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 1.33 [Creation of Manu]

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

द्तपस्तप्त्वाऽसृजद् यं तु स स्वयं पुरुषो विराट् ।
तं मां वित्तास्य सर्वस्य स्रष्टारं द्विजसत्तमाः ॥ ३३ ॥

tapastaptvā'sṛjad yaṃ tu sa svayaṃ puruṣo virāṭ |
taṃ māṃ vittāsya sarvasya sraṣṭāraṃ dvijasattamāḥ
|| 33 ||

O best of Brāhmaṇas, know me, the creator, of this whole (would), to be that whom the said Being Virāj himself, after having performed austerities, produced.—(33)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The said Virāj, having performed austerities,’ produced a person; knowi.e., recognise—that person to be myself;—there is nothing that is not already known to you, by tradition, which I could describe to you; all that the speaker intends to point out is the purity of his own birth.

The phrase ‘the creator of this whole world’ indicates his almighty character. The idea of the speaker is that ‘the describing of myself as one of excellent birth and superior powers of action will make me more trustworthy.’

Or, the mention of his own birth might be for the purpose of carrying conviction (removing all doubts); that such may be the sense is shown by the fact that, though the origin of Manu is already known from other sources, yet he himself mentions it; for instance, even though a person is already known from other sources (as the son of a certain person), yet he is asked—‘are you Devadatta’s son?’—and he answers ‘yes’; whereupon certainty of conviction is brought about.

Poets are not ashamed of describing the nobility of their own birth, even though their glories may be already well known.

O best of Brāhmaṇas’—is the form of address; ‘best means most perfect, most superior.—(33)

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