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 3.142
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
यथैरिणे बीजमुप्त्वा न वप्ता लभते फलम् ।
तथाऽनृचे हविर्दत्त्वा न दाता लभते फलम् ॥ १४२ ॥yathairiṇe bījamuptvā na vaptā labhate phalam |
tathā'nṛce havirdattvā na dātā labhate phalam || 142 ||Just as having sown the seed in barren soil, the sower reaps no harvest,—even so, having given the offerings to one ignorant of the Veda, the giver obtains no reward.—(142)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
‘Barren soil’—Unproductive ground. that plot of land is called ‘barren’ on which if seed is sown, it does not sprout; there the ‘sower reaps no harvest.’
‘Even so,’ ‘to the person ignorant of die Veda’—‘having given the offerings made to gods and ancestors,—‘the giver obtains no reward.’
The term ‘anṛce’ is with the Locative ending; and the term ‘ṛk’ stands for the Veda in general.—(142)
Comparative notes by various authors
Mahābhārata (Anuśāsana, 90.45).—‘As seed sown in barren soil does not germinate and the sower does not reap even a part of the seed, so also the Śrāddha partaken of by undeserving persons confers no benefits either here or elsewhere.’