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 7.29
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
ततो दुर्गं च राष्ट्रं च लोकं च सचराचरम् ।
अन्तरिक्षगतांश्चैव मुनीन् देवांश्च पीडयेत् ॥ २९ ॥tato durgaṃ ca rāṣṭraṃ ca lokaṃ ca sacarācaram |
antarikṣagatāṃścaiva munīn devāṃśca pīḍayet || 29 ||Then it will afflict his fortress and kingdom, the world along with movable and immovable things, as also the sages and the gods inhabiting the heavenly regions.—(29)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
When Punishment is inflicted without due consideration of time, place &c., there is destruction of the whole kingdom along with the King and together with all animals and immovable things. Hence the King has to be warned of this by his ministers and his people; or these latter should leave the kingdom.
The sages and the gods are also afflicted:—the gods live upon offerings made by the inhabitants of the earth; hence when, on account of the disruption of the kingdom, there is no proper performance of sacrificial acts &c., the gods and the sages are as good as ‘destroyed.’ Says the author of the Purāṇas—
‘Whatever is done by persons of the various castes and stages, that has been declared to be the source of maintenance for persons of divine origin in heaven and the other regions’.
The upshot of all that has been said from the first verse to this is as follows:—‘The kingdom has got to be ruled by a Kṣatriya of impartial mind;—this cannot be done without punishment; hence this should be meted out, in his own kingdom as also elsewhere, in strict accordance with the Law, after a full investigation of the exigencies of time and place &c., relating to each case;—if it is inflicted otherwise, there is destruction of both worlds.’
The rest of it all is purely a commendatory supplement.—(29)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 647), which explains ‘tataḥ’ as ‘after destroying the king along with his relations’;—and in Vivādacintāmaṇi (p. 262), which explains ‘tataḥ’ as ‘after destroying the king and his bāndhavas.’