Verse 10.67

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

जातो नार्यामनार्यायामार्यादार्यो भवेद् गुणैः ।
जातोऽप्यनार्यादार्यायामनार्य इति निश्चयः ॥ ६७ ॥

jāto nāryāmanāryāyāmāryādāryo bhaved guṇaiḥ |
jāto'pyanāryādāryāyāmanārya iti niścayaḥ || 67 ||

The decision is that—‘one born to an Ārya from a Non-Ārya woman may be an Ārya in quality; but one born to a Non-ārya even from an Ārya woman is always Non-Ārya’—(67)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Woman’—female.

‘Non-Ārya’—belonging to a low caste.

‘To an Ārya’—to one belonging to a high caste.

Such a person would be an Ārya.

“Does he actually become a Brāhmaṇa?”

No; he is an ‘Ārya’ only ‘in quality,’—only figuratively; i.e., only so far as being entitled to the performance of the Pākayajña rites.

This person is called an ‘Ārya’ only in comparison with the person going to be described in the latter half of the text.

‘One born to a non-ārya’—a Śūdra—‘from an Ārya woman’—a Brāhmaṇa female—‘is always non-ārya’.

This is the decision.

The meaning of all this is that the pre-eminence of any mixed caste is to be accepted only in accordance with what is distinctly stated in the text, and no inferences should be drawn regarding this matter. Hence the right course would always be that one should have intercourse with a woman of the same caste as himself; and what is said regarding the^‘soil’ being the important factor, pertains only to the case of the^‘soil-born’ son, and not to any other cases.—(67)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in ‘Vīramitrodaya’ (Saṃskāra, p. 396).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 10.66-73)

[See texts under 9.33 et seq.]