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When Manu met Mahāsammata

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Conclusions

‘When Manu met MS’ is a story told to explain the origins of the dhammathats. ‘This is where the text came from’ implies the corollary ‘... and that is why we must obey the contents of the text.’ The special feature of this story, which rendered it unsuitable for inclusion in our ‘Postcanonical Adventures’ survey, is that MS shares equal billing with Manu. The legitimation of law is such a heavy task that it requires the combined efforts of two culture heroes. Forchhammer and Lingat recognised the strangeness of this shared responsibility and interpreted it in terms of sources. Putting their shared position in colloquial language:

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  1. School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, London, UK

    Andrew Huxley

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Huxley, A. When Manu met Mahāsammata. J Indian Philos 24, 593–621 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00165540

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