Verse 4.251

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

गुरून् भृत्यांश्चोज्जिहीर्षन्नर्चिष्यन् देवतातिथीन् ।
सर्वतः प्रतिगृह्णीयान्न तु तृप्येत् स्वयं ततः ॥ २५१ ॥

gurūn bhṛtyāṃścojjihīrṣannarciṣyan devatātithīn |
sarvataḥ pratigṛhṇīyānna tu tṛpyet svayaṃ tataḥ || 251 ||

For the purpose of bringing relief to his teachers and dependents, and for the purpose of honoring the gods and guests, he may accept gifts from all persons; but he shall not derive from them satisfaction for himself.—(251)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Teachers;’—the plural form is used, in view of some persons teaching directly, and others only indirectly, by implication.

‘Dependents,’—those who have a right to be maintained by him; these are enumerated in another Smṛti text as follows:—‘Aged parents, the well-conducted wife and the infant child.’

‘For the purpose of bringing relief to these’—when they are suffering from hunger;—‘and for the purpose of honouring the gods and guests;— that is, for the sake of due accomplishment of his daily duties.

‘He may accept gifts from all persons’—good or bad.

‘But he shall not derive from them satisfaction for himself.’—‘Satisfaction’ here stands for relieving hunger and other forms of enjoyment; these he shall not do. That is, such gifts shall be accepted only for the sake of Teachers and others, and never for his own sake.—(251)

“How, then, is the man to maintain himself?” In answer to this, we have the following:—

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Vaśiṣṭha (14.10).—(Same as Manu, with slight variants.)

Viṣṇu (57.13).—(Same as Manu, but reading ‘pitṛdevatāḥ’ in place of ‘devatātithīn.’)

Gautama (17.4).—‘For the maintaining of the father, the Gods, the Teacher and the dependants,—it is ditferent.’

Āpastamba (1.7.21).—‘Some people hold that for the sake of the teacher the acceptance of gifts even from Śūdras and Ugras is sanctioned by the scriptures.’

Yājñavalkya (1.216).—‘For the worshipping of gods and guests, and for the sake of one’s teacher and dependants, and for one’s own livelihood, one may accept gifts from all.’

Aṅgiras (Aparārka, p. 408).—‘For the teacher, for guests and for dependants one may accept food from the Śūdra; but he himself shall not partake of it.’