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 1.40 [Creation of Insects and Reptiles and Immovable Things]

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

कृमिकीटपतङ्गांश्च यूकामक्षिकमत्कुणम् ।
सर्वं च दंशमशकं स्थावरं च पृथग्विधम् ॥ ४० ॥

kṛmikīṭapataṅgāṃśca yūkāmakṣikamatkuṇam |
sarvaṃ ca daṃśamaśakaṃ sthāvaraṃ ca pṛthagvidham
|| 40 ||

[They called into being] Worms, Beetles and Moths; Lice, Flies and Bugs; Gadflies and Gnats; and also the entire host of the several kinds of immovable things.—(40)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Worms’— extremely small living tilings.—‘Beetles’—are slightly larger than worms and crawl on the ground. —‘Moths,’ locusts.—‘Immovable things’—trees, mountains, etc.;—‘of several kinds,’ of different varieties.

The copulative compounds in the singular are in accordance with Pāṇini’s Sutra 2.1.8, by which copulative compounds formed of the names of small living beings take the singular ending.—(10)

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