Verse 8.96

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

यस्य विद्वान् हि वदतः क्षेत्रज्ञो नाभिशङ्कते ।
तस्मान्न देवाः श्रेयांसं लोकेऽन्यं पुरुषं विदुः ॥ ९६ ॥

yasya vidvān hi vadataḥ kṣetrajño nābhiśaṅkate |
tasmānna devāḥ śreyāṃsaṃ loke'nyaṃ puruṣaṃ viduḥ || 96 ||

‘The gods do not regard any person in this world as superior to him, whom his knowing soul does not distrust, while he is speaking.’—(96)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘While he is speaking’—while the witness is giving evidence.

‘Knowing,’—cognisant of what is true and what is not true.

‘Soul’—the Inner Guide.

‘Does not distrust,’—has no doubt as to whether the man will tell the truth or not; is sure that ho will tell the truth.

He whose innermost soul is so confident,—to such a person the gods regard no one as ‘superior’—more praiseworthy.

“Who is the speaker, and who, apart from him, is the distruster? In fact, the soul is one only; when he, through his effort, utters speech, he becomes the speaker; and the same entity that comes to have ‘distrust,’ when he is faced by doubts regarding what and how tilings are going to happen; so that there cun be no difference between the two.”

This is quite true; but the statement in the text is based upon an assumed distinction; just like the statement ‘one injures his soul by his own soul’ (Bhagavad-gitā).—(90)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 674);—and in Kṛtyakalpataru (35b).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.89-97)

[See the texts under 79 et seq.]