Verse 8.354

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

परस्य पत्न्या पुरुषः सम्भाषां योजयन् रहः ।
पूर्वमाक्षारितो दोषैः प्राप्नुयात् पूर्वसाहसम् ॥ ३५४ ॥

parasya patnyā puruṣaḥ sambhāṣāṃ yojayan rahaḥ |
pūrvamākṣārito doṣaiḥ prāpnuyāt pūrvasāhasam || 354 ||

A man who engages in secret conversation with the wife of another person,—if he is one who has been previously accused of similar offences,—should receive the penalty of the ‘first amercement.’—(354)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Conversation’—talking; one who is found to be doing this;—if he happens to be one who has been ‘previously accused of’—blamed for committing—‘such offences’—of having a love-intrigue with that woman,—i.e., if the man is of unsteady character, and has been already seen to be carrying on an intrigue with her,—or has been suspected of doing so;—‘secretly,’—in some secret place, or (as some people explain) in a place where such conversation is forbidden;—in the case of such a person, even if the conversation held with another’s wife be one bearing upon some business, be should be made to pay the ‘first amercement.’—(354)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 854);—in Vivādaratnākara (p. 384), which addṣ the following notes:—‘Pūrvamakṣāritaḥ’, already previously suspected of entertaining longings for that lady;—the punishment is to be inflicted only in a case where the conversation is not held under circumstances unfavourable to intercourse;—and in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra, 156a), which explains ‘doṣaiḥ’ as ‘tendency to run after women,’ and adds that this refers to cases where the conversation is held with evil intentions.

It is quoted in Vyavahāramayūkha (p. 106), as laying down the penalty for a man of wicked character holding conversation with another man’s wife;—and in Vivādacintāmaṇi (p. 172), which explains the meaning to be that ‘if a man who has been once suspected of illicit connection with a woman should meet her in private and talk to her longer than ordinary courtesy demands, he should be punished with the first amercement.’

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.354-355)

Āpastamba (2-26.18-19).—‘A young man who, decked with ornaments, enters unintentionally a place where a married woman or a maiden sits, must be reprimanded;—if he does it intentionally, with an evil purpose, ho must he fined.’

Yājñavalkya (2.284).—‘If a man converses with a woman at improper times or places,—or if he sits with her on the same seat,—this is Adultery .’

Yājñavalkya (2.285).—‘If a man converses with a woman who has been previously forbidden to do so, the woman shall pay a fine of one hundred and the man of two hundred;—if both have been previously forbidden, the punishment shall be the same as in the case of Adultery.’

Vyāsa (Aparārka, p. 854).—‘Conversing with a woman at improper times or places, or in a forest,—winking at her and smiling at her,—these constitute the first degree of Adultery.’

Śaṅkha-Likhita (Aparārka, p. 855).—(See under CCCLII-CCCLIII.)

Nārada (12-62).—‘To meet another man’s wife at an unreasonable hour or place, and to sit, converse or dally with her,—these are the three grades of Adultery.’

Bṛhaspati (23.7).—‘Sending perfumes, garlands, fruits, wine, food or clothes,—and conversing with her in secret,—is considered an adulterous act of the second degree.’