The Laws of Manu — twelve books on the dharmic ordering of human life: caste, the four life-stages, marriage, kingship, ritual purity. The most-cited and most-controversial Hindu legal text.
1 chapter
Tradition
Smṛti. Dharmaśāstra (legal-religious treatise), c. 200 BCE – 200 CE. Foundational for classical Hindu law; sharply critiqued in the modern period for its caste rules.
Translation
George Bühler, translator, *The Laws of Manu*, Sacred Books of the East vol. 25 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1886). Public domain.
License
Public domain (pre-1929 English translation). Reproduced for educational and religious commentary.