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...

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

वैश्यवृत्त्याऽपि जीवंस्तु ब्राह्मणः क्षत्रियोऽपि वा ।
हिंसाप्रायां पराधीनां कृषिं यत्नेन वर्जयेत् ॥ ८३ ॥

vaiśyavṛttyā'pi jīvaṃstu brāhmaṇaḥ kṣatriyo'pi vā |
hiṃsāprāyāṃ parādhīnāṃ kṛṣiṃ yatnena varjayet || 83 ||

But even when subsisting by the occupation of the Vaiśya, the Brāhmaṇa or the Kṣatriya shall carefully avoid agriculture, which involves injury to living creatures and is dependent upon others.—(83)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

This deprecation of Agriculture is meant to eulogise the other occupations of the Vaiśya, and to forbid agriculture itself. If it had been to be entirely forbidden, the permitting of it (under 82) would become absolutely pointless.—(83)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Aparārka, (p. 936), to the effect that even when taking to the Vaiśya’s livelihood, the Brāhmaṇa shall avoid cultivating land himself;—and in Parāśaramādhava (Ācara, p. 426), as prohibiting the Brāhmaṇa’s cultivation of land by himself.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 10.81-84)

See Comparative notes for Verse 10.81.

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