Verse 9.44

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

पृथोरपीमां पृथिवीं भार्यां पूर्वविदो विदुः ।
स्थाणुच्छेदस्य केदारमाहुः शाल्यवतो मृगम् ॥ ४४ ॥

pṛthorapīmāṃ pṛthivīṃ bhāryāṃ pūrvavido viduḥ |
sthāṇucchedasya kedāramāhuḥ śālyavato mṛgam || 44 ||

People learned in ancient lore have regarded this Pṛthvī (earth) to be the wife of Pṛthu; they declare the field to belong to him who has cleared off the stalks, and the deer to him who struck the dart.—(44)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The relation of husband and wife established by ancient tradition is such that two totally distinct entities are spoken of as one. For instance, though the Earth (Pṛthivī) was associated with King Pṛthu thousands of years ago, yet she is even now named after him ‘Pṛthivī’.

In view of this, even though a son may be born of another man, he must belong to him whose wife the mother is.

‘They declare the field to belong to him who cleared off the stalks;’—there being no other relationship spoken of, the Genetive ending (in ‘sthāṇūcchedasya’) must signify the relation of possessor and possessed.

‘Stalks’— stands here for groves, thickets, creepers and other growths on the land;—he who clears off these is ‘he who clears off the stalks.’ The land belongs to him by whom the over-growths have been cleared and the land levelled and made into arable land. The fruits of filling and sowing this land also belong to that same man.

‘The deer to belong to him who struck the dart.’— ‘They declare’ has to be construed with this also. Where several persons are hunting and following a deer, they declare the animal to belong to him the dart of whose arrow is found in its body. So that it belongs to the man who wounded it first, and tills is what has been said above regarding ‘the arrow of the shooter being wasted.’—(44)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

Hopkins says—“The kings subsequent to Pṛthu, according to Medhātithi, have no legitimate claim to possession.”—But there is nothing in Medhātithi to this effect.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 9.31-44)

See Comparative notes for Verse 9.31.