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 11.236
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
ऋषयः संयतात्मानः फलमूलानिलाशनाः ।
तपसैव प्रपश्यन्ति त्रैलोक्यं सचराचरम् ॥ २३६ ॥ṛṣayaḥ saṃyatātmānaḥ phalamūlānilāśanāḥ |
tapasaiva prapaśyanti trailokyaṃ sacarācaram || 236 ||It is by austerity alone that self-controlled sages, subsisting on fruits, roots and air, survey the three worlds, including all moveable and immoveable beings.—(236)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
What this means is that it is due to Austerity that sages acquire the power to have super-sensuous cognitions.
‘Self-controlled’—by the restraint of speech, mind and body.
‘Fruits and roots’—stands for restraints on food.
By means of this Austerity, they survey, as if by direct perception, the whole of the three worlds.—(236)
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 11.234-244)
See Comparative notes for Verse 11.234.