Verse 3.170

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

अव्रतैर्यद् द्विजैर्भुक्तं परिवेत्र्यादिभिस्तथा ।
अपाङ्क्तेयैर्यदन्यैश्च तद् वै रक्षांसि भुञ्जते ॥ १७० ॥

avratairyad dvijairbhuktaṃ parivetryādibhistathā |
apāṅkteyairyadanyaiśca tad vai rakṣāṃsi bhuñjate || 170 ||

Demons indeed consume the food that is eaten by Brāhmaṇas deviod of self-restraint, by such as those who have superseded their elder brother and the like, or by others that are unworthy of company.—(170)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Devoid of self-restraint’—uncontrolled; whose practices are not controlled by the scriptures.

‘Those who have superseded their elder brother,’ and the like, are, in fact, outside the pale of the scriptures; yet they have been mentioned here with a view to differentiate them from others, and also to indicate the gravity of their offence.

‘Others that are unworthy of company’—such as the blind man, the man affected with elephantiasis, and so forth.

The food that is eaten by those people, at a Śrāddha, is consumed by ‘demons’—the enemies of gods,—and not by one’s ancestors. That is to say, the Śrāddha becomes entirely useless.

The mention of ‘demons’ is a purely deprecatory exaggeration.—(1 7 0)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Avrataiḥ’—‘Devoid of self-restraint’ (Medhātithi);—‘who have not fulfilled the vows of studentship’ (Govindarāja, Kullūka and Rāghavānanda);—‘who do not observe the rules laid down for the Accomplished Student’.

This verse is quoted in Hemādri (Śrāddha, pp. 471 and 493).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 3.169-170)

See Comparative notes for Verse 3.170.