Verse 11.172

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

एतास्तिस्रस्तु भार्यार्थे नोपयच्छेत् तु बुद्धिमान् ।
ज्ञातित्वेनानुपेयास्ताः पतति ह्युपयन्नधः ॥ १७२ ॥

etāstisrastu bhāryārthe nopayacchet tu buddhimān |
jñātitvenānupeyāstāḥ patati hyupayannadhaḥ || 172 ||

A wise man should never take these three as his wife; being blood-relations, they are not fit to be married; because by marrying them one sinks low.—(172)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

“The unmarriageability of these being already implied by the law that no ‘sapiṇḍa’ relation shall be wedded, for what special purpose does the present text assert that they are not fit to be married?”

Some people offer the following explanation:—It is asserted here with a view to permit the option of marrying such relations other than these three as have been precluded on the ground of Sapiṇḍa-relationship.

This, however, is not right Because the present text is meant to lay down the expiation necessary in the case of these three, which is different from that in the case of other Sapiṇḍa relations; and so long as this explanation of the text is possible, it would be highly improper to reject, even partially, the injunctions of the text forbidding the marrying of all ‘Sapiṇḍa relations’; options are admitted only when they cannot be avoided.

‘Jñāti’—blood-relation.

‘Not fit to be married’— not fit to be wedded, or for intercourse.

‘Marrying’— wedding.

‘Sinks low’— that is, he falls into hell; or it may mean that he becomes degraded in caste, comes to belong to a lower caste. Though in reality, a man’s caste cannot leave him so long as his body lasts, yet what is meant is that he ceases to be entitled to the performance of his caste-functions.—(172)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Saṃskāra, p. 714);—in Nirṇayasindhu (p. 198);—the first half in Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 470).

This verse is quoted in Smṛticandrikā (Saṃskāra,. p. 187).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Baudhāyana (2.1.37-38).—‘If he unintentionally marries a female belonging to the same Gotra as himself he shall support her, treating her as his mother. If such a woman has borne a child, he shall perform the Kṛcchra penance during three months and pour two oblations into the fire.’