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Manusmriti with the Commentary of Medhatithi

by Ganganatha Jha | 1920 | 1,381,940 words | ISBN-10: 8120811550 | ISBN-13: 9788120811553

This is the English translation of the Manusmriti, which is a collection of Sanskrit verses dealing with ‘Dharma�, a collective name for human purpose, their duties and the law. Various topics will be dealt with, but this volume of the series includes 12 discourses (adhyaya). The commentary on this text by Medhatithi elaborately explains various t...

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

अन्नाद� भ्रूणह� मार्ष्टि पत्य� भार्याऽपचारिणी �
गुरौ शिष्यश्च याज्यश्च स्तेनो राजन� किल्बिषम� � ३१� �

annāde bhrūṇahā ṣṭ patyau bhāryā'pacāriṇ� |
gurau śiṣyaśca yājyaśca steno rājani kilbiṣam || 317 ||

The Embryo-killer expurgates his guilt on him who eats his food, the misbehaving wife on her husband, the disciple and the sacrificer on the preceptor, and the thief on the king.�(317)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Բ岹’—one who eats food.

ūṇa’—he who has killed a 󳾲ṇa.

This latter �expurgates� throws upon �the man who eats his food’Ĕ�the guilt,� of killing the 󳾲ṇa; just as when the dirty cloth is washed in water, its dirt becomes thrown into the water.

This is a purely valedictory declaration. The meaning is that the guilt becomes separated from the 󳾲ṇa-killer, and attaches itself to the other man.

On the �pati’—the husband —�the mishaving’Ĕaܱٱdzܲ—�wife’—if he condones the act. Here also the guilt disappears from the wife and attaches itself to the husband.

On the preceptor, the disciple and the sacrificer�;—if the disciple transgresses the laws relating to sun-rise, etc., and the preceptor condones it, the guilt becomes thrown upon the latter. Similarly the ‘sacrificer� on the officiating priest; since the latter is a ‘preceptor�; that is why the ‘officiating priest� has not been mentioned separately.

Similarly �the thief on the King,’—if he is not punished by the King.

If the sacrificer, in course of the sacrificial performances, transgresses the rules, and does not adhere to the advice of the officiating priest,—then he should be abandoned by the latter; and he is not to be chastised and beaten, in the manner of a disciple.

In regard to the �man who eats his food� and the rest, the present text should not he taken as laying down an injunction; the whole of it is purely declamatory.�(317)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

Mss. N and S place 317 and its ṣy after 318 but both add a note to the effect—�ayam shloko rājabhirityasmāt pūrvam lekhanīya��, ‘this verse should be written after the verse rājabhi� &c.� This is apparently a corrector’s note on the mistake committed by a copyist.

This verse is quoted in īٰǻ岹ⲹ (Āhnika, p. 509), which adds the following note:—�ṣa� is to be construed with each of the four—�Բ岹�, �pati�, �guru� and �’—and �ṣṭ� means ‘passes on.�

It is quoted in ʰⲹśٳٲ첹 (p. 146), which explains �ṣṭ� as ‘transfer�;—and in (Śrāddha, p. 781).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

ղśṣṭ (19.44).—‘They quote the following verse:—“The slayer of a learned 󳾲ṇa casts his guilt on him who eats his food; a misbehaving wife on her husband; a student and a sacrificer on the teacher and the officiating priest; and a thief on the King.� The guilt falls on the King who pardons an offender, if he causes him to he slain, he destroys sin in accordance with the sacred law.�

Ā貹ٲ (1.19.15).—‘They quote the following:—“The murderer of a 󳾲ṇa learned in the Veda heaps his guilt on his guest; an innocent man on his calumniator; a thief set at liberty, on the King; and the petitioner, on him who makes false promises.�

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