Verse 3.119

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

राजर्त्विग्स्नातकगुरून् प्रियश्वशुरमातुलान् ।
अर्हयेन् मधुपर्केण परिसंवत्सरात् पुनः ॥ ११९ ॥

rājartvigsnātakagurūn priyaśvaśuramātulān |
arhayen madhuparkeṇa parisaṃvatsarāt punaḥ || 119 ||

He should receive, with the “honey-mixture,” the king, the priest, the accomplished Student, the Teacher, the Son-in-law, the Father-in-law and the Maternal uncle,—coming again after a year.—(119)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

In course of the entertaining of guests, the Text proceeds to lay down the special form of honouring of a few other respected persons also.

‘King’—stands here for the annointed king of men, and not for the mere Kṣatriya in general. The honour here prescribed is a very great one, and every Kṣatriya does not deserve it. Nor would it be right to speak of an ordinary Kṣatriya along with the ‘accomplished student’ and the ‘teacher;’ for there can be no similarity between the honour accorded to the Teacher and to an ordinary Kṣatriya. There are Vedic texts also indicative of the same conclusion. For instance, in the Ātithyeṣṭi-Brāhmaṇa we read—‘the guest is like a king of men arrived;’ and in connection with the rule of killing a cow for the offering of ‘Honey-mixture,’ we find the guest spoken of as ‘the killer of cows;’ all which goes to show that the said offering is meant for the king of men. Hence the honour here mentioned is to be paid to a king of men, irrespective of his being a Kṣatriya or not. But so far as the Śūdra king of men is concerned, no honours are to be paid to him which are accompanied by the recitation of Vedic Mantras.

“All that is prohibited is the uttering of mantras by the Śūdra; there is no prohibition of the reciting of mantras by the Brāhmaṇa and others at an offering made to the Śūdra.”

This does not affect our position; as the persons honoured have also got to recite certain mantras, such as ‘bhūtebhyastvā, &c.’

“But in the Mahābhārata we read of the Honey-mixture offered by the Śūdra also: ‘He himself offered to the Blessed Lord a seat fit for him, as also the Honey-mixture and the cow,’—where Vidura is described as offering it to Vāsudeva.”

In such cases, the term ‘honey-mixture’ is used figuratively in the sense of curd, which is one of the ingredients of that mixture; and, in common usage, the name of a thing is applied to another when the latter helps in the bringing into existence of the former; when, for instance, Butter is spoken of as ‘longevity’ itself.

From all this it is clear that the term ‘king’ here denotes the king of men, and not the mere Kṣatriya.

The term ‘priya’ has been declared to mean the son-in-law.

‘Accomplished student’—i.e., accomplished, not in learning ail’d observances both (but only in learniug, still keeping up the observances). If it had stood for one who has accomplished and finished both, then, since the ‘Teacher’ and the ‘Priest’ also would be such ‘accomplished students’ (there would be no point in mentioning these separately). As for people in the other states (of the Recluse, etc.), for these feeding on alms has been prescribed, and not eating in the manner of ‘guests.’ Or, the term ‘snātaka,’ ‘accomplished student’ may stand for one who has only recently completed his course of Vedic Study.

‘He should receive’—honour—all these.

The term ‘honey-mixture’ is the name of a rite; and the exact form of this rite is to be learnt from the Gṛhyasūtras.

‘Parisamvatsarān,’ ‘cominy after a year,’—qualifies the King and other persons to be honoured. The term means ‘over whom one year has passed.’ The meaning is that they are entitled to the honour of the ‘honey-mixture,’ if they come after a year, not before that.

Some people explain the verse to mean that if they, happen to come before the year, then, even though the full year may not have elapsed since the last offering was made, yet they are to receive the offering. Hut others hold that the honouring here prescribed is an annual function; and not as often as they may come; and under this view, the mere fact of their coming before the year is entirely out cannot be an obstacle to the honour being offered.

Another reading is ‘parisamvatsarāt;’ which means that the honour is to be held in abeyance for a year; after that they should be honoured.—(119)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Priyaḥ’—‘Son-in-law’ (Medhātithi, Govindarāja, Kullūka and Rāghavānanda);—‘Friend’ (Nārāyaṇa and Nandana).

‘Parisaṃvatsarān’—Kullūka reads ‘parisaṃvatsarāt.’

“The Mahābhārata has here parisaṃvatsaroṣitān, ‘gone a year on a journey.’”—(Hopkins).

This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Āhnika, p. 454) as laying down the ‘Madhuparka’ offering for the King and some others.

Medhātithi (Footnote, p. 237.)—The printed editions have wrongly treated the verse ‘yadyadiṣṭatamam &c.’ as Manu’s text. It is only a part of Medhātithi’s comment, quoted by him as the ‘Smṛtyantara’ referred to by him in line 16.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 3.119-120)

Gautama (5.28-30).—‘The Priest, the Teacher, the Father-in-law, the paternal uncle and the maternal uncle,—when these arrive the Honey-mixture is to be offered; again on the lapse of a year; and also before the marriage and the sacrifice.’

Āpastamba-Dharmasūtra (2.8.5-9).—‘The Vedic Scholar deserves the cow and the honey-mixture; as also the Teacher, the Priest, the Accomplished Student, and the King, if he be righteous; to the Teacher, the Priest, the Father-in-law and the King, the cow and the Honey-mixture shall be offered when they come after the lapse of one year; the Honey-mixture consists of curd mixed with honey, or water mixed with honey, or, in the absence of other things, water only.’

Vaśiṣṭha (11.1).—‘Six persons deserve to be honoured: the Priest, the bridegroom, the king, the paternal uncle, the Accomplished Student and the maternal uncle.’

Yājñavalkya (1.109-110).—‘One shall offer either a big bull or a big goat to the Vedic scholar, as also honour, attendance, delicious food and sweet words; once every year are to be entertained the Accomplished Student, the Teacher, the King; as also the friend and the bridegroom, and the Priests when going to officiate at a sacrifice.’

Āśvalāyana-Gṛhyasūtra (1.24.1-4).—‘After having appointed the Priest, he shall offer to him the Honey-mixture; also to an Accomplished Student that may happen to arrive; also to the King, the Teacher, the Father-in-law, the paternal uncle and the maternal uncle.’

Pāraskara (1.3. 1-3).—‘Six persons deserve to be honoured: the Teacher, the Bridegroom, the King, the dear friend, and the Accomplished Student; these shall be entertained once every year; also the Priests that are going to officiate at a sacrifice.’

Gobhila (4.10.23-26).—‘Six persons are deserving of the honour of entertainment: the Teacher, the Priest, the Accomplished Student, the Bridegroom, the dear friend and the guest; these should be entertained after the lapse of one year; and also at marriage and at a sacrifice.’