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 1.90 [Distribution of Functions among the several castes, part 3: of the Vaiśya]
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
पशूनां रक्षणं दानमिज्याऽध्ययनमेव च ।
वणिक्पथं कुसीदं च वैश्यस्य कृषिमेव च ॥ ९० ॥paśūnāṃ rakṣaṇaṃ dānamijyā'dhyayanameva ca |
vaṇikpathaṃ kusīdaṃ ca vaiśyasya kṛṣimeva ca || 90 ||For the Vaiśya, tending of cattle, giving of gifts, sacrificing and studying; as also trade, money-lending and cultivating of land. (90).
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
‘Trade,’—i.e., the acquiring of wealth by carrying on trade, on land and on water, and the importing of useful goods from foreign countries into the state of that king in whose kingdom he lives.
‘Money-lending’—giving out money on interest. (90).
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Parāśara-mādhava (Ācāra, p. 416), in support of Parāśara, verse 63;—and in the Vīramitrodaya—Paribhāṣā (p. 45), which explains ‘Vaṇikpatham’ as ‘trade’ and ‘Kusīdam’ as ‘lending money on interest’.