New Delhi: A new course in the Delhi University titled Dharmashastra Studies has included Manusmriti as a primary text, with students being taught how the varna and caste system “organises society”.
The curriculum will also include the role of marriage in building a “civilised social order” and how morals regulate individual behaviour, reported Times of India.
Earlier, the introduction of Manusmriti was widely criticised for extoling and reinforcing social, economic and gender inequalities, had prompted in some sections of faculty members in the varsity to raise concern over the move.
The objective of the course states that “ancient Indian society, in terms of whole and its parts, has been depicted in the texts compiled in Sanskrit known as Dharmashastra.”
Other Hindu religious texts such as Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas have also been included as part of the course. The paper has been introduced as a core course in the current academic session and carries four credits. It is open to undergraduate students with working knowledge of Sanskrit.
The four units of the course include units covering subjects such as “concept of dharma”, Dharmashastra, Vyavahara or polity wherein it explains legal systems in ancient India and Prayashchitta or penance.
Texts such as Apastamba Dharmasutra, Boudhayana Dharmasutra, Boudhayana Dharmasutra, Vashistha Dharmasutra, Manusmriti, Yajnavalkya Smriti, Narada Smriti, and the Kautilya Arthashastra have been included as primary readings.
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