Verse 2.159 [Chastisement of Pupils]

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

अहिंसयैव भूतानां कार्यं श्रेयोऽनुशासनम् ।
वाक् चैव मधुरा श्लक्ष्णा प्रयोज्या धर्ममिच्छता ॥ १५९ ॥

ahiṃsayaiva bhūtānāṃ kāryaṃ śreyo'nuśāsanam |
vāk caiva madhurā ślakṣṇā prayojyā dharmamicchatā || 159 ||

Teaching for good should be imparted to living beings, without injury to them; and sweet and soft words should be employed by one who seeks for merit.—(159)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Without injury’—without beating.

‘To living beings’—i.e., to one’s wife, children, servants, pupils and brothers;—‘teaching for good should be imparted.’ The generic term ‘beings’ has been used with a view to guard against the notion that what is stated here should he done to pupils only. ‘Śreyas’ ‘good’ stands for the acquiring of seen and unseen results; the ‘teaching’ is for the purpose of that acquisition; and it consists either in instruction without the help of hooks, or in the teaching and expounding of the scriptures.

What the present verse means is that, as far as possible one should avoid too much heating and chiding; some slight chastisement has been already permitted under Gautama 2. 42. 43.

Question.—“How then are they to he kept in the right path?”

The answer is supplied by the next line:—‘Words sweet’—gentle and loving;—‘soft’—i.e., even when gentle, they should not he very loud or haughty or harsh like that, of the crow. E.g., ‘dear child, read on,—do not direct your attention elsewhere,—attentively finish this chapter quickly and then you can immediately proceed to play with boys of your own age.’ He who does not pay attention, even after being thus spoken to—for him the proper method has already been laid down—‘by means of a bamboo-piece.’

‘Should he employed’—spoken.

‘By one desiring merit’;—i.e., only by so doing does he acquire the full merit of teaching.—(159)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Ahiṃsayā’—cf. Gautama 2. 42—śiṣyaśiṣṭaravadhena

Medhātithi (P. 140, 1. 13)—‘Rajjvā veṇudálena vā—See 8. 299; also Gautama II. 43: aśaktau rajjuveṇudalābhyāṃ tanubhyām | anyena ghan rājñā śāsyaḥ |

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Gautama, 2.49-50.—‘The training of the pupil should be done without hurting him; in case of this being impossible, the chastisement should be inflicted by means of a thin rope or a thin piece of split bamboo.’

Āpastamba-Dharmasūtra, 1.8.28-29.—‘In the case of the pupil committing some fault, the Teacher should admonish him; and until the pupil desists, the following punishments may be inflicted in accordance with the gravity of the offence: threatening, fasting, water-bath, refusing to see him.’