Overview
- On Friday, June 26, 2026, NCERT published a revised Class 9 Social Science chapter that reproduces Manusmriti 3.56 saying “Where women, verily, are honoured, there gods rejoice” as an example of texts that honoured women.
- The chapter immediately contextualises the verse by saying women’s position “fluctuated, even declined” over centuries as social and political conditions changed.
- NCERT pairs the Manusmriti quote with other primary sources such as Rigveda hymns attributed to women sages, the Buddhist Sutta Nipata, inscriptions, and literary records to show instances of female learning, ritual participation, and political power.
- The textbook argues that in early Vedic society varna was largely functional and linked to occupation and cultural ties rather than fixed by birth, and it traces how varna and jati became more rigid over time.
- News outlets have framed the update differently with some highlighting the Manusmriti citation as notable and others critiquing the textbook’s reinterpretation of caste and gender history, and there is no public record of any formal revision or withdrawal as of the latest reports.