Verse 8.377

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

उभावपि तु तावेव ब्राह्मण्या गुप्तया सह ।
विप्लुतौ शूद्रवद् दण्ड्यौ दग्धव्यौ वा कटाग्निना ॥ ३७७ ॥

ubhāvapi tu tāveva brāhmaṇyā guptayā saha |
viplutau śūdravad daṇḍyau dagdhavyau vā kaṭāgninā || 377 ||

But both these, when offending against a protected Brāhmaṇa woman, should be punished like a Śūdra, or burnt in a fire of dry grass.—(377)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Both these,’ i.e., the Vaiśya and the Kṣatriya—‘offending against’—i.e., having sexual intercourse with—a protected Brāhmaṇa woman—‘should he punished like the Śūdra,’—i.e. ‘deprived of everything, if the woman is protected’ (as declared in 374).

‘Or he should be burnt in a fire of dry grass’—the term ‘or’ is meant to indicate option in the method of killing, and not in regard to the killing itself. Because in the case of the protected Brāhmaṇa woman, there is no other penalty for the Śūdra except death—(377)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Parāśaramādhava (Vyavahāra p. 318);—in Vyavahāramayūkha (p. 106);—and in Mitāk ṣarā (2.286), where Bālambhaṭṭī adds the following notes:—If a Kṣatriya or a Vaiśya have intercourse with a guarded Brāhmaṇa woman, he should be punished like a Śūdra, i. e., deprived of his whole body and his entire property (according to 374); i.e., his entire property should be confiscated and he should be put to death;—another alternative penalty prescribed is that he should be put to death, without any confiscation of property; and it is by means of the ‘Kaṭāgni’ that he is to be put to death.

It is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra, 155b).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.374-378)

See Comparative notes for Verse 8.374.