Verse 2.195

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

प्रतिश्रावणसम्भाषे शयानो न समाचरेत् ।
नासीनो न च भुञ्जानो न तिष्ठन्न पराङ्मुखः ॥ १९५ ॥

pratiśrāvaṇasambhāṣe śayāno na samācaret |
nāsīno na ca bhuñjāno na tiṣṭhanna parāṅmukhaḥ || 195 ||

He should not listen to and converse with (his Teacher), while lying down; nor while seated, nor while eating, nor while standing, nor with his face turned away.—(196)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Listen to’—i.e., listening to the words of the Teacher, when the latter calls him and directs him to do some work.

‘Converse with’—i.e., holding conversation with the teacher.

‘Listening’ and ‘conversing’ form the copulative compound ‘pratiśravaṇasambhāṣe.’

‘While lying down’;—i.e., with his body reclining upon his owa bed.

‘Na samācaret’—should not do.

‘Not while seated’—upon a seat.

‘Nor while eating, nor while stand,’—i.e., standing up right in one place, without moving.

‘Nor with face turned away’—i.e., with face averted from the direction in which the Teacher may be looking.—(195)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Madanapārijāta (p. 106);—and in Aparārka (p. 56), which explains ‘pratiśravaṇc’ as ‘aṅgīkāra’ ‘acceptance’.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Gautama (2.31).—‘The answering of the teacher should be done while one is not lying down, or sitting or standing.’

Āpastamba-Dharmasūtra (1.6.5, 7).—‘Near the teacher, he should not address the teacher lying down; nor without rising while the teacher is standing.’

Viṣṇu (28.18).—‘He should not address the teacher, while standing, or seated or lying down, or eating, or with face turned away.’