Verse 10.127

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

धर्मैप्सवस्तु धर्मज्ञाः सतां वृत्तमनुष्ठिताः ।
मन्त्रवर्ज्यं न दुष्यन्ति प्रशंसां प्राप्नुवन्ति च ॥ १२७ ॥

dharmaipsavastu dharmajñāḥ satāṃ vṛttamanuṣṭhitāḥ |
mantravarjyaṃ na duṣyanti praśaṃsāṃ prāpnuvanti ca || 127 ||

If those who, knowing their duty, and wishing to acquire merit, imitate the practices of righteous men, with the exception of reciting the sacred texts, they incur no guilt; they obtain praise.—(127)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

This is what the text proceeds to point out.

‘Desiring to acquire merit’—seeking for spiritual welfare.

‘Imitate the practice of righteous men’— betake themselves to the performance of acts done by good men;—‘with the exception of reciting sacred texts’—‘they incur no guilt.’ That is to say, they do not incur any guilt, if they perform such acts as fasting for a day, worshipping of gods, bowing to elders and Brāhmaṇas—all which are done by good men; in fact ‘they obtain praise’— as the distinct result of their act.

It will not be right to entertain the following notion—“the Śūdra incurs no guilt if he performs, without reciting the sacred texts, the Darśa-pūrṇamāsa and other rites, which are performed by twice-born men with the sacred texts.” Because these acts having been prescribed as to be done with sacred texts, if they are done without these texts, this would be distinctly contrary to the scriptures.

The exact significance of the phrase ‘with the exception of inciting the sacred texts’ has been already explained.

Says the revered Vyāsa—‘It is certain that the Śūdra does not become an outcast, nor is he worthy of sacraments; he is not entitled to the sacred rites prescribed in the Smṛtis; nor is any prohibition laid down against the sacred rites.

This also is only reiterative of what has been enjoined elsewhere.

The Śūdra does not become an outcast by eating garlic or drinking wine.

What is meant by his being ‘not worthy of sacraments’ has been already explained. It has been pointed out that, inasmuch as the Initiatory Rite has not been performed for him, the performance of the Śrauta rites is not open to him; but there is no prohibition against his performing those rites that are prescribed in the Smṛtis as to be performed by all men. To this end we have other Smṛti texts—‘He shall perform the Pākayajña rites’ (Gautama, 4.65),—‘Salutation also, without sacred texts, is permitted for him’ (Ibid. 4.64).

Some people have remarked that—“the Śūdra is only partially entitled to the performance of such rites as the Āvasathyādhāna (the kindling of the Household Fire), the Pārvaṇa, the Vaiśvadeva, the Pākayajña and so forth.”

But we do not understand what these men mean. By the Gṛhya-writers the Āvasathyādhāna has been prescribed distinctly for the three higher castes; by manu and other Smṛti-writers it has not been prescribed at all; all that they say is—‘they should perform the Gṛhya rites in the marriage-fire’ (Manu, 3.67). So being nowhere laid down, whence could there be any such ādhāna for the Śūdra? If it be held that the rite of kindling fire is implied by the injunction of the Pākayajña rites,—this also is not possible; since the Vaiśvadeva offerings (of the Pākayajña) could be done in the ordinary fire. In fact in all these matters, we have to accept only what is distinctly laid down in the texts, and it is not right to draw inferences. All this has been explained in connection with the term ‘marriage-fire’ (under 3.67).

By the term ‘Pārvaṇa’, if it is the Śrāddha that is meant, then we admit this, since the Aṣṭakā, the Pārvaṇa-śrāddha and the Vaiśvadeva offerings have all been prescribed for the Śūdra also. If however the performance of the Darśa-pūrṇamāsa be meant, this wo have already refuted.—(127)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Smṛtitattva II (p. 381), as prohibiting for Śūdras the performance of rites accompanied with the reciting of mantras;—and in Śāntimayūkha (p. 2), which quotes Medhātithi’s view that ‘this verse entitles Śūdras only to Fasts and such acts as are done without the use of Vedic mantras, and it is not meant that they are to do even those acts that require the use of mantras, but they are not to use mantras,’—and says that this view is not correct, because to Fasts and other such acts they are entitled by virtue of the injunctions of those acts themselves, and the present verse would be superfluous.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 10.126-127)

See Comparative notes for Verse 10.126.