Verse 4.67

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

नाविनीतैर्भजेद् धुर्यैर्न च क्षुध्व्याधिपीडितैः ।
न भिन्नशृङ्गाक्षिखुरैर्न वालधिविरूपितैः ॥ ६७ ॥

nāvinītairbhajed dhuryairna ca kṣudhvyādhipīḍitaiḥ |
na bhinnaśṛṅgākṣikhurairna vāladhivirūpitaiḥ || 67 ||

He shall not travel with untrained beasts of burden; nor with such as are suffering from hunger or disease; nor with those whose horns, eyes or hoofs are injured; nor with those that are disfigured by their tails.—(67)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Untrained’—i.e., not trained; oxen, horses, mules and so forth, which are yoked to chariots, etc. The use of ‘ca’ indicates that one shall not ride upon untrained beasts,???en (even?) when they are not yoked to chariots, etc.

The ‘injured horn’ pertains to the ox only; as that alone has horns, and not horses and other animals.

‘Bāladhi’ is tail; those that have been disfigured by their tails; whose tails have been cut off.

One should not travel on such animals. Another Smṛti text prohibits merely getting upon the back of such animals.—(67)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 173);—and in Madanapārijāta (p. 126).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 4.67-68)

Viṣṇu (3.13-17).—‘He shall not be carried by such beasts as are constantly suffering from their tails or some disease;—nor by such as are deficient in their limbs, nor by such as are poorly, nor by bullocks, nor by such as are not trained.’

Viṣṇupurāṇa (Aparārka, p. 174).—‘One should not ride on wicked or defective conveyances.’