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 3.285 [Commended Food]

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

विघसाशी भवेन्नित्यं नित्यं वाऽमृतभोजनः ।
विघसो भुक्तशेषं तु यज्ञशेषं तथाऽमृतम् ॥ २८५ ॥

vighasāśī bhavennityaṃ nityaṃ vā'mṛtabhojanaḥ |
vighaso bhuktaśeṣaṃ tu yajñaśeṣaṃ tathā'mṛtam || 285 ||

One should daily live upon “vighasa,” and daily he should eat “amṛta.” “Vighasa” is that which is left by those who must be fed; and “amṛta” is the remnant of sacrific es.—(285)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The first quarter of the verse reiterates the ‘eating,’ that has been laid down before, of the food left after the guests and other persons have eaten.

All scriptures being meant to be conducive to welfare, scriptural treatises always conclude with auspicious declarations; and Rites in honour of the gods are more auspicious than those in honour of the Pitṛs.

Remnant of sacrifices.’— This shows that the eating of the remnants of the Jyotiṣṭoma and other sacrifices stands on the same footing a the ‘eating of Vighasa.’

The second half of the verse contains the explanation of the Vedic declaration, offered by the author, through kindness. He seeks to remove any misconception that people might have regarding the two terms in question, which are what have been used in some Vedic rescensional texts.

He who eats Vighasa is said to ‘live upon Vighasa;’ and he who eats Amṛta is said to ‘eat Amṛta.’

What is left by those who must be fed’—i.e., what is left after persons, who must be fed, have been fed.

Others have explained that what is meant is ‘what has been left after people have been fed at Śrāddha,’—on the ground that it is Śrāddha that forms the subject-matter of the context. To the same end there is another Smṛti-text—‘One should eat after having served the Pitṛs.’

Some people say that the ‘eating’ here mentioned forms part of the Śrāddha- rite. While others have said that this restriction regarding food is meant to serve a special purpose for man; the treatment of Śrāddhas having ended with verse 284.

Remnant of sacrifices’ should be understood to mean what is left of the materials used at sacrifices.—(285)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

Compare the Mahābhārata 13.93.13 et. seq.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Mahābhārata (12.249.12-13) [reproducing the first line of Manu].—‘The remnant of sacrifices is amṛta; and the eating of this is equal to the eating of sacrificial food. He who eats the food left over after the servants have eaten, is called the vighasāśī; vighasa being the food left by servants, and amṛta, the remnant of sacrifices.’ Mahābhārata (3.2.60).—[Reproduces Manu].

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