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...

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

मिथो दायः कृतो येन गृहीतो मिथ एव वा ।
मिथ एव प्रदातव्यो यथा दायस्तथा ग्रहः ॥ १९५ ॥

mitho dāyaḥ kṛto yena gṛhīto mitha eva vā |
mitha eva pradātavyo yathā dāyastathā grahaḥ || 195 ||

When a trust has been created privately and accepted also privately, then it should be restored also secretly: as the delivery so the restoration.—(195)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Verse 180 has laid down the rule regarding deposits; and the present verse lays down what is to be done in the case of other transactions.

In the case of debts, friendly loans and sales, the restoration or repayment should be in the same manner in which it had been contracted. So that if it has been given privately, it should not be made public by seeking for re-payment through a court of justice; and when a loan has been given on the strength of a document written by the debtor alone, then its payment should not be sought for through court. If this were done, the creditor’s property should be made to suffer.

The case of deposits also being covered by this same rule, the addition of a rule in regard to them separately is meant to indicate that in their case the rule is absolute; hence in the case of transactions other than deposits, when effected in private, if subsequently suspicion should arise regarding the possibility of dispute, it may he right and proper to make it public.

Or the repetition may he justified on the ground that what is done in the present verse is the prohibition of making public what has been done in private, while in the preceding verse what has been said concerns ‘sealed or open deposits.’

The term ‘mithaḥ’ means ‘in private,’ or ‘mutually’ As all transactions are done between two parties, the addition of this adverb is meant to deny the presence of a third party.

Dāya,’ ‘Trust,’ though a generic term, stands here for transactions other than ‘deposits,’—such, for instance, as sale and the like.—(195)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra 113b), which has the following notes:—‘Dāya,’ handing over, pledging, depositing,—‘graha,’ receiving the deposit

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Nārada (2.6).—‘Deposits are of two kinds—attested and unattested. They must be restored precisely in the same condition in which they were delivered.’

Bṛhaspati (12.5).—‘A deposit is of two kinds—attested and deposited in private; it must be guarded with the same care as a son.’

Do. (12-14).—‘When a dispute arises with regard to a deposit privately made, the performance of an ordeal is ordained for both parties, to establish the facts of the case.’

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