Verse 4.147

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

वेदमेवाभ्यसेन्नित्यं यथाकालमतन्द्रितः ।
तं ह्यस्याहुः परं धर्ममुपधर्मोऽन्य उच्यते ॥ १४७ ॥

vedamevābhyasennityaṃ yathākālamatandritaḥ |
taṃ hyasyāhuḥ paraṃ dharmamupadharmo'nya ucyate || 147 ||

He shall diligently recite the Veda, whenever he finds time. They declare this to be his primary duty; everything else is declared to be his secondary duty.—(147)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

It has been said above that he should recite and offer oblations; and now he states the means of doing the reciting.—‘He shall recite the Veda’ The rest of the verse is purely commendatory.

‘Whenever he finds time’—the Avyayībhāva compound ‘yathākālam’ signifying repetition. The meaning is that ‘whenever the man happens to be free from, all. worldly activity, he should recite the Veda.’ The other duties—such as the performance of the Agnihotra and the like—have their fixed time; while for recitation, purity is the only condition.

This is the ‘primary duty;’ all else is ‘secondary duty;’—‘upadharma’ means ‘nearly as good as duty.’ This compound, therefore, is Tatpuruṣa, and not Avyayībhāva,—according to Pāṇini 2.1.55.

This deprecation of other duties is meant to be a praise of Vedic recitation, and it is not meant to be a prohibition of those.—(147)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

Cf. 2.237.

This verse is quoted in Aparārka, on p. 69, and again on p. 229;—and in Vīramitrodaya (Āhnika, p. 320), which explains ‘upadharmaḥ’ as ‘small dharma; i.e., such penances as the Kṛcchra and the like’.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Yājñāvalkya (1.40).—‘From among all sacrifices, austerities and other meritorious acts, the Veda alone is what secures the highest good for twice-born men.’

Vyāsa (Vīramitrodaya, Saṃskāra, p. 508).—‘Dharma is not known by any other means, it grew out of the Veda alone; therefore for the purposes of sacrifice, one should have recourse to the Veda only.’

Vaśiṣṭha (Do., p. 511).—‘Without the Veda one cannot he a Brāhmaṇa.’

Atri (151).—‘There is no scripture superior to the Veda; there is no elder superior to the mother; there is no friend superior to charity,—either here or in the next world.’

Āpastamba Dharmasūtra (1.14.12).—‘There is no refuge beyond the Veda.’