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 2.164 [Course and Method of Study]

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

अनेन क्रमयोगेन संस्कृतात्मा द्विजः शनैः ।
गुरौ वसन् सञ्चिनुयाद् ब्रह्माधिगमिकं तपः ॥ १६४ ॥

anena kramayogena saṃskṛtātmā dvijaḥ śanaiḥ |
gurau vasan sañcinuyād brahmādhigamikaṃ tapaḥ || 164 ||

Sanctified in self, the twice-born man, while dwelling with his Teacher, should, by the adoption of this course, generally accumulate sanctity for the learning of the Veda.—(164)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Sanctified in self’—i.e., duly initiated,—‘the twice-born man should, by the adoption of this course, accumulate sanctity.’ ‘This’ refers to all those duties that have been laid down for the Religious Student, from verse 70 onwards. The meaning is that anena kramayogena—by the orderly carrying out of the host of injunctions, one should accumulate ‘sanctity’—self-purification, consisting in freedom from sin; just as freedom from sin is attained by means of the Cāndrāyaṇa and other austerities, so also is it attained by means of the course of restraints and observances prescribed in connection with the study of the Veda. For this reason one should accumulate it, ‘gradually,’—without haste, be should acquire it and go on enhancing it.

Course’ is ‘process’;—‘this should be done after having done that, and so forth’; e.g., ‘Preceded by the uttering of the syllable om, etc.’ (as laid down in verse 81); and the ‘adoption’ of this is taking up of the performance.

For the learning of the Veda,’—for the purpose of learning it; learning stands for the getting up of the text and understanding of the meaning.—(164)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

Curiously enough Buhler’s translation omits the phrase ‘gurau vasan’, rightly rendered by Burnell as ‘while dwelling with his guru.’

Vedādhigamikam tapaḥ.’—“Sanctity for the learning of the Veda” (Medhātithi);—‘austerity consisting of Vedic study’ (Nārāyaṇa and Nandana).

 

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Āpastamba-Dharmasūtra, 1.2-12.—‘For the initiated, there is residence in the Teacher’s house, as a Religious Student.’

Vaśiṣṭha, 7.3.—‘The Religious Student should serve the Teacher.’

Viṣṇu, 27.1.—‘Residence in the Teacher’s House is for Religious Students.’

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