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 11.185
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
ज्येष्ठता च निवर्तेत ज्येष्ठावाप्यं च यद् धनम् ।
ज्येष्ठांशं प्राप्नुयाच्चास्य यवीयान् गुणतोऽधिकः ॥ १८५ ॥jyeṣṭhatā ca nivarteta jyeṣṭhāvāpyaṃ ca yad dhanam |
jyeṣṭhāṃśaṃ prāpnuyāccāsya yavīyān guṇato'dhikaḥ || 185 ||The right of primogeniture shall be withheld, as also the additional share of property due to the eldest; the additional share due to him as the eldest shall be obtained by his younger brother, who is superior to him in quality.—(185)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
‘The additional share of property due to the eldest.’—In connection with this, the following objection is raised:—“The declaration that all property shall be withheld from him clearly implies the withholding also of the additional share due to the eldest”
In answer to this some people explain that the said withholding is reiterated in the present verse, for the purpose of laying down that the said share shall devolve upon the younger brother who excels him in quality.
Others however think that the term ‘Property’ stands for all kinds of wealth, not for the hereditary property only; as in the lexicon we find ‘dāyādya’ (which is the word used in the preceding verse) mentioned as a synonym for ‘dhana’, ‘property.’ Hence what is meant by the withholding of ‘property’ from him means that one may not pay to him what may have been borrowed from him; what the debtor should do is to repay the same to the man’s son, brother or other heirs.
Others again hold that the withholding of ‘property’ is meant to apply to the case where the property has not been previously divided, while what is meant by the present verse is that if division has already taken place, all that shall be taken away from him is only the additional share that he may have received by virtue of his being the eldest brother; so that even though the man may have sons, they shall inherit all the rest of his property, save the said additional share.—(185)
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 11.182-185)
See Comparative notes for Verse 11.182.