Verse 3.7

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

हीनक्रियं निश्पुरुषं निश्छन्दो रोमशार्शसम् ?? ।
क्षयामयाव्य्ऽपस्मारिश्वित्रिकुष्ठिकुलानि च ?? ॥ ७ ॥

hīnakriyaṃ niśpuruṣaṃ niśchando romaśārśasam ?? |
kṣayāmayāvy'pasmāriśvitrikuṣṭhikulāni ca ?? || 7 ||

Such families as—(1) that in which the sacred rites have been abandoned, (2) which is male-less, (3) which is devoid of the Veda, (4) members of which are woolly and subject to (5) piles, (6) phthisis, (7) dyspepsia, (8) epilepsy, (9) leucoderma, and (10) leprosy.—(7)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘That in which the sacred rites’—the natal and other sacraments—‘have been abandoned’—neglected; i.e., in which the consecratory rites as also the compulsory ‘Five Sacrifices,’ etc., are not performed.

‘Male-less’—productive of females; i.e., in which, aṣa rule, only female, not male, children are born;

‘Devoid of the Veda’—destitute of Vedic study.

‘Romaśārśasam’—This copulative compound mentions two kinds of families. ‘Romasha,’ ‘woolly,’—i.e. the members of which have their arms and limbs covered with much and long hair. ‘Piles’—fleshy protuberances in the anus, which being a disease, are extremely painful.

‘Phthisis’—the disease of consumption.

‘Dyspepsia’—slow-digestion: by which the food eaten is not properly digested.

‘Epilepsy’—leading to loss of memory and other cognate troubles.

‘Leucoderma’—white spots on the body, with holes.

‘Leprosy’—is well-known.

All these words—beginning with ‘romasha’—are names of particular diseases, and are to be taken as ending in possessive affixes.

Older commentators have explained that the prohibition. herein contained is based entirely upon ordinary visible considerations: As a matter of fact, bipeds inherit the peculiarities of their mother’s families; hence, children born of mothers belonging to families that have ‘abandoned the sacred rites,’ etc., etc, would be prone to the same defects;

and diseases ace apt to be infectious; works on medicine having declared that ‘all diseases, with the sole exception of’ Diarrhoea, are infectious.’—(7)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Saṃskāra, p. 588), where ‘hīnakriyam’ is explained as ‘devoid of the performance of such acts as the sacrifice and the like;’—‘Niṣpuruṣam’ as ‘that in which females are the sole survivors—‘niśchandaḥ’ as ‘devoid of Vedic study;’—also in Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 477), which has exactly the same explanation of precisely the same words.

Aparārka (p. 84) quotes this along with the preceding verse;—and adds the following explanations:—‘Hīnakriyam’ means ‘devoid of the proper performance of the Conception and other Sacramental Rites,’—‘Niṣpuruṣam’ means ‘a family in which girls alone are born,’—‘Niśchandaḥ’ is ‘devoid of Vedic study,’—‘lomasham’ is ‘that members whereof have their body covered with inordinately prominent hairs,’—and ‘arshasam’ means ‘suffering from piles.’—It is quoted in Smṛticandrikā (Saṃskāra, p. 204) which adds the following explanations:—‘Hīnakriyam,’ not engaged in the performance of sacrifices and other religious acts;—‘Niṣpuruṣam,’ without a male master—‘Niśchandaḥ’ devoid of Vedic learning—‘romasham,’ hairy,—‘arshasam’, suffering from the particular disease, piles,—all these qualifications pertain to the children of the family;—and in Saṃskāra-ratnamālā (p. 508), which has the following notes;—‘Hīnakriyam’, not performing the prescribed duties, i.e., not avoiding prohibited acts,—‘Niṣpuruṣam’, devoid of male progeny,—‘arshasam’ family in which the disease runs hereditary.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 6-7)

See Comparative notes for Verse 3.6.