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 4.74
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
नाक्षैर्दीव्येत् कदा चित् तु स्वयं नोपानहौ हरेत् ।
शयनस्थो न भुञ्जीत न पाणिस्थं न चासने ॥ ७४ ॥nākṣairdīvyet kadā cit tu svayaṃ nopānahau haret |
śayanastho na bhuñjīta na pāṇisthaṃ na cāsane || 74 ||He shall never gamble with dice; he shall not himself carry his shoes; he shall not eat, seated on a bed; nor what has been placed in his hand or on the seat.—(74)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
Even without stakes, in mere joke also, ‘he shall never gamble with dice.’ The term ‘never’ is used for the purpose of precluding the use of sticks, and such other implements also. Hence all kinds of gambling are forbidden.
His shoes, made of leather, he shall not carry from one place to another, ‘himself’—i.e., taking them in his own hand, or hanging them on his stick. This prohibition applies to one’s own shoes, as is clear from the term ‘himself;’ hence the carrying of the shoes belonging to one’s Teacher or other superiors is not forbidden.
‘On a bed,’—seated on a conch, and such other things—‘he shall not eat;’ nor placing the food-morsel on his hand; nor placing the food on the sent, without an intervening dish. That this pertains to the food, and not to the eater, is clear from the juxtaposition of what has gone before.—(74)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
‘Na pāṇistham’—‘Placed in the left hand’ (Nārāyaṇa);—‘served in the hand, and not in a dish’ (Medhātithi and Kullūka).
Comparative notes by various authors
Gautama (9.33).—‘Blowing the fire with the mouth......, eating seated on the stool........., these he shall avoid.’
Baudhāyana (3.2.26-27).—‘He shall not eat food on his lap; he shall not eat seated on the stool.’
Vaśiṣṭha (12.33).—‘He shall not eat food on his lap; nor seated on a stool.’
Viṣṇu (6.8.19).—‘[He shall not eat while] on the bed.’
Viṣṇu (71.45).—‘He shall avoid gambling.’
Yājñavalkya (1.138).—‘He shall not drink water in his hands...... nor shall he gamble with dice.’
Gobhila (3.5.12).—‘He shall not carry his own shoes.’