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 8.21
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
यस्य शूद्रस्तु कुरुते राज्ञो धर्मविवेचनम् ।
तस्य सीदति तद् राष्ट्रं पङ्के गौरिव पश्यतः ॥ २१ ॥yasya śūdrastu kurute rājño dharmavivecanam |
tasya sīdati tad rāṣṭraṃ paṅke gauriva paśyataḥ || 21 ||The kingdom or that king for whom the investigation of Law is done by a Śūdra, while he himself is looking on, suffers, like the cow in a morass.—(21)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
This is a supplementary declaration to the foregoing Injunction.
The construction is—That king for whom the ‘investigation of law’—i.e., decision on legal cases—is made by a Śūdra duly qualified by learning, etc.,—his kingdom,—people, subjects—‘suffers’—is destroyed—‘like the cow in a morass;’—‘paśyataḥ’—‘while he is looking on.’—(21)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 601);—in Kṛtyakalpataru (9b);—and in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra, p. 11a).
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 8.20-21)
See Comparative notes for Verse 8.20.