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...

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

यथाशास्त्रं तु कृत्वैवमुत्सर्गं छन्दसां बहिः ।
विरमेत् पक्षिणीं रात्रिं तदेवैकमहर्निशम् ॥ ९७ ॥

yathāśāstraṃ tu kṛtvaivamutsargaṃ chandasāṃ bahiḥ |
viramet pakṣiṇīṃ rātriṃ tadevaikamaharniśam || 97 ||

Having performed, according to law, the “Utsarga” of the Vedas, he shall cease for the night with its two wings, including the same day and night.—(97)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Having perfomed the ‘Utsarga’-rite, he shall not read the Veda for two days and one night; i.e. during that same day and night,’ and during the next day only (not the night). During this time, ‘he shall cease’—i.e., not read the Veda.

The night, along with the preceding and the following days, is called ‘the night with its two wings.’

Or, the day on which the ‘Utsarga’ rite has been performed, that day and the same night are ‘holidays;’ and on the next day the study should be resumed.

According to the former explanation, the next day is an ‘holiday,’ and study is to be resumed on the second night.’—(97)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 187) to the effect that after Upākarma and Utsarjana, one should observe a holiday of either one day or three days;—in Mitākṣarā (on 1.143);—in Smṛtichandrikā (Saṃskāra, p. 154), which says that this verse, along with verse 119, lays down three alternatives—(1) ‘Pakṣiṇī rātri’, i.e., one night with a day preceding, and another following it,—(2) three days (mentioned in verse 119) and (3) one day—the alternative to be adopted being determined by one’s own Gṛhyasūtra;—in Hemādri (Kāla, p. 761), which adds the same note;—and in Saṃskāramayūkha (p. 58).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Viṣṇu (30.4).—‘On the fourteenth and the eighth of the month, one shall not read during the whole day and night.’

Āpastamba (Aparārka, p. 187).—‘Having performed the Upākarma on the fullmoon day of Śrāvaṇa, one should not read at night, for one month.’

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