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 1.34-35 [Creation of Marīci and other Sages]
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
अहं प्रजाः सिसृक्षुस्तु तपस्तप्त्वा सुदुश्चरम् ।
पतीन् प्रजानामसृजं महर्षीनादितो दश ॥ ३४ ॥मरीचिमत्र्यङ्गिरसौ पुलस्त्यं पुलहं क्रतुम् ।
प्रचेतसं वसिष्ठं च भृगुं नारदमेव च ॥ ३५ ॥ahaṃ prajāḥ sisṛkṣustu tapastaptvā suduścaram |
patīn prajānāmasṛjaṃ maharṣīnādito daśa || 34 ||
marīcimatryaṅgirasau pulastyaṃ pulahaṃ kratum |
pracetasaṃ vasiṣṭhaṃ ca bhṛguṃ nāradameva ca || 35 ||Being desirous of bringing into existence the (various kinds of) created beings, I, at the very outset, performed most arduous austerities and called into being the ten great sages, the directors of all created things; (34)—viz: Marīci, Atri, Aṅgiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Pracetas, Vaśiṣṭha, Bhṛgu and also Nārada.—(35)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
‘I called into being,’—produced,—‘the ten Great sages,’ who are ‘the directors of all created things’;— ‘at the very outset, having performed most arduous austerities’—austerities that were performed with great difficulty; i.e., which bring suffering and take a long time.
The ten great sages are mentioned by name (in verse 35).—(34-35)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
These are quoted in Hemādri-Dāna, p. 242, as describing the ‘munis’, sages. It reads ‘dustaram’ for ‘duścaram’, and ‘āṅgirasam’ for ‘aṅgirasam’.