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 12.70
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
स्वेभ्यः स्वेभ्यस्तु कर्मभ्यश्च्युता वर्णा ह्यनापदि ।
पापान् संसृत्य संसारान् प्रेष्यतां यान्ति शत्रुषु ॥ ७० ॥svebhyaḥ svebhyastu karmabhyaścyutā varṇā hyanāpadi |
pāpān saṃsṛtya saṃsārān preṣyatāṃ yānti śatruṣu || 70 ||If men of the various castes deviate from their occupations, under normal conditions, they migrate into vile migratory states and become servants among robbers.—(70)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
If the Brāhmaṇa gives up his own means of livelihood,—such as Teaching and the rest,—and takes to the occupations of the Kṣatriya and other castes;—similarly if the Kṣatriya and others ‘deviate from their occupations’;—they ‘migrate into vile migratory states’—undergoing the experiences of animals;—and when they come to be born among men, they become servants among ‘Dasyus,’—i.e., robbers and other harmful men.
‘In normal times’—This is a mere reiteration; since such deviation having been permitted in abnormal times, there would be no impropriety involved in it.—(70)