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 9.17
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
शय्याऽऽसनमलङ्कारं कामं क्रोधमनार्जवम् ।
द्रोहभावं कुचर्यां च स्त्रीभ्यो मनुरकल्पयत् ॥ १७ ॥śayyā''sanamalaṅkāraṃ kāmaṃ krodhamanārjavam |
drohabhāvaṃ kucaryāṃ ca strībhyo manurakalpayat || 17 ||Manu assigned to women sleep, sitting, ornament, lust, anger, dishonesty, malice and bad conduct.—(17)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
‘Sleeping’—Proneness to too much sleep.
‘Sitting’— Indolence, want of energy.
‘Ornament’—Bodily adornment.
‘Lust’—Desire for carnal association with men.
‘Anger’—Hatred.
‘Dishonesty’—Consisting in hating those who love, loving those who hate, concealing one’s real feelings, immorality.
‘Malice’—Maliciousness. ‘Drogdhṛ’ is derived from the root ‘druh’ and the affix ‘tṛch’, and it is then compounded with ‘bhāvam’.
‘Bad conduct’—Association with wicked people.
Such was the nature allotted to women by Manu, at the beginning of creation; the sense is that just as the characters here set forth cannot be eradicated, so bad conduct also cannot be dissociated from women.—(17)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 412);—and in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra, 158b).
Comparative notes by various authors
Mahābhārata (13.40.12-13).—‘Bed, seat, ornament, food, drink, meanness, harshness of speech, and love,—these Prajāpati gave to women.’