Archive · 11 Sep 2026
Manusmriti’s Contradictions Offer a Weapon Against Sanatan Defenders
Rahul Gandhi criticized a verse in Manusmriti that says women should be controlled by their husbands.
The author agrees that this verse is unfair to women.
However, the author says people should read the whole book instead of focusing on only one passage.
The article argues that many religious traditions have also included rules that favor men.
It says Manusmriti may be less harsh than some modern religious groups on homosexuality.
It also describes meat offerings to ancestors in parts of Manusmriti.
The author says the book’s idea of being pure is about behavior and character, not simply vegetarian food.
The article further says Manusmriti treats plants as living, feeling beings.
It concludes that both Rahul Gandhi and the RSS have not fully engaged with the text’s wider teachings.
At a Pune event last month, Rahul Gandhi cited Manusmriti 9.3 as an insult to women and urged young women to challenge patriarchy.
The author agrees that the verse subordinates women but argues that focusing only on it is too simple.
The article contends that other religious traditions also contain patriarchal rules, making exclusive attacks on Manusmriti selective.
It argues that Manusmriti is less restrictive than some modern Sanatan positions on homosexuality and permits meat offerings in certain rituals.
The author says Manusmriti recognizes plants as conscious and criticizes environmental destruction carried out in the name of religious development.
- Who
- Rahul Gandhi, the RSS, and the article’s author, Devdutt, are central to the discussion.
- What
- The article examines Manusmriti’s teachings on women, homosexuality, meat, personal conduct, and environmental protection.
- When
- Rahul Gandhi cited Manusmriti 9.3 at an event held last month, according to the article.
- Where
- The event, called “Chhatron Ki Goonj,” took place in Pune.
- Why
- The author argues that reading Manusmriti as a whole could challenge both its critics and groups claiming to defend Sanatan Dharma in its name.
Criticism of Manusmriti
Whole-text and Selective-criticism Argument
Women and patriarchy
Criticism of Manusmriti
Rahul Gandhi’s position, as presented in the article, is that Manusmriti 9.3 subordinates women and should be rejected as an insult to them.
Whole-text and Selective-criticism Argument
The author agrees that the verse is patriarchal but says condemning Manusmriti alone overlooks similar patriarchal rules in other religious traditions.
Modern Sanatan positions
Criticism of Manusmriti
The article presents the Sanatan lobby as enforcing positions hostile to queer people and meat consumption in the name of tradition.
Whole-text and Selective-criticism Argument
The author argues that these positions do not consistently match Manusmriti, which is portrayed as relatively unconcerned with sexual conduct outside caste restrictions and as permitting ritual meat offerings.
Religious environmental claims
Criticism of Manusmriti
The article criticizes forests and natural sites being sacrificed to private enterprises, resorts, or zoos by governments claiming to protect Sanatan Dharma.
Whole-text and Selective-criticism Argument
The author says Manusmriti’s recognition of plant consciousness and penalties for unjustified plant destruction could be used to challenge such projects on their own religious terms.
- Contested verse
- Manusmriti 9.3 is described as placing adult women under their husbands’ control.
- Rahul Gandhi’s message
- He called the verse an insult to women and urged the audience to break patriarchy.
- Author’s central argument
- Manusmriti should be assessed beyond its patriarchal passages, particularly Chapter 9.
- Homosexuality
- The article says Manusmriti treats some same-sex conduct as an infraction with comparatively mild punishment.
- Meat offerings
- Chapter 3 is said to describe meat offerings to ancestors, including fish, goat, and rhinoceros meat.
- Sattvik conduct
- The article defines sattvik qualities through austerity, knowledge, purity, self-control, and fulfilling duties rather than diet.
- Plants and pain
- Manusmriti 1.49 is cited as saying plants are conscious and experience pain and pleasure.