Verse 4.120

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

नाधीयीताश्वमारूढो न वृक्षं न च हस्तिनम् ।
न नावं न खरं नोष्ट्रं नैरिणस्थो न यानगः ॥ १२० ॥

nādhīyītāśvamārūḍho na vṛkṣaṃ na ca hastinam |
na nāvaṃ na kharaṃ noṣṭraṃ nairiṇastho na yānagaḥ || 120 ||

He shall not recite the Veda while seated on a horse, or a tree, or an elephant, or a boat, or a donkey, or a camel; nor when seated on barren ground, nor when going on a conveyance.—(120).

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Barren ground;’—such ground, outside the village, as is devoid of water and vegetation; also called ‘Uṣara.’

‘Conveyance’—such as cart, chariot, palanquin, and the like; for one who is going on these, the reciting of the Veda is forbidden.—(120).

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Saṃskāra, p. 535);—in Smṛticandrikā (Saṃskāra, p. 162);—in Hemādri (Kāla, p. 772), which explains ‘īriṇa’ as ‘barren ground’;—and in Gadādharapaddhati (Kāla, p. 196).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Gautama (16.17).—‘Frightened, or on a conveyance, or lying down, or with his feet thrust forward.’

Āpastamba Dharmasūtra (1.9.27).—‘One should not read while seated on the back of an animal.’

Āpastamba Dharmasūtra (1.11.16).—‘Similarly when one is on a tree.’

Vaśiṣṭha (13.8).—‘Running......... on a tree, or on a boat...... it is unfit for study till it lasts.’

Viṣṇu (30.18).—‘Nor while one is seated either on an elephant or on a horse or on a camel or on a boat or on any conveyance.’

Yājñavalkya (1.151).—‘Mule, camel, conveyances, elephant, horse, boat,—while seated on these, or on a barren plot of land,...... these are occasions that are unfit for study while they last.’