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 8.384
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
क्षत्रियायामगुप्तायां वैश्ये पञ्चशतं दमः ।
मूत्रेण मौण्ड्यमिच्छेत् तु क्षत्रियो दण्डमेव वा ॥ ३८४ ॥kṣatriyāyāmaguptāyāṃ vaiśye pañcaśataṃ damaḥ |
mūtreṇa mauṇḍyamicchet tu kṣatriyo daṇḍameva vā || 384 ||In the case of the Vaiśya approaching an unprotected Kṣatriya woman, the fine shall be five hundred; but the Kṣatriya may suffer tonsure or the fine.—(384)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
For the Vaiśya there shall be a fine of five hundred, if he has intercourse with an unprotected Kṣatriya woman.
For the Kṣatriya also there shall be the same penalty; or he may suffer ‘tonsure’—shaving of the head with ass’s urine.
The same punishment is applicable to both the Vaiśya and the Kṣatriya for having intercourse with an unprotected Vaiśya woman.—(384)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 396), which adds the following explanation:—If a Kṣatriya has recourse to an unguarded Kṣatriya woman, his head shall be wetted with urine and then shaved, or he may be fined, like the Vaiśya, 500 paṇas. It adds that Lakṣmīdhara has read ‘mauṇḍyameva’ for ‘daṇḍameva’;—and in Vyavahāra-Bālambhaṭṭī (p. 1008).
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 8.382-385)
See Comparative notes for Verse 8.382.