Verse 3.233

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

हर्षयेद् ब्राह्मणांस्तुष्टो भोजयेच्च शनैःशनैः ।
अन्नाद्येनासकृच्चैतान् गुणैश्च परिचोदयेत् ॥ २३३ ॥

harṣayed brāhmaṇāṃstuṣṭo bhojayecca śanaiḥśanaiḥ |
annādyenāsakṛccaitān guṇaiśca paricodayet || 233 ||

Being happy himself, he shall bring delight to the Brāhmaṇas; he shall feed them, gently and slowly, with dishes, and urge them repeatedly by means of seasonings.—(233)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Even if he has cause for grief, he should not show it, by heaving a sigh, or in any other way; in fact, he should show himself quite happy.

‘He should bring delight to the Brāhmaṇas’—by means of songs and such things sung by other persons; or, by means of such jokes as may be not improper and be in keeping with the occasion. If the reciting of Vedic texts were continued unceasingly, the Brāhmaṇas might begin to feel bored; hence, now and again, he should cease and amuse the guests by means of music, etc.

‘He should feed them gently;’—he should make them eat by addressing to them such agreeable words as ‘Do take a few morsels, this dish is nice;’ and this should be done ‘gently’—not in a hurried or pressing tone;—‘with dishes’—such as milk-rice, and the like.

‘By means of seasonings,’—when the seasonings are taken up for being served, he should describe them as very tasty and thereby tempt the guests to eat; saying such words as—‘these cakes are delicious, this preparation of milk is highly flavoured;’ and taking the things in hand and standing before each guest, he shall say such words again and again. This is what constitutes ‘urging.’—(233)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Hemādri (Śrāddha, p. 1026), which has the following notes:—‘Tūṣṭaḥ,’—even though he may have real cause for grief, he should not show it by sighs or other expressions, he should show himself happy; ‘Brāhmaṇān harṣayet’ with singing and other things done by others,—or by himself, in due conformance with propriety, or with jokes suggested by the occasion; the meaning is that if the invited appear to become bored by the long-continued recitation of Vedic hymns &c., he should amuse them by means of stories of heroic deeds or songs and the like;—‘Shanairbhojayet,’ should feed them with such gentle persuasive expressions as ‘this is very tasty, do please take a few morsels’ and so forth;—‘annādyena’ milk-rice and such foods,—‘guṇaiḥ’, vegetables,—‘asakṛt,’ again and again; ‘parichodayet,’ should urge, with such words as ‘these cakes are very nice, this preparation of milk is very tasty’, ‘taking each thing in his hand, he should stand before the invited, and repeat the persuasion again and again,—this is what is meant by ‘urging.’

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Bṛhaspati (Caturvarga-cintāmaṇi-Śrāddha, p. 1028).—‘Describing the qualities of the dishes, he shall feed the Brāhmaṇas slowly, and shall delight them with Ākhyānas, Itihāsas and Pūrvavṛttas.’

Yama (Do.).—[Repeats the second line of Manu.]