Verse 3.15

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

हीनजातिस्त्रियं मोहादुद्वहन्तो द्विजातयः ।
कुलान्येव नयन्त्याशु ससन्तानानि शूद्रताम् ॥ १५ ॥

hīnajātistriyaṃ mohādudvahanto dvijātayaḥ |
kulānyeva nayantyāśu sasantānāni śūdratām || 15 ||

Twice-born men, marrying, through infatuation, a girl of the low caste, quickly reduce their families, along with their offspring, to the position of the Śūdra.—(15).

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

This is a deprecatory exhortation, supplementing the foregoing prohibition.

‘Of the lout caste’—i.e., of the Śūdra caste; the Śūdra girl being the subject of consideration; and further, because the statement ends with the assertion that the families along with offspring are reduced to the position of the Śūdra.

‘The twice-born men, through infatuation’—i.e., on account of folly arising from greed for wealth, or from lust,—‘reduce their families to the position of the Śūdra.’ That is, sons born of that wife become Śūdras, and so also grandsons and great-grandsons descended from them. Hence, it is added—‘along with their offspring’—the term ‘offspring’ standing for the line of descendants, consisting of sons, grandsons, &c.—(15).

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 495) its prohibiting the marrying of a Śūdra wife by the twice-born;—in Vīramitrodaya (Saṃskāra, p. 750);—and in Aparārka (p. 87).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 3.13-19)

See Comparative notes for Verse 3.13.