Verse 4.238 [Accumulate Spiritual Merit]

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

धर्मं शनैः सञ्चिनुयाद् वल्मीकमिव पुत्तिकाः ।
परलोकसहायार्थं सर्वभूतान्यपीडयन् ॥ २३८ ॥

dharmaṃ śanaiḥ sañcinuyād valmīkamiva puttikāḥ |
paralokasahāyārthaṃ sarvabhūtānyapīḍayan || 238 ||

Without causing pain to any beings, he shall, for the purpose of obtaining a companion in the other world, accumulate spiritual merit, slowly; just as the white ants accumulate the ant-hill.—(238)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

If one is unable to bestow a large gift, or perform a difficult austerity, or offer an elaborate sacrifice—like the Jyotiṣṭoma and the rest,—he should not he despondent on that account; on the contrary, he should ‘slowly’ and gently ‘accumulate spiritual merit,’ by means of small gifts, small austerities, by helping others, to the best of his ability, and by muttering prayers and offering oblations prescribed in the Smṛtis; just in the same manner in which white ants accumulate the ant-hill.

‘For the purpose of obtaining a companion in the other world.’—This describes the fruits of spiritual merit.

‘Without causing pain to any beings;’ i.e., even for the sake of spiritual merit, he shall not go about begging and thereby causing pain to others.—(238)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 232), which reads ‘vaprikāḥ’ for ‘puttikāḥ’, and explains it as ‘a particular kind of art’;—and in Vīramitrodaya (Paribhāṣā, p. 64), which explains ‘puttikā’ as ‘a kind of art’; and explains that this and the following verses are meant to eulogise Dharma.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 4.234-239)

See Comparative notes for Verse 4.234.