Verse 9.41

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

तत् प्राज्ञेन विनीतेन ज्ञानविज्ञानवेदिना ।
आयुष्कामेन वप्तव्यं न जातु परयोषिति ॥ ४१ ॥

tat prājñena vinītena jñānavijñānavedinā |
āyuṣkāmena vaptavyaṃ na jātu parayoṣiti || 41 ||

[The established conclusion]—for this reason he who is intelligent, well-trained, and conversant with the sciences and the arts, should never, if he desires longevity, sow in another’s wife.—(41)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The prima facie argument having been put forward, the present verse sets forth the established doctrine; and what the text means is that the soil is the predominant factor.

Objection—“In the text there is no word signifying the predominance of the soil; all that is declared is the prohibition of having recourse to other’s wives—‘shall not sow in another’s wife’; which means that one should not let his semen enter another man’s wife; and it does not mean that the child belongs to the person to whom the soil belongs.”

True; but when we take the present text along with what follows (under 43) regarding ‘the seed sown in what belongs to another’ being ‘lost’,—it becomes clear that the prohibition of intercourse contained in the present verse is based upon the consideration that the child born would be taken away by another, and it is not with a view to any spiritual result The prohibition based upon spiritual considerations has in fact already gone before (4.134); where it has been said that ‘there is nothing so conducive to the shortening of life etc.’ Thus the conclusion is that, (inasmuch as the present prohibitive text is supplementary to another text (43), with which it has to be construed, we are not free to interpret it as we choose; so that the only right course is to take it as declaring the predominance of the soil.

‘Intelligent,’—possessed of inborn intelligence.

‘Well-trained’— thoroughly educated by his father and others.

‘Conversant with the sciences and the arts’.—The terms ‘jñāna’ and ‘vijñāna’ connote instrumentality (meaning jñāyate anena iti jñānam’, and ‘vijñāyate anena iti vijñānam’). So that the term ‘jñāna’, ‘science’, stands for the sciences subsidiary to the Veda, and ‘vijñāna’, ‘arts’, for the art of reasoning and the fine arts.

The sense of the verse is that the man who is possessed of any intelligence should never do such an act; since such is the law laid down in all scriptures. As regards the ignoramus, who is as good as an animal, the present, teaching is not meant for him at all. Hence what is stated here is purely reiterative.

‘If he desires longevity’.—This has been added with a view to indicate that the present prohibition is the same as that contained under Discourse IV; and this sets aside the idea as to its being a distinct prohibition.—(41)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Vijñānam’—‘Treatises on logic, arts, and so forth’ (Medhātithi);—‘subsidiary sciences’ (Kullūka).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 9.31-44)

See Comparative notes for Verse 9.31.