Verse 2.236

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

तेषामनुपरोधेन पारत्र्यं यद् यदाचरेत् ।
तत् तन्निवेदयेत् तेभ्यो मनोवचनकर्मभिः ॥ २३६ ॥

teṣāmanuparodhena pāratryaṃ yad yadācaret |
tat tannivedayet tebhyo manovacanakarmabhiḥ || 236 ||

He should communicate to them by thought, word or deed whatever he may do without injury to them, for the sake of the next life.—(236)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Pāratryam’—‘that which is done for the sake of another life’—is that act whose reward is obtained during the next birth. The form of this word is Vedic.

Whatever religious act he should do, apart from the serving of them, without causing them trouble,—of all that he should inform them; he should make it known to them.

The qualification ‘without injury to’ has been added with a view to convey the following idea:—One should, not

press them to permit the performance of an act that may be injurious to them. It sometimes happens that a simple-minded person, when pressed, permits the doing of an act, not minding the harm that it may do him, and the present verse is meant to prohibit this.

‘By thought, word or deed.’—This communication is not for the purpose of accomplishing some unseen result. The meaning is that he should show by his actual deed that he has acted in strict accordance with the permission accorded to him.

Or, the verse may be construed as—‘whatever act for the sake of the next life he does, by thought word or deed, that he should make known to them.’—(236)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Smṛticandrikā (Saṃskāra, p. 95), which explains ‘pāratryam’ as ‘acts pertaining to the other world, spiritual acts.’

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Viṣṇu (31.4.6).—‘He shall do what they tell him to do;—he shall not do anything until permitted by them.’