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...

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

उपनीय तु तत् सर्वं शनकैः सुसमाहितः ।
परिवेषयेत प्रयतो गुणान् सर्वान् प्रचोदयन् ॥ २२८ ॥

upanīya tu tat sarvaṃ śanakaiḥ susamāhitaḥ |
pariveṣayeta prayato guṇān sarvān pracodayan || 228 ||

Having gently brought up all this, he shall, with collected mind and pure, serve it,—describing all its qualities.—(228)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Having brought up’—having presented before the Brāhmaṇas,—‘he shall serve it’—which means the placing of it in the dish in which the person eats. Though all that is meant by ‘serving’ is the placing of the food within reach of the diner,—yet this placing should be done in such a way that among the several persons dining, the articles of food shall not flow from one man’s dish into another’s.

Qualities,’—i.e., those qualities of the Hard and Soft food, which consist of acidity, etc.,—these he should describe, saying—‘this is acid—this is sweet,—this is a pastry’ and so forth. When they have been thus apprised, ‘he should give them whatever they relish most’—this has to be construed from what follows later on (in verse 231).

Gently’—this is a reiteration for filling up the metre.—(228)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Smṛtitattva (p. 230) without comment;—in Hemādri (Śrāddha, p. 1308);—in Gadādharapaddhati (Kāla, p. 546), which explains ‘guṇān’ as ‘sweetness and the rest’;—and in Śrāddhakriyākaumudī, (pp. 158 and 164), which explains ‘śanakaiḥ’ as ‘one after the other’, ‘guṇān prachodayan’ as ‘mentioning that this is sweet, this is acid, and so forth.’

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 3.226-228)

See Comparative notes for Verse 3.226.

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