Verse 4.133

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

वैरिणं नोपसेवेत सहायं चैव वैरिणः ।
अधार्मिकं तस्करं च परस्यैव च योषितम् ॥ १३३ ॥

vairiṇaṃ nopaseveta sahāyaṃ caiva vairiṇaḥ |
adhārmikaṃ taskaraṃ ca parasyaiva ca yoṣitam || 133 ||

He shall not pay attention to his enemy, or to his enemy’s friend, or to an unrighteous person, or to a thief, or to the lady of another person.—(133)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

To his enemy, he shall not send presents,—he shall not sit or stand in the same place with him,—he shall not go home in his company,—he shall not carry on conversation with him, and so forth.

‘Unrighteous person,’—a sinner, i.e., one who maintains himself by bad livelihood.

‘Thief’—one who steals things. It is this separate mention of the ‘thief’ which implies that all‘ unrighteous’ persons are not meant to be avoided, but only those mentioned above (those living by evil ways of living).

‘The lady of another person.’—The use of the term ‘lady’ (‘yoṣit’) and not ‘wife’ (‘pat??’) is meant to show that one shall avoid, not only the married wife, but also the ‘kept’ woman; because paying attention to both equally leads to enmity; and the present prohibition is based upon visible (ordinary worldly) considerations. In the next verse, we have the term ‘wife,’ (‘dārā’), which is meant to indicate the excessive spiritual wrong involved. It would not be right to assert that—“the general term ‘lady’ in the present verse is restricted in its extension by the term ‘wife’ in the next verse, which is supplementary to this one.” Because, as a matter of fact, the next is not supplementary to the present verse, which stands distinct by itself.—(133)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 194);—in Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 523);—and in Vīramitrodaya (Saṃskāra, p. 576).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Mahābhārata (Śānti, 138.192.191).—‘O Friend, wise men do not, without reason, place themselves under the influence of their enemies...... He shall not trust the untrust worthy, even the trustworthy he shall not trust over-much; he should always make others trust him, but he himself shall not trust others.’

Do. (139.75).—‘Having done harm to a certain person, he shall not trust him......... By reposing trust upon a person after having injured him, one always falls into trouble.’