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 1.72 [‘Day and Night’ of Brahmā]

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

दैविकानां युगानां तु सहस्रं परिसङ्ख्यया ।
ब्राह्ममेकमहर्ज्ञेयं तावतीं रात्रिमेव च ॥ ७२ ॥

daivikānāṃ yugānāṃ tu sahasraṃ parisaṅkhyayā |
brāhmamekamaharjñeyaṃ tāvatīṃ rātrimeva ca || 72 ||

The ‘Time-cycles’ of the Gods, one thousand in number, should be regarded as one ‘day’ of brahmā; and (his) ‘night’ also is of the same extent.—(72)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Thousand ‘Time-cycles’ of the Gods make one ‘day’ of Brahmā.—Brahmā’s night also ‘is of the same extent’—i.e., as long as thousand ‘Time-cycles’ of the Gods.—‘In number’ —i.e., which in computation, is one thousand; the adding of this term is only for the purpose of tilling up the verse; for a thing cannot be spoken of as a‘thousand’ except in number.

The instrumental ending (in ‘Sāṅkhyayā’) denotes causality.

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