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 8.124 [Corporal Punishment]

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

दश स्थानानि दण्डस्य मनुः स्वयम्भुवोऽब्रवीत् ।
त्रिषु वर्णेषु यानि स्युरक्षतो ब्राह्मणो व्रजेत् ॥ १२४ ॥

daśa sthānāni daṇḍasya manuḥ svayambhuvo'bravīt |
triṣu varṇeṣu yāni syurakṣato brāhmaṇo vrajet || 124 ||

Manu Svāyambhuva has named ten places for punishment, where it should be inflicted in the case of the three castes; but the Brāhmaṇa shall depart unscathed.—(124)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The term ‘sthāna’ ‘place,’ is synonymous with ‘subject’; the meaning being that the man should be made to suffer pain on these spots.

In as much as for the Brāhmaṇa also pecuniary punishment has been directly prescribed, it follows that what is said here in regard to his departing ‘unscathed’ is with reference to corporal punishment, which is forbidden in his case; even though ‘property’ also is included (in the next verse) among the ‘ten places.’

Our opinion however is that, in as much as one can be called ‘unscathed’ only when he has all his property also intact, pecuniary punishment also must be taken as forbidden in the case of the Brāhmaṇa; hence if a Brāhmaṇa, endowed with learning, character and noble birth, should, by chance, happen to commit a crime, there is no pecuniary punishment either. In fact, it is in reference to such a Brāhmaṇa that Gautama, having begun with the statement—‘In this world there are two men firm in their vow,’ (8.1)—goes on to say,—‘He should be excused from six.’ (8.13).—(124)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Mitākṣarā (2.26), as laying down the forms of ‘death,’ which means ‘corporal punishment;’ Bālambhaṭṭī adds that ‘vrajet’ means ‘should go away from home or from the city’;—in Vivādaratnākara (p. 630), which explains ‘akṣataḥ’ as ‘without corporal suffering’;—in Vīramitrodaya (Rājanīti, p. 293), as laying down the spots of the body where corporal punishment is to be inflicted upon all offenders, except the Brāhmaṇa;—and in Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 399 and Vyavahāra, p. 155), as laying down the ten forms of corporal punishment.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.124-125)

Gautama (12.46-47).—‘Corporal punishment must not be inflicted on the Brāhmaṇa.—Desisting from the deed, publicly proclaiming his crime, banishment and branding are the punishments to which a Brāhmaṇa may be subjected.’

Viṣṇu (5.1-8).—‘Great criminals should all be put to death. In the case of the Brāhmaṇa no corporal punishment should be inflicted. A. Brāhmaṇa should be banished from his own country, his body having been branded;—for murdering another Brāhmaṇa, let the figure of a headless body be branded on his forehead; for drinking spirits, the flag of a wine-seller; for stealing gold, a dog’s foot; for incest, a female part;—if he has committed any other capital offence, he shall be banished, taking with him all his property, and unhurt.’

Nārada (114.8-10).—‘For a crime of violence of the highest degree, a fine amounting to no less than a thousand Paṇas has been ordained. Moreover, corporal punishment, confiscation of the entire property, banishment from the town, branding, as well as amputation of the limb, is declared to be the punishment for a violent crime of the highest degree. This gradation of punishments has been ordained for all castes indiscriminately, excepting only corporal punishment in the case of a Brāhmaṇa, who should never he subjected to corporal punishment. Shaving his head, banishing him from the town, branding him on the forehead with a mark of the crime of which he has been convicted, and parading him on an ass, shall he the Brāhmaṇa’s punishment.’

Do. (15-16.20).—‘The Brāhmaṇa and the King are exempt from censure and corporal punishment.’

Do. (15-16.22-31).—‘If a Śūdra insults a member of a higher caste with invectives, he shall have his tongue cut out; if he refers to their name or caste contemptuously, an iron-rod ten inches long shall be thrust red-hot into his mouth;—if ho is insolent enough to teach duty to a Brāhmaṇa, the King shall have hot oil poured into his mouth and ears. With whatever limb a low caste man offends against a Brāhmaṇa, that very limb of his shall be cut off; such shall be the atonement for his crime. If a low-born man tries to place himself on the same seat as his superior, he shall be branded on his hip and banished; or he may have his backside gashed. If, through arrogance, he spits on his superior, the King shall have both his lips cut off; if he urinates on him, then his penis; if he breaks wind against him, the buttocks. If he pulls his superior by the hair, he shall have his hands cut off; likewise if he seizes him by the feet, beard, neck or scrotum. If a man censures a King who is devoted to the discharge of his duties, he shall have his tongue cut out, or his entire property confiscated. When an evil-minded person assails even a wicked king, he shall be fastened on a stake and burnt in fire.’

Nārada (Punishments, 41-439).—‘Let him not on any account kill a Brāhmaṇa, though convicted of all crimes; he may at pleasure cause him to be banished; let the King take his entire wealth from him, or leave a fourth part of it; for four offences of a Brāhmaṇa, branding has been ordained.’

Bṛhaspati (21.8).—‘For killing, capital punishment.’

Do. (21.15).—‘If persons begotten in the inverse order of castes, and members of the lowest caste, should insult a Brāhmaṇa, they shall be corporally punished, and shall never be amerced in fine.’

Do. (22.10).—‘Judges passing an unjust sentence, those who take bribes, and those who betray confidence,—all such shall be banished.’

Do. (22.17).—‘House-breakers shall be impaled on a stake, and highwaymen shall be bound and hanged by the neck from a tree.’

Do. (22.20).—‘Stealers of grass deserve to have a hand cut off.’

Nārada (Punishments, 36-37).—‘Svāyambhuva Manu has declared ten spots of punishment which should be selected in punishing the lower castes; a Brāhmaṇa should remain uninjured always;—those places are the privy parts, the belly, the tongue, the two hands, and fifthly, the two feet; as well as the eye, the nose, the two ears, the property and the body.’

Bṛhaspati (27.9-10).—‘Both hands, both feet, the male organ, the eye, the tongue, the ears, the nose, the neck, the half of the foot, the thumb and the index finger, the forehead, the lips, the hind part and the hips;—these fourteen spots of punishment have been indicated. For a Brāhmaṇa, branding on the forehead is the only kind of punishment. A Brāhmaṇa, though a mortal sinner, shall not suffer capital punishment; the King shall banish him and cause him to be branded and shaved.’

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