Disproving what is said in manusmriti, Periyar lived an earthly life for 94 years. Neither the Hindu Gods nor Manu avenge the iconoclast for his coming down on them.
Manu, the legendary law-giver seems to be a decent man, as he did not prescribe such a loathsome punishment for the Dalits – an act by the members of the intermediate caste urinating on the face of Dalits. In the language of Manusmriti, the book of the Hindu code, the Dalit youth who underwent the punishment last week at Vengamedu in Erode district, were outcastes and the ones that urinated on them were from the ruling class kshatriyas, - better called ‘Aandaparamparai’ in the political, colloquial, contemporary Tamil. A news report said that a certain number of members from the Gounder community beat up the Dalit youth and urinated on them accusing them of stealing hens. The incident happened in a country where hens are more respectable than humans.
Though manusmriti cannot be the law of the land today, incidents like the one at Vengamedu bear testimony to the fact that the poison brewed in the book long ago is still in its flow.
At a time when many raise a hue and cry against the criticism of Manusmriti and view it as a holy book of varnashrama, the ‘holiness’ of the book lies in its award of punishments to people based on their birth. When this writer came across a shloka in chapter 11 of manusmriti, he doubted whether the rationalist leader Periyar E.V Ramasami had undergone a damnation in hell for about 100 years for his ‘crime’ of hurting and threatening the Brahmins. The shloka says that “a man goes to hell – if he threatens them (The Brahmins) for one hundred years” Since Periyar would often mention the Brahmin as not ‘Brahmin’ but by a different word, as per manusmriti, he must have suffered at the inferno at least for a century! Good that he did not strike anyone from the touch-me-not community. Had he done so, according to a shloka, he would even have suffered in hell for 1000 years!
Instead, Periyar E.V. Ramasamy burnt the copies of manusmriti, criticizing it as the book prescribing law based on one’s birth. Disproving what is said in the book, Periyar lived an earthly life for 94 years. Neither the Hindu Gods nor the manusmriti avenge the iconoclast for his coming down on them.
As read from manusmriti, the Brahmins seem to be full of guile and they legislated the law in the eponym ‘Manu’ and made the kings execute it on the people.
Just think of the punishment for a shudra if he abused the people above him in caste. A shloka in manusmriti, says that if he does so, the tongue of the shudra shall be cut off. Besides, if he invokes their names and castes with disdain, a long red-hot iron nail should be driven into his mouth (shlokas 270 -272). Besides, if he arrogantly gave instructions on the law of Brahmins, the king should pour heated oil into his mouth and ears. You may think that the price of the oil could be very dear when Periyar E.V Ramasamy lambasted the Brahmins and manusmriti.
According to Manu, the pleasure of lust knows nothing about untouchability. While emphasizing that the shudra men should marry only the shudra women, he grants freedom to the Brahmin to marry even a shudra woman! (chapter 3, shlokas 12 and 13).
Though manusmriti cannot be the law of the land today, incidents like the one at Vengamedu bear testimony to the fact that the poison brewed in the book long ago is still in its flow.
At a time when many raise a hue and cry against the criticism of Manusmriti and view it as a holy book of varnashrama, the ‘holiness’ of the book lies in its award of punishments to people based on their birth. When this writer came across a shloka in chapter 11 of manusmriti, he doubted whether the rationalist leader Periyar E.V Ramasami had undergone a damnation in hell for about 100 years for his ‘crime’ of hurting and threatening the Brahmins. The shloka says that “a man goes to hell – if he threatens them (The Brahmins) for one hundred years” Since Periyar would often mention the Brahmin as not ‘Brahmin’ but by a different word, as per manusmriti, he must have suffered at the inferno at least for a century! Good that he did not strike anyone from the touch-me-not community. Had he done so, according to a shloka, he would even have suffered in hell for 1000 years!
Instead, Periyar E.V. Ramasamy burnt the copies of manusmriti, criticizing it as the book prescribing law based on one’s birth. Disproving what is said in the book, Periyar lived an earthly life for 94 years. Neither the Hindu Gods nor the manusmriti avenge the iconoclast for his coming down on them.
As read from manusmriti, the Brahmins seem to be full of guile and they legislated the law in the eponym ‘Manu’ and made the kings execute it on the people.
Just think of the punishment for a shudra if he abused the people above him in caste. A shloka in manusmriti, says that if he does so, the tongue of the shudra shall be cut off. Besides, if he invokes their names and castes with disdain, a long red-hot iron nail should be driven into his mouth (shlokas 270 -272). Besides, if he arrogantly gave instructions on the law of Brahmins, the king should pour heated oil into his mouth and ears. You may think that the price of the oil could be very dear when Periyar E.V Ramasamy lambasted the Brahmins and manusmriti.
According to Manu, the pleasure of lust knows nothing about untouchability. While emphasizing that the shudra men should marry only the shudra women, he grants freedom to the Brahmin to marry even a shudra woman! (chapter 3, shlokas 12 and 13).