Manusmriti with the Commentary of Medhatithi
by Ganganatha Jha | 1920 | 1,381,940 words | ISBN-10: 8120811550 | ISBN-13: 9788120811553
This is the English translation of the Manusmriti, which is a collection of Sanskrit verses dealing with ‘Dharma’, a collective name for human purpose, their duties and the law. Various topics will be dealt with, but this volume of the series includes 12 discourses (adhyaya). The commentary on this text by Medhatithi elaborately explains various t...
Verse 7.8
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
बालोऽपि नावमान्तव्यो मनुष्य इति भूमिपः ।
महती देवता ह्येषा नररूपेण तिष्ठति ॥ ८ ॥bālo'pi nāvamāntavyo manuṣya iti bhūmipaḥ |
mahatī devatā hyeṣā nararūpeṇa tiṣṭhati || 8 ||Even though an infant, the King shall not be despised as if he were merely human; because he is a great divinity in human form.—(8)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
Even on infant King shall not be regarded as merely a human being, and as such despised. In fact he is a great divinity, appearing in the shape of man. For this reason it is not right to show disrespect towards the King, even on account of defects that may be perceived in him.—(8)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse occurs also in the Mahābhārata.
This verse is quoted in Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 392);—in the same work (Vyavahāra, p. 5);—and in Vīramitrodaya (Rājanīti, p. 17), to the effect that by showing disrespect to the king one incurs the same sin that he does by showing disrespect towards the gods.
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 7.3-13)
See Comparative notes for Verse 7.3.