Bhārat is undergoing. Hindu resilience led by a generation of “deracinated Hindus”, therefore the importance of the question, “Interpolation in Śhāstrās Or “An easy way to dodge politically incorrect realities” increases a light year. ‘Political Hindus’ are a group that has turned towards Hinduism post-2014 after the coming of a dispensation that is believed of having soft corners for the Hindu faith. Though the term ‘Political Hindu’ seems a bit offensive, the term is usually used for a person whose social/political views depend upon the political correctness in which he/she is residing. A ‘political hindu’ rarely cares what our Śhāstrās/Agamas say. A ‘political Hindu always has his boots ready to run away from uncomfortable/politically incorrect realities. Whether it’s co-opting the ideas of LGBTQ by giving bogus and unfit examples of Ardhnarishwar, Shikhandi,,, and Mohini or whether it is about getting orgasms by worshipping Ambedkar, ‘the staunch hater of Hinduism’, the “Political Hindu” hardly cares what Śhāstrās speak about LGBTQ or Devninda.

 

The greatest drawback of being a political hindu is, it kills the ability to face the question which comes from the other side of a political spectrum rather it builds a mindset of running away from the questions pointed out at Hinduism to such an extent that many times questions are being raised upon the scriptures (Śhāstrās/Agamas) and conspiracy theories of Interpolation are being constructed to run away from uncomfortable/politically incorrect truths mentioned in the Śhāstrās.

 

The lack of articulation and ability to defend our Śhāstrās is what creates these bogus theories of Interpolation. The most famous conspiracy theory revolves around Uttarkand and Manusmriti.

 

Uttarkand is a famous example that is surrounded by such claims. Many believe that ‘Uttarkand” in Ramayana is a later interpolation and not part of Valmiki Ramayana. But does this claim hold water? No, the claim does not hold a single mole of water. Uttarkand being an interpolation’ is a modern myth propagated by Western Indologists. None of our ancient acharyas doubted the authenticity of Uttarkand. All commentators on Ramayana have written commentary on Uttarkand too and they do not doubt its authenticity. In the book ‘Greater Ramayana’, Dr. V. Raghavan has shown that Uttarkand of Valmiki Ramayana was known to Vyasa (author of Mahabharata) and Kalidasa. This proves the antiquity of Uttarkand. There is no manuscript of Valmiki Ramayana has been found without Uttarkand. Also, the earliest manuscript of Valmiki Ramayana available today is preserved at Bir Library, Kathmandu, Nepal, which is dated 1020 CE. This manuscript of Valmiki Ramayana contains all 7 kandas including the Uttarkanda. ( Credit – @Hinduism_Ebooks).

These bogus theories emerge because of the lack of articulation and ability to defend our own Śhāstrās. In the case of Uttarkand of Ramayana, Political Hindus find themselves in the middle of a sea due to a lack of knowledge of scriptures and lack of proper skills required to articulate a position. The uncomfortable realities in which Political Hindus try to run away from our “Shambuka Vadh” and the “Tyag of Ma Sita by Bhagwan Shree Ram”. These are the two instances in which political Hindus are unable to defend themselves and finally rub their hands by calling them an “Interpolation”. Rather than running away or sidelining our scriptures, Hindus need to defend the position of their Śhāstrās. Ambedkarites claim that Bhagwan Shree Ram killed Sambhuka for being a Shudra and performed Tapas which is baseless. Prabhu Shree Rama did not kill a Shudra. Rama killed a demon who was the cause of the deaths of several children due to his dark penance. He was a demon reincarnate who wished to acquire the seat of Rudra and such a man deserves nothing but death. Krishna explains what dark penance is, the penance performed by foolish notions that include torturing the self or others, is called dark penance (Tamas Tap). Shambuka was clearly hanging upside down above a fire burning himself and torturing one’s self. This is never encouraged. Ramayana mentions Shambuka performing extremely austere penance and also is for negative purposes hence it is Tamasa tapas. (Credit- @kaundabhatta). This truth needs to be spoken loud and clear and therefore sidelining Sambhuka Vadh is not a solution but tackling fake narrative through knowledge of Śhāstrās is the one.

 

Another uncomfortable incident that comes in Uttarkand of Ramayana is “Tyag of Ma Sita by Bhagwan Shree Ram”. To run away from the incident where Maryada Purushottam Bhagwan Shree Ram abandons Ma Sita, the bogus theory of interpolation of Uttarkand is often presented. Again, rather than running away from the incident, Hindus need to show the circumstances or Dharm Sankat Prabhu Shree Ram was stuck in. Valmiki Ramayana proves many times that Prabhu Shree Ram did not have an iota of doubt about Ma Sita but because of the Dharma Sankat he faced, he had to abandon Ma Sita. The first Dharma of a Raja is towards his Praja and therefore Prabhu Shree Ram while stuck in a Dharm Sankat chose Rajdharma. The Dharma Sankat Prabhu Shree Ram faced and the political correctness, that era had needs to be presented whenever fingers are pointed by Adharmis at Prabhu Shree Ram.

 

Similarly, apart from Uttarkand, Manusmriti also couldn’t remain untouched because of its uncomfortable or politically incorrect content according to the present age. Manusmriti has always been in the middle of controversies and at the epicenter as far as caste-related discussions are concerned. Ambedkarites-leftists have a deep-down hatred filled against Manusmriti. Also, the master of Ambedkarites, Dr. Br Ambedkar went up to Manusmriti as he believed that Manusmriti is the main reason behind caste discrimination. Also, Modern day Feminists are not far away from Ambedkarites from showing their anger and hatred against Manusmriti, they label Manusmriti with the tags of Patriarchal and a misogynist book. And sadly political Hindus in pursuit of getting a “progressive” certificate from modern-day Feminists and Ambedkarites and also in order to dodge uncomfortable realities go on to bring the “Interpolation” theory. The Interpolation idea behind Manusmriti states that Britishers were the ones who distorted the Manusmriti. This Interpolation theory hardly makes any point. There are six commentaries of Manusmriti in Sanskrit. They are Medatithi, Sarvajna-Narayana, Kulluka, Raghavananda, Nandana, & Ramachandra, most of them came a long time before the British even came to Bhārat. This shows that there is no Interpolation in Manusmriti. Also whether some verses of Manusmriti are a product of later interpolation can be easily found through Dharmashastra Nibandhas in which quotations from Manusmriti are found. Therefore the ones who claim Interpolation in Manusmriti must list down the distortions in order to prove their case.

 

Also, the claims of Ambedkarites and Modern Feminists that Manusmriti is responsible for the caste discrimination prevalent in the Hindu society and Manusmriti is a book that promotes misogyny as be easily countered by going through the verses of the same Manusmriti.

 

Here are two verses of Manusmriti out of many to debunk the myth that Manusmriti promotes misogyny.

 

Manusmriti 3.56 says-

यत्र नार्यस्तु पूज्यन्ते रमन्ते तत्र देवताःयत्रैतास्तु न पूज्यन्ते सर्वास्तत्राफलाः क्रियाः ।।

Meaning – Devatas reside in those places where women are worshiped.

 

Manusmriti(3.57)says:-

शोचन्ति जामयो यत्र विनश्यत्याशु तत्कुलम्। न शोचन्ति नु यत्रता वर्धते तद्धि सर्वदा

Meaning – If any women in any family are in distress due to her oppression then that Kul (Clan) will surely be destroyed shortly.

 

Similarly, the claim of Ambedkarites that Manusmriti promotes caste discrimination can also be tackled.

 

If Manusmriti encourages and is the source of caste discrimination, then why Manusmriti has the idea that casteist remarks/slurs are bad?

 

Manusmriti 4.141 (jātihīnāṃśca nākṣipet) says –

हीनाङ्गानतिरिक्ताङ्गान् विद्याहीनान् वयोऽधिकान् ।

रूपद्रविणहीनांश्च जातिहीनांश्च नाक्षिपेत् ॥

Meaning – He shall not insult those who have redundant limbs, or those who are deficient in limbs, or those destitute of learning, or those who are far advanced in age, or those destitute of beauty or wealth, or those of low birth.

 

It’s very easy to sideline everything one doesn’t like in Hinduism by calling it an Interpolation. Modern Hindus are sadly using the theory of Interpolation as a shield to run away from uncomfortable/politically incorrect realities.

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