Verse 7.49

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

द्वयोरप्येतयोर्मूलं यं सर्वे कवयो विदुः ।
तं यत्नेन जयेत्लोभं तज्जावेतावुभौ गणौ ॥ ४९ ॥

dvayorapyetayormūlaṃ yaṃ sarve kavayo viduḥ |
taṃ yatnena jayetlobhaṃ tajjāvetāvubhau gaṇau || 49 ||

With great effort he shall subdue that Greediness which all wise men regard as the root of both these; both these sets arise out of that.—(49)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

It has been said that Greediness is at the root of the set of vices born of love of pleasure; ‘love of pleasure’ consists in hankering after the objects of enjoyment; and ‘hankering,’ ‘desire,’ ‘greediness’ are synonymous.

“But how can greediness be the root of the set of vices arising from Anger, on the basis of which it is said that both these sets arise out of that?”

Our answer is as follows:—What is meant is not that the two sets of vices have Greediness for their cause, but that Greediness is equal to the two sets of vices;—the sense being that greediness alone by itself—even when appearing in a man free from the vices,—produces all those evils which all the said vices produce; to which end we have the assertion—‘greediness -destroys all good qualities.’ It is in this sense that we have the figurative assertion that ‘both these sets arise out of that.’ If there were no Greediness, how could there appear results similar to those of greediness? In fact, it is the defect in the cause that indicates the defect in the effect; hence, if there is any evil in the vices, appearing as the effects of greediness, it follows that there is a like evil in the cause also.

Or, the meaning may be that as a rule it is only the greedy person who becomes addicted to Tale-bearing and other shunable acts. Other persons, even in small matters, become appeased even by slight entreaties. And it is this that is spoken of figuratively by describing the two sets of vices as arising out of greediness.—(49.)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 413);—and in Vīramitrodaya (Rājanīti, p. 148).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 7.45-53)

See Comparative notes for Verse 7.45.