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 9.311
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
यथा सर्वाणि भूतानि धरा धारयते समम् ।
तथा सर्वाणि भूतानि बिभ्रतः पार्थिवं व्रतम् ॥ ३११ ॥yathā sarvāṇi bhūtāni dharā dhārayate samam |
tathā sarvāṇi bhūtāni bibhrataḥ pārthivaṃ vratam || 311 ||As the earth sustains all beings equally, so does the king support all beings; and this is the function of Pṛthivī.—(311)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
‘Dharā’—The earth.
The king shall support the poor and the destitute persons, as also their families.—(311)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Rājanīti, p. 19), which adds the following explanation:—‘Just as the earth supports all sorts of beings, animate and inanimate, high and low,—so also does the king protect all men, those who are capable of paying taxes as well as the poor and the distressed; and this is called his Pārthiva-vrata’.
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 9.301-312)