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...
Verse 2.186
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
दूरादाहृत्� समिध� सन्निदध्याद् विहायस� �
सायं।प्रातश्� जुहुयात् ताभिरग्निमतन्द्रित� � १८� �dūrādāhṛtya samidha� sannidadhyād ⲹ |
sāyaṃ|prātaśca juhuyāt tābhiragnimatandrita� || 186 ||Having fetched fuel-sticks from a distance, he should place them in the air; and with these he should, without fail, make offerings to the fire, morning and evening.�(188)
Medhātithi’s commentary (Գܲṣy):
The term �distance� is meant to stand for such plots of land as are not owned by any one; for instance, the forest is ‘distant� from the village, and it is not owned by any one. If such were not the meaning, and ‘distance� simply meant ‘remote places,’Ĕthen since the exact degree of remoteness is not specified, the manning of the injunction would remain indefinite.
�Having fetched’Ĕhaving brought.
�Should place’Ĕshould keep.
�In the air’�i.e., on the roof of the house; no placing is possible in the open air, without some support.
�With these he should make offerings morning and evening.�
The fetching of the fuel may he at that or at any other time, according as the student pleases.
Some people regard the ‘placing in the air� as serving some transcendental purpose. Others have however held that the fuel brought fresh from the tree is wet; and hence it is necessary to place it either on the top of the house or on that of a wall, etc. (for the purpose of drying).�(186)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
�վⲹ’ĔIn the air, i. e. on the roof of the house (Medhātithi, Govindarāja and Kullūka);—‘on a platform� (Nārāyaṇa);—‘in the open air (Nandana);—‘in any pure place except the ground� (Rāghavānanda).
This verse is quoted in ʲś (Ācāra, p. 451), as laying down the method of ‘tending the fire�, and ‘explains it that ‘he should place the fuel somewhere in the open, not on the grouhd;’Ĕin ṛtٲٳٱ (p. 936) as laying down the morning and evening offerings into the Fire;—in īٰǻ岹ⲹ (Saṃskāra, p. 448), where �ū� is explained as from a spot not owned by any one�;—in վԲٲ (p. 498), where ⲹ is explained as �Գٲīṣe� ‘in the open air—in Ѳ岹Բٲ (p. 24), where �ū� is explained as ‘from a spot not owned by any other person�, and �ⲹ� as �ṇḍ岹� ‘oh an altar or some such place�;—in ṃsū (p. 43), which says that, according to ٳś, �ⲹ� means ‘on the house-top�;—in ṛtԻ (Saṃskāra, p. 86), which explains ū, as ‘from places not belonging to any person�, and ⲹ as ‘on the house-top�,—and in ṛsṃh岹 (Saṃskāra, p. 34a).
Comparative notes by various authors
Ā貹ٲ-ٳūٰ (2.4.16).—‘Having kindled fire and swept the place, he should lay fuel on it, morning and evening, in accordance with instructions received.�
Ā貹ٲ-ٳūٰ (īٰǻ岹ⲹ-Saṃskāra, p. 448).—‘He should not go for fetching fuel in the evening.�
վṣṇ (28.4).—‘Both times, bathing and fire-tending.�
Āśvalāyana Gṛhyasūtra (2.22.6).—‘Morning and evening, he should fetch fuel.�
Pāraskara Gṛhyasūtra (2.5.9)—‘Without causing injury, he should fetch fuel from the forest, lay it on the fire and then utter speech.�
Gobhila Gṛhyasūtra (3-2-27).—‘Girdle-wearing, alms-begging, staff-carrying, fuel-fetching, water-bathing, morning salutation,—these are the daily compulsory duties.�
ܻⲹԲ (1.2.54).—‘Therefore, the Religious Student should fetch fuel.�
Ā貹ٲ (īٰǻ岹ⲹ-Saṃskāra, p. 448).—‘Some people say that Fire-kindling should be done in the evening only.� ܲṣi (Do.)�(same as above).
Ჹ貹 (Do.).—‘Before sunset, and also in the morning, going northward, without causing injury, he should fetch fuel,—wet, if desirous of food; dry, if desirous of Brahmic glory; both, if desirous of both.�
-ܰṇa (ʲś, p. 452).—‘The fuel should he of Palāśa; in the absence of that, Khadira or Śamī or Rohitaka or Aśvattha; and in the absence of these, Arka and Vetasa.�