Manu was a mythological man who supposedly lived 10,000 years ago in India. He taught these rules for human conduct to the rishis, and they passed on these laws to the rest of humanity. These texts are “smṛti,’ or secondary texts that adhere to the primordial supremacy of the Vedas.•The Manu Smṛti texts discuss Dharma as a universal law that structures our lives. Thus the Manu Smṛti provides an example of ethics by which human life is to be conducted.