Verse 3.41

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

इतरेषु तु शिष्टेषु नृशंसाऽनृतवादिनः ।
जायन्ते दुर्विवाहेषु ब्रह्मधर्मद्विषः सुताः ॥ ४१ ॥

itareṣu tu śiṣṭeṣu nṛśaṃsā'nṛtavādinaḥ |
jāyante durvivāheṣu brahmadharmadviṣaḥ sutāḥ || 41 ||

From the other remaining inferior marriages are born sons, addicted to saying harsh and untrue words, and despisers of the Vedic Dharma.—(41)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

From marriages other than the ‘Brahma’ and the rest—i.e., from the ‘Gāndharva,’ and the rest.

‘Those who say harsh and untrue words.’— Angry and indecent words addressed to one’s mother and sisters, etc., are what are meant by ‘harsh words.’ The meaning of the term ‘untrue’ is well-known. ‘Nṛśaṃsa-anṛta,’ compounded copulatively, give the form ‘nṛśaṃsānṛte,’ ‘harsh and untrue.’ He who is in the habit of Saying such words is called ‘nṛśaṃsānṛtavādin,’ ‘addicted to saying harsh and untrue words.’ Such is the explanation of the compound term.

‘Brahmadharma’ is ‘Vedic Dharma,’—i. e., the Dharma, Duty, laid down in the Veda; those who despise it, i.e., have no faith in it.

It is for this reason that these marriages have been deprecatingly called ‘inferior marriages.’—(41)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Saṃskāra, p. 865);—in Parāśaramadhava (Ācāra, p. 488);—in Aparārka (p. 115);—in Hemādri (Dāna, p. 683);—in Smṛticandrikā (Saṃskāra, p. 230), which explains ‘Nṛśaṃsaḥ’ as ‘cruel,’ ‘brahmadviṣaḥ’ as ‘inimical to the Veda’;—and in Saṃskāramayūkha (p. 99), which adds the same notes.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 3.39-42)

See Comparative notes for Verse 3.39.