Verse 4.37

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

नेक्षेतोद्यन्तमादित्यं नास्तं यान्तं कदा चन ।
नोपसृष्टं न वारिस्थं न मध्यं नभसो गतम् ॥ ३७ ॥

nekṣetodyantamādityaṃ nāstaṃ yāntaṃ kadā cana |
nopasṛṣṭaṃ na vāristhaṃ na madhyaṃ nabhaso gatam || 37 ||

He shall not look at the Sun when rising, nor when setting, nor when it is eclipsed, nor when it is in water, nor when it has reached the middle of the sky.—(37)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Eclipsed’—Hidden by eclipse.’

‘In water’—Reflected in water.

‘When it has reached the middle of the sky’—i.e., at midday—one shall not look at the Sun.—(37).

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 180);—in Mitākṣarā (on 1.135), in the sense that looking at the Sun is forbidden only at stated times, not always, as seems to be implied by Yājñavalkya’s words;—in Vīramitrodaya (Saṃskāra, p. 494), which explains ‘uparaktam’ (v. l. ‘upasṛṣṭam’) as ‘eclipsed’;—again on p. 578, as mentioning things that should not be looked at;—in Smṛtitattva (p. 162), which adds that the prohibition of looking at the eclipsed sun is not applicable to that seeing of the eclipse which has been clearly enjoined as conducive to great merit;—in Vidhānapārijāta (II, p. 476);—in Puruṣārthacintāmaṇi (p. 346);—in Hemādri (Kāla, p. 388) as prohibiting the house-holder seeing the eclipsed sun;—in Saṃskāramayūkha (p. 71);—in Smṛticandrikā (p. 124), which explains ‘upasṛṣṭam’ as ‘eclipsed’;—in Saṃskāraratnamālā (p. 292);—in Smṛtisāroddhāra (p. 320);—in Varṣakriyākaumudī (p. 94), which says that ‘īkṣaṇa’ cannot be taken as standing for mere knowing (as some people have held), and that it does not prohibit the first seeing of the eclipse, which is necessary to entitle the man to bathe; what is forbidden is only the unnecessary repeated seeing of the eclipse;—and in Śuddhikaumudī (p. 218).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Āpastamba Dharmasūtra (1.31.18).—‘One should avoid looking at the sun rising and setting.’

Viṣṇu (7.17, 18).—‘He shall not look at the sun rising,—nor when setting.’

Yājñavalkya (1.137).—‘He shall not look at the sun, nor at a naked woman....’

Pāraskara (2.7.6 ).—‘ He shall not do the following—looking at a water-reservoir, tree-climbing, fruit-gathering, entering a man-hole, public bathing, traversing dangerous situations, looking at the sun, and begging.’

Baudhāyana (2.3.31).—‘He shall not look at the sun at the time of rising or of setting.’

Hārīta (Aparārka, p. 180).—‘He shall not look at the naked man or the naked woman; nor the rising or setting sun and moon.’

Mahābhārata (13.104, 17-18).—[Same as Manu.]