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 5.138
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
शूद्राणा� मासिकं कार्यं वपनं न्यायवर्तिनाम् �
वैश्यवत्शौचकल्पश्च द्विजोच्छिष्टं � भोजनम् � १३� �śūdrāṇāṃ māsika� kⲹ� vapana� nyāyavartinām |
vaiśyavatśaucakalpaśca dvijocchiṣṭa� ca bhojanam || 138 ||By śū living according to law, shaving should be done every month; thus manner of purification should be like that of the ղśⲹ; and their food shall consist of the leavings of twice-born men.�(139).
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
A general rule of conduct is here laid down for the better class of Śū.
�Living according to law;’�i.e. attending on twice-born men and performing the great sacrifices. By these �shaving’—of the head—shall be done �every month�. The Genitive in Śūṇām has the sense of the Instrumental. Or, in as much as śū are entirely dependent upon Brāhmaṇas their shaving shall be got done by these latter; and in this case the root ��,� which has several meanings, is to be taken in the sense of advising.
The details of the manner of purification—in connection with births, deaths and the rest—should be like those of the ղḥy.
�Their food shall consist of the leavings, or twice-born men.’—This has been already explained before.�(138).
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
(Verse 140 of others.)
�Māsikam mpanam kⲹm� means, according to Nandana, ‘shall offer the monthly Ś.�
This verse is quoted in 貹첹 (p. 906), which adds the following notes:—The rule of purity pertaining to the ղśⲹ means a period of impurity extending over fifteen 岹;—�ⲹپ峾� means devoted to the service of the twice-born, the offering of the Five Great Sacrifices, the supporting of dependents, the loving of wife and so forth.
It is quoted in ṛtٲٳٱ (II, p. 111);—i վԲٲ (II, p. 318), which leads �ⲹ� (for ‘ղśⲹ�) and explains it as ղśⲹ;—i (p. 10), which has the following notes:—That ‘Śū� is called ⲹپ who, with a purely religious motive, serves the Brāhmaṇa honestly and earnestly, performs the Five Sacrifices with �Բ�� as the mantra, avoids all forbidden food and forbidden acts,—such a Śū becomes purified in Fifteen days, in the manner of a ղśⲹ,—he should shave every month,—or vapanam may mean ‘offering of Piṇḍas� i.e., the Ś on the Moonless Day,—it is only such a Śū that is entitled to eat the food-leavings of the Brāhmaṇa,—this curtailment of the period of impurity (from one month to fifteen days) is only for the purpose of the man serving the Brāhmaṇa, and for that of offering the Five Sacrifices and so forth,—in ղṣa첹ܻܳī (p. 573), which explains vapanam as shaving and says that the Śū should not keep long hair,—or it may stand for the Amāvasyā Ś;—and in ʰⲹśٳٲ첹 (p. 352).
Comparative notes by various authors
Ā貹ٲ (2.3.5-8).—‘For Śū is prescribed the same rule of sipping water as for their masters; besides the Śū cooks shall daily have shaved the hair of their heads, of their beards, on their bodies, and also their nails; and they shall bathe with clothes on; or they may trim their hair and nails on the eighth day of each month, or on the Full moon and Moonless days.�