Verse 2.245

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

न पूर्वं गुरवे किं चिदुपकुर्वीत धर्मवित् ।
स्नास्यंस्तु गुरुणाऽज्ञप्तः शक्त्या गुर्व्र्थमाहरेत् ॥ २४५ ॥

na pūrvaṃ gurave kiṃ cidupakurvīta dharmavit |
snāsyaṃstu guruṇā'jñaptaḥ śaktyā gurvrthamāharet || 245 ||

At first the pupil, knowing his duties, should not give anything to his teacher; but when going to take the final bath, he should, on being ordered by the teacher, present something for him, to the best of his capacity;—(245)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

This verse should be taken as prohibiting the making of presents to the Teacher by the Life-long Student; since it lays down the gift to the Teacher as to be presented only by the pupil who is going to take the Final Bath, which the Life-long Student never takes; and it is the Life-long Student that forms the subject of the context. As for the (the other kind of student, who is only in temporary residence), he does go on making presents to the Teacher, on every possible occasion, since the very day of the Initiatory Rite.

‘At first’;—i.e., before the final Bath.

‘Should not give anything to his Teacher’;—the verb ‘upakurvīta’ stands here for giving, such being the force of the prefix; so that the Dative in gurave is due to this verb itself. Or, the Teacher may be regarded as the person aimed at by the act (denoted by upakurvīta); and in this case the Dative would be in accordance with the Vārtika on Pāṇini 2.3.13.

‘But when going to take the Final Bath’;—i.e., when the time for the Final Bath has arrived;—‘being ordered by the teacher,’—in such words as ‘bring me such and such a thing,’—he should ‘to the best of his capacity’—as much as he may be able to bring,—‘present somethin,’ useful, ‘to the teacher.’

“But this verse contains (as you have asserted at the outset) the prohibition of the Life-long Student presenting anything to the Teacher [and how do you reconcile this with the latter half, which prescribes such giving?].”

True; but the verse does not contain two independent sentences,—one (the first half of the verse) prohibiting the gift, and the other (the second half) permitting it. The fact is that there is a clear injunction that at the Final Bath a gift should be made to the Teacher; and it is to this injunction that the preceding prohibition is subservient; for, If the present prohibition related to all kinds of beneñt to the Teacher, the entire body of injunctions laying down the service of the Teacher would become nullified; further, ‘gift’ is not the only benefit that can be conferred; so that there is no justification for restricting the prohibition of ‘benefit’ to the gift of money only, and not to the ‘doing of what is agreeable and beneficial to him.’ There is nothing incongruous in taking the passage in a sense which is not the literal meaning,—when the passage is a purely commendatory one; and it is quite clear that the two halves of the verse form one syntactical whole [hence the former is taken as subservient and supplementary to the latter].—(245)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Saṃskāra, p. 567) in support of the view that no ‘fee’ is to paid to the Teacher before the completion of study; and it adds that this ‘Concluding Bath’ is for the purpose of entering the married state,—and not for that of any other life-stage;—and in Smṛticandrikā (Saṃskāra, p. 179), which adds that this refers to the presenting of a living, there being no prohibition regarding other kinds of presents.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Gautama (2. 55, 56).—‘At the end of the study, he should approach the teacher with a present;—having done this, when permitted by him, he should take the Final Bath.’

Āpastamba Dharmasūtra (1. 7. 19).—‘Having finished his study, he shall present in the proper manner to the teacher as fee whatever may be in his power.’

Viṣṇu (28. 42).—‘After having acquired the Veda, he shall, when permitted by him, present to him something good and then take the Bath.’

Yājñavalkya (2. 1).—‘Having presented a good thing to the teacher, he shall take the Bath, with his permission; after having completed either the Veda or the observances, or both.’

Gobhila Gṛhyasūtra (3. 4. 1,2).—‘The Religious Student, after having studied the Veda, shall make a present to the Teacher.’

Āśvalāyana (Vīramitrodaya-Saṃskāra, p 573).—‘Having studied the four, or three or two Vedas, or a single Veda, the wise man should satisfy the teacher with fees, having obtained from his parents and relations the wealth necessary for it.’

Āśvalāyana (Vīramitrodaya-Saṃskāra, p. 575).—‘At the end of study, he should approach the teacher with a present and then perform the Bath.’

Śaunaka (Do.).—‘Having read the four Vedas and kept the observances, the pupil shall give to the teacher the fee that he can, and then, permitted by him, he shall perform the Samāvartana Rites.’

Laghu Hārīta (Do., p. 574).—‘That teacher who teaches a man a single syllable,—there is nothing on earth by giving which he would be free from the debt to him.’