Verse 2.73

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

अध्येष्यमाणं तु गुरुर्नित्यकालमतन्द्रितः ।
अधीष्व भो इति ब्रूयाद् विरामोऽस्त्विति चारमेत् ॥ ७३ ॥

adhyeṣyamāṇaṃ tu gururnityakālamatandritaḥ |
adhīṣva bho iti brūyād virāmo'stviti cāramet || 73 ||

When the pupil is going to study, the Teacher, ever free from indolence, should say—‘ho, read!’ and he should cease when he says ‘let there be a stop!’—(73).

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘When going to study’ and the other expressions have already been explained before. The present verse adds a direction for the Teacher. When a boy is desirous to read the Veda from a Teacher, he should be invited with the words ‘ho, read!’ Until he is so invited, the Boy should not press the Teacher with such importunate requests as—‘please teach us this chapter!’ Another Smṛti has declared—‘One should study on being invited to do so’. (Yājñavalkya, Ācāra, 27).

Saying the words ‘let there be a stop,’ ‘he should cease’—desist,—‘who is to cease?’—The Teacher; as is clear from the nominative case-ending used. Or, it may be taken to mean that the pupil should cease only when dismissed by the Teacher, and not according to his own wish; the construction of the passage in this case being—‘when the Teacher says let there be a stop, then the pupil should cease.’

Other people have explained this rule regarding the time of ceasing as applying to all readers—the pupil as well as the Teacher. And this is in accordance with another Smṛti, which says—“Having recited the Veda, at the time of ceasing, one should touch the ground with the fore-finger and pronounce ‘svasti’ in the case of the Yajurveda, ‘vispaṣṭām’ in the case of the Sāman, ‘virāmaḥ’ in the case of the Ṛgveda and ‘āramasva’ in the case of the Atharva.”

‘Free from indolence’—without sloth; ‘indolence’ is sloth;—the man beset with sloth is called ‘indolent’; and when he has given it up he is called ‘from indolence.’ This is meant to be merely descriptive. ‘Indolence’ here does not mean fatigue. The present text should never be taken to mean that what is here laid down is for only one who is free from indolence, while for those beset with indolence there is some other rule.—(73)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

Nārāyaṇa and Nandana read ‘adhyeṣyamāṇastu gurum etc,’ which means—‘the pupil, proceeding to study, shall say to his Teacher etc., etc.’

This verse is quoted in Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 136), where the verse is explained to mean that—‘each day at the beginning of the teaching, the Teacher should begin the work with the word ‘Ho! read;’ and at the end, should finish with the words ‘Let there he a stop;’ and it adds that all this is to be done for the purpose of ‘pleasing God.’

The verse is quoted also in Madanapārijāta (p. 100);—in Vidhānapārijāta (p. 521);—in Vīramitrodaya (Saṃskāra, p. 514);—in Saṃskāramayūkha (p. 52);—and in Smṛticandrikā (Saṃskāra, p. 142), which explains ārame as ‘should desist from teaching.’

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Gautama- Dharmasūtra, 1. 52.—‘Clasping the left, foot with his hand, he should address the request to him—pray read.’

Āpastamba-Dharmasūtra, 1.3.10,13,15.—‘When one desirous of learning meets a learned man, he should obtain his permission and then proceed to read; and having approached near the teacher, he should read after having requested the teacher to please read.’

Yama (Vīramitrodaya-Saṃskāra, p. 514).—‘Regularly rising in the morning, he should cleanse his teeth, bathe, pour libations into fire; then the man should carry on teaching.’

Āpastamba (Vīramitrodaya-Saṃskāra).—‘One should avoid teaching on the bed; he should never teach on the bed whereupon he sleeps.’