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 4.108
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
अन्तर्गतशव� ग्रामे वृषलस्� � सन्निध� �
अनध्यायो रुद्यमान� समवाये जनस्� � � १०� �antargataśave grāme ṛṣsya ca sannidhau |
anadhyāyo ܻⲹԱ samavāye janasya ca || 108 ||In a village where a corpse still lies, in the presence of low people, during weeping, and in a crowd of hen,—it is unfit for study.�(108).
Medhātithi’s commentary (Գܲṣy):
In a village where a corpse still lies,�i.e., while the corpse has not been taken away.
�Low people.’� This term does not stand here for the Śū; as the ‘proximity of the Śū� has been already forbidden under 4.99. It denotes unrighteousness, and stands for such people as are similar to Śū, in their unrighteousness. Hence there is prohibition of study even in the presence of such people as are unrighteous in their conduct.
�During weeping,’—where the Sound of weeping is heard; the participial term �ܻⲹԱ� being used as a noun.
�In a crowd of people.’� One shall not study in a place where a large number of men have congregated on some business.
Or, the meaning may be—�where a crowd of people are weeping;� the prohibition applying to a place where a large number of men are weeping.
The ٳԱ貹岹 participial affix in �ܻⲹԱ,� in the Active sense, is a Vedic anomaly.�(108)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in īٰǻ岹ⲹ (Saṃskāra, p. 535), without any comment;—in (Kāla, p. 771), which says that �ṛṣ� here stands for unrighteous persons reading in the presence of Śūs having been already forbidden in verse 99;—in Ҳ貹پ (Kāla, p. 194);—and in ṛtԻ (Saṃskāra, p. 162).
Comparative notes by various authors
Gautama (16.7).—‘When there are sounds of the flute or the drum or of the chariot.�
Do. (16.19).—‘When there is rotting smell, when there is a dead body in the village, and in the proximity of the Caṇḍāla or the Śū.�
ܻⲹԲ (1.11.23).—‘When there is rotting smell in the wind, when there is fog, when there are sounds of dancing, singing or musical instruments, or of weeping and of Sāma-singing,—it will be unfit for study during the time.�
Āpastamba Dharmasūtra (1.9.14).—‘When a corpse is lying within.�
Do. (1.10.19).—‘Sounds of dog, ass, wolf, owl,—sounds of all musical instruments,—also sounds of weeping, singing and Sāma-singing.�
ղśṣṭ (īٰǻ岹ⲹ-Saṃskāra).—‘When there is a corpse lying in the village, or a Caṇḍāla.�
վṣṇ (30.10).—‘Nor in a village where a corpse is lying nor near the Śū or the outcast.�
ñⲹ (1.148).—‘When there are sounds of a dog, the jackal, the ass, or the owl, of Sāma-singing, or of the flute, or of some one in pain; or in the proximity of an unclean thing, a dead-body, a Śū, a Caṇḍāla, the cremation-ground, or the outcast.�
ʲś (2.11.4).—‘After meals, so long as the hands are wet,—in water,—at night,—during the two twilights,—while a dead body is lying in the village, or while a Caṇḍāla happens to be in the village.�
첹 (2.11.6).—‘When there is fog, or sound of musical instruments, or cries of pain, on the outskirts of the village, in the cremation ground, when there are sounds of the dog, the ass, the owl or the jackal, or of Sāma singing,—during the time that it lasts.�
Gobhila (3.3.28).—‘When there are sounds of singing, or of musical instruments, or of weeping,—and when there is high wind;—during that time it will be unfit for study.�