Verse 8.367

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

अभिषह्य तु यः कन्यां कुर्याद् दर्पेण मानवः ।
तस्याशु कर्त्ये अङ्गुल्यौ दण्डं चार्हति षट्शतम् ॥ ३६७ ॥

abhiṣahya tu yaḥ kanyāṃ kuryād darpeṇa mānavaḥ |
tasyāśu kartye aṅgulyau daṇḍaṃ cārhati ṣaṭśatam || 367 ||

But if any man wantonly defiles a maiden through sheer audacity, his fingers should be instantly clipped off, or he should be fined six hundred.—(367)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Even though the maiden may be willing, if her parents and other relatives are close hy, and their presence is not heeded by the man who, through sheer audacity, relying upon his force and having the idea ‘who can do anything to me?’—and relying solely upon the maiden’s love for him—‘defiles her,’—the root ‘kṛ’ which has many meanings, stands here for the act of defiling, then ‘his fingers should be clipped off’;—or ‘he should be fined six hundred.’

Others have held that this verse sums up what has been said (under 361) regarding the violating of an unwilling maiden, to be punished with ‘death.’ ‘Killing’ in this connection stands for corporal punishment—beginning with beating and ending with actual killing; and what the present text means is that if a man defiles a maiden of a low caste, he shall not be killed.—he shall have only his fingers clipped off.

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Parāśaramādhava (Vyavahāra, p. 321), to the effect that two fingers are to be cut off if the man only defiles the maiden with his fingers;—in Aparārka (p. 858), which adds the following notes:—‘Abhiṣahya’, forcibly,—‘kuryāt,’ defile the maiden by the introduction of fingers,—the two fingers (its reading being ‘kartye aṅgulyau’) with which he defiles her should be cut off at once, without delay;—in Vivādaratnākara (p. 403), which has the following notes:—‘Abhiṣahya,’ insolently,—‘kuryāt,’ should defile,—‘kalpye’ (which is its reading for ‘kartye’), should be cut off;—and in Mitākṣarā (2.288), to the effect that when a man defiles an unwilling maiden of the same caste as himself by thrusting his fingers into her, he should be fined 600 and two of his fingers should be cut off.

It is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra, 157a).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.364-368)

See Comparative notes for Verse 8.364.