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 9.304
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
वार्षिकांश्चतुरो मासान् यथेन्द्रोऽभिप्रवर्षति ।
तथाऽभिवर्षेत् स्वं राष्ट्रं कामैरिन्द्रव्रतं चरन् ॥ ३०४ ॥vārṣikāṃścaturo māsān yathendro'bhipravarṣati |
tathā'bhivarṣet svaṃ rāṣṭraṃ kāmairindravrataṃ caran || 304 ||As Indra showers rain during four months of the year, so shall the king, acting like Indra, shower benefits on his people.—(304)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
The actual limitation regarding the four months is not meant to be emphasised in the present connection. What is meant is that during the four months, the Cloud mins constantly, and hence the King also shall confer benefits upon his people constantly. That is to say, he shall so act that his people may become attached to him.—(304)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Rājanīti, p. 19), where ‘caturaḥ’ is explained as the four months beginning with Śrāvaṇa.
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 9.301-312)