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 8.383
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
सहस्रं ब्राह्मणो दण्डं दाप्यो गुप्ते तु ते व्रजन् ।
शूद्रायां क्षत्रियविशोः साहस्रो वै भवेद् दमः ॥ ३८३ ॥sahasraṃ brāhmaṇo daṇḍaṃ dāpyo gupte tu te vrajan |
śūdrāyāṃ kṣatriyaviśoḥ sāhasro vai bhaved damaḥ || 383 ||The Brāhmaṇa having intercourse with the said two, when protected, should be made to pay a fine of one thousand; the fine for the Kṣatriya and the Vaiśya approaching a Śūdra woman, should be one thousand.—(383)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
The Brāhmaṇa approaching the protected Vaiśya or Kṣatriya Woman should be fined one thousand; and of course ‘banishment’ and ‘branding’ remain as the fixed forms of punishment (in all cases of adultery).
For approaching a Śūdra woman, the Kṣatriya and the ‘Vaiśya should be fined one hundred.
‘Sāhasra’ is the same as ‘Sahasra,’ the affix ‘aṇ’ having the reflexive-force. Or ‘Sāhasra’ may be explained as that which consists of a sahasra or thousand; the ‘aṇ’ affix having the force of the possessive.—(383)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 393);—in Vyavahāramayūkha (p. 106), which remarks that this refers to the case of a chaste woman;—in Parāśaramādhava (Vyavahāra, p. 317);—and in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra, 155b), which explains ‘te’ as ‘Kṣatriya and Vaiśya’.
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 8.382-385)
See Comparative notes for Verse 8.382.