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 2.76
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
अकारं चाप्युकारं च मकारं च प्रजापतिः ।
वेदत्रयान्निरदुहद् भूर्भुवः स्वरितीति च ॥ ७६ ॥akāraṃ cāpyukāraṃ ca makāraṃ ca prajāpatiḥ |
vedatrayānniraduhad bhūrbhuvaḥ svaritīti ca || 76 ||Out of the three Vedas, Prajāpati milked the letter ‘a,’ the letter ‘u’ and the letter ‘m’; as also the syllables ‘bhūḥ-bhuvaḥ-svaḥ.’—(76)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
This verse is a valedictory supplement to the foregoing injunction.
The syllable ‘oṁ’ is an aggregate of the three letters ‘a,’ ‘u’ and ‘m’; and the present verse describes the origin of each of these.
‘Out of the three Vedas’—from the three Vedas.
‘Milked’—churned out; just as butter is churned out of the curd.
Not only the three letters, but also something else, in the shape of the syllables ‘bhūḥ-bhuvaḥ-svaḥ.’—(76)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 33), as laying down the exact form of the Praṇava and of the three Mahāvyāhṛtis.
Comparative notes by various authors
Viṣṇu-Smṛti, 55.10.—[The same words as Manu.]
Baudhāyana-Dharmasūtra, 2. 10. 69.—‘The Praṇava is the soul of the Veda.’