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...

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

नार्तो न मत्तो नोन्मत्तो न क्षुत्तृष्णोपपीडितः ।
न श्रमार्तो न कामार्तो न क्रुद्धो नापि तस्करः ॥ ६७ ॥

nārto na matto nonmatto na kṣuttṛṣṇopapīḍitaḥ |
na śramārto na kāmārto na kruddho nāpi taskaraḥ || 67 ||

—Nor one afflicted, nor one intoxicated, nor one demented, nor one tormented by hunger and thirst, nor one oppressed by fatigue, nor one tormented by love, nor one who is in a rage, nor a thief.—(67)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Afflicted’—by the death of relatives and friends.

Intoxicated’—senseless through wine.

Demented’—seized by epilepsy, or obsessed by ghosts.

Tormented by hunger or thirst’—Suffering from the pangs of hunger or thirst.

Fatigue’—caused by much physical labour, involved in walking long distances, engaging in battle and so forth;—‘oppressed’ by it.

Love’—Desire for intercourse with women. One who is separated from his beloved, as also one who is too much with her,—both of them are untrustworthy, on account of their mind being engrossed in the loved one, or in the fear of being separated from her.

In rage’—who is too angry with some person,—even other than the parties of the suit; such a person having his mind entirely taken up with rage is unable to perceive things rightly, or to remember them correctly.

Thief’;—even though the thief also is ‘one who adopts a forbidden occupation,’ yet since ho has been mentioned separately, it has to be explained on the analogy of the expression ‘go-balīvarda’ (‘cows and hulls’).—(67)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Parāśaramādhava (Vyavahāra, p. 66);—in Nṛsiṃhaprasāda (Vyavahāra, p. 10a);—in Vyavahāra-Bālambhaṭṭī (p. 281);—in Smṛticandrikā (Vyavahāra, p. 177);—in Kṛtyakalpataru (30b);—and in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra, 49b).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.64-67)

See Comparative notes for Verse 8.64.

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