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 9.42
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
अत्र गाथा वायुगीताः कीर्तयन्ति पुराविदः ।
यथा बीजं न वप्तव्यं पुंसा परपरिग्रहे ॥ ४२ ॥atra gāthā vāyugītāḥ kīrtayanti purāvidaḥ |
yathā bījaṃ na vaptavyaṃ puṃsā paraparigrahe || 42 ||On this point, persons conversant with ancient lore recite some ‘Gāthās’ sung by Vāyu, to the effect that man should not sow his seed in what belongs to another.—(42)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
The term ‘gāthā’ is the name of a particular metre; as has been declared by Piṅgala—‘Atrāsiddhaṅgātheti it is also used in the sense of verses handed down by a long-continued tradition. For instance, in the Veda, we find that, having made the declaration—‘This is the gāthā of the learned that is going to be recited’, it goes on to quote the verses ‘Yadasya pūrvamaparanta-dasya &c.’
‘Sung by Vāyu’—recited, declared by him.
‘Conversant with ancient lore;’—those who know all about what happened in the past cycles.
‘In what belongs to another’—In another man’s field.—(42)
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 9.31-44)
See Comparative notes for Verse 9.31.