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 3.144
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
कामं श्राद्धेऽर्चयेन् मित्रं नाभिरूपमपि त्वरिम् ।
द्विषता हि हविर्भुक्तं भवति प्रेत्य निष्फलम् ॥ १४४ ॥kāmaṃ śrāddhe'rcayen mitraṃ nābhirūpamapi tvarim |
dviṣatā hi havirbhuktaṃ bhavati pretya niṣphalam || 144 ||One may entertain a friend at Śrāddhas, but never a foe, even though qualified. The offering eaten by the enemy becomes futile after death.—(144)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
[Medhātithi takes no note of this verse].
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
Medhātithi omits this verse. It is quoted in Aparārka (p. 448) as permitting the feeding of the friend and others when no other Brāhmaṇa is available;—and in Śrāddhakriyākaumudī (p. 41), which explains ‘abhirūpam’ as ‘learned and ‘pretya’ as ‘in the other world.’
Comparative notes by various authors
Āpastamba-Dharmasūtra (2.17.5-6).—‘When other men with proper qualifications are not available, one may feed even his own uterine brother; or even his own pupils.’
Baudhāyana (2.8.4).—‘One may feed even a Sapiṇḍa if he is equipped with the Ṛk, the Yajuṣ and the Sāman.’