Verse 9.291

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

अबीजविक्रयी चैव बीजोत्कृष्टा तथैव च ।
मर्यादाभेदकश्चैव विकृतं प्राप्नुयाद् वधम् ॥ २९१ ॥

abījavikrayī caiva bījotkṛṣṭā tathaiva ca |
maryādābhedakaścaiva vikṛtaṃ prāpnuyād vadham || 291 ||

He who sells what is not-seed, or picks out the seed, or transgresses the bounds (of propriety) shall suffer ‘mutilation’ as the penalty.—(291)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

He who sells as ‘seed’ what is ‘not seed,’ by concealing its real character. It is after the lapse of a long term that seeds germinate in the field; so that it cannot be ascertained whether or not they are real ‘seeds.’

‘He who picks out seed’—good seed germinates quickly; the offender therefore picks out the good seed and sells the remaining bad ones. Or, the meaning may be that the man ‘picks up the seeds’ that have been sown in the field and takes them away.

‘Bounds’—rules and practices sanctioned by scriptures and usage.

‘Mutilation’—cutting off of ears, nose etc.—(291)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

Buhler remarks “all the commentators give more or less correct readings”,—and declares that the correct reading “seems to be” ‘bījotkraṣṭā’. This is amusing to read, when we find Medhātithi, Nārāyaṇa, Rāghvānanda, Nandana and Rāmacandra all adapting the reading ‘bījotkraṣṭā’.

This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 296), which adds the following notes:—‘Abījavikrayī’, one who sells, as seed, com which is unfit for sowing,—‘bījotkarṣī’, one who forcibly takes out the seed that has been sown,—‘maryādabhedakaḥ’, one who transgresses the customs of his country, caste and family, the scriptures and popular practices,—‘vikṛtam vadham’, corporal punishment in the form of the cutting off of ears and other limbs of the body.

It is quoted in Aparārka (p. 825), which explains ‘abījavikrayī’ as ‘one who sells as seed what is not seed’,—and ‘bījotkraṣṭā’ as ‘one who digs out seed that has been already sown’;—and in Vivādacintāmaṇi (Calcutta, p. 81), which adds the explanation—‘He who (a) sells as seed what is not seed, or (b) takes forcible possession of a field sown by another, or (c) breaks a local or tribal or family custom, or a scriptural or royal injunction, should have his ears and nose and other limbs cut off.