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 10.65
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
शूद्रो ब्राह्मणतामेति ब्राह्मणश्चैति शूद्रताम् ।
क्षत्रियाज् जातमेवं तु विद्याद् वैश्यात् तथैव च ॥ ६५ ॥śūdro brāhmaṇatāmeti brāhmaṇaścaiti śūdratām |
kṣatriyāj jātamevaṃ tu vidyād vaiśyāt tathaiva ca || 65 ||The Śūdra attains the position of the Brāhmaṇa and the Brāhmaṇa sinks to the position of the Śūdra; the same should be understood to be the case with the offspring of the Kṣatriya or of the vaiśya.—(65)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
That ‘the Śūdra attains the position of the Brāhmaṇa’ is what, has already been asserted above.
‘The Brāhmaṇa sinks to the position of the Śūdra’.—The ‘Brāhmaṇa’ meant here should be understood to be the Brāhmaṇa-born ‘Pārāśatra.’ If he marries a Śūdra girl of the nature described above, he sinks down to the lower level, in the third generation. This is how they explain this.
People who attain the higher caste, according to the principle here enunciated, become entitled to the sacraments and rites pertaining to that caste.—(65)
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 10.64-65)
See Comparative notes for Verse 10.64.