Verse 4.92 [Daily Duties]

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

ब्राह्मे मुहूर्ते बुध्येत धर्मार्थौ चानुचिन्तयेत् ।
कायक्लेशांश्च तन्मूलान् वेदतत्त्वार्थमेव च ॥ ९२ ॥

brāhme muhūrte budhyeta dharmārthau cānucintayet |
kāyakleśāṃśca tanmūlān vedatattvārthameva ca || 92 ||

He shall wake up at the point of time sacred to Brahman, and then think over the means of acquiring Merit and wealth, of the bodily troubles involved therein, and also of the true meaning of the Veda.—(92).

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The night being divided into three parts, the last part is the ‘point of time sacred to Brahman;’ and it is at this time that one should renounce sleep.

Fully awakened at the said time, he shall ‘think over the means of acquiring merit (i.e., Duty) and Wealth’; he should also think over the bodily trouble involved in the performance of his duties (as bringing merit); and if he finds that a certain duty is an unimportant one, and yet its fulfilment involves much bodily trouble,—or, if he finds that it stands in the way of another Duty,—then he shall omit such a duty. Similarly, the means of acquiring Wealth also—such as service and the like—are the source of much trouble; and this also shall be omitted; in view of the principle that ‘one should protect oneself from all things.’

What is meant is that he should not do anything without having duly thought over it, and that he should not indulge in building castles in the air. It is the very nature of men that, when they are not outwardly engaged, there arise in their minds many fancies, in the form of a longing for obtaining what belongs to others, and so forth. And it is the avoiding of this that the text lays down, with a view to the man’s temporal interests.

At the said time, ‘the true meaning of the Veda’ should also be thought over, in its bearing upon causes and effects. That is, one should meditate, in the manner laid down in the Vedānta, upon the esoteric science of the Soul. Or, in connection with the ritualistic section of the Veda also, he should ponder over the real meaning of the texts; that is, in his own mind he should determine that ‘this is an Injunction,’ ‘this its meaning;’ ‘this the action prescribed,’ ‘this is the form of the act,’ ‘this is the Deity of this sacrifice,’ ‘this the material to be employed,’ ‘such and such a person is entitled to its performance,’ ‘such and such is the procedure to be adopted,’ and so forth. He should also ponder over the diverse explanations provided by the Commentators, and with the help of reason, he should decide whose explanation is correct and whose wrong.—(92).

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 158);—in Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 206), which explains ‘Vedatattvārtha’ as ‘the Supreme Self’;—in Madanapārijāta (p, 204);—and in Vīramitrodaya (Āhnika, p. 13), which explains ‘Brāhma muhūrta’ as ‘the last quarter of the night’, and adds that the time is so called because it is the time for the awakening of Brāhmī, i.e., Bhāratī, the goddess of speech; and that the term ‘muhūrta’ is to be taken as standing for time in general, and not in the restricted technical sense of a period of 48 minutes; and this on the ground that 48 minutes would not suffice for all those acts that are prescribed for being done after rising and before sunrise. It goes on to add that according to other Nibandhas, the last but one Muhūrta (48 minutes) of the night is called ‘Brāhma’, because it is sacred to Brahman. The conclusion that it arrives at is that those who have to perform all the acts of Vedic study and the rest should rise in the beginning of the last quarter of the night, i.e., at 3 a.m. while others in the third Muhūrta of that quarter, i.e., after 4-36 a.m. It explains ‘Tanmūlān’ as ‘due to those acts that are done for the sake of Dharma and Artha’; and the purpose for which all this is to be pondered over is that if the labour involved in a certain act is much, while the resultant Dharma or Artha is little, then it is to be avoided.—‘Vedatattvārtha’—here the term ‘tattva’ has been added for the purpose of excluding such meanings as might be deduced by wrong methods of interpretation; or ‘Vedatattvārtha’ might stand for Brahman.

This verse is quoted in Ācāramayūkha (p. 4), which explains ‘Vedatattvārtha’ as god, but quotes Śrīdatta to explain it as ‘nyāyapratītor’thaḥ’; it explains ‘brāhmamuhūrta’ as the last but one muhūrta of the night.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Viṣṇu (6.1).—‘Waking up at the point of time sacred to Brahman, he should evacuate the bladder and the bowels.’

Vaśiṣṭha (12.44).—‘Waking up at the latter end of night, he shall not go to sleep again.’

Vāmanapurāṇa (Vīramitrodaya-Āhnika, p. 16).—‘One shall rise at the moment sacred to Brahman, and think of the principal gods and sages.’

Yājñavalkya (1.115).—‘Waking up at the point of time sacred to Brahman, he shall ponder over his welfare, and he shall not neglect spiritual merit or wealth or pleasure, each at its proper time.’

Kūrmapurāṇa (1.2.18.3).—‘Waking up at the point of time sacred to Brahman, he shall ponder over spiritual merit and wealth, also over the bodily trouble involved therein; then he shall meditate upon God.’

Viṣṇupurāṇa (3.11.5-7).—‘Waking up at the point of time sacred to Brahman, the wise man shall ponder over spiritual merit as also such wealth as may not be obstructive of the former; he shall think also of pleasure to the extent that it does not stand in the way of the other two. Such wealth and pleasure as are obstructive of spiritual merit one must abandon; as also such means of acquiring spiritual merit as may be conducive to pain or condemned by the people.’

Mahābhārata (13.104.15).—‘He shall rise at the point of time sacred to Brahman, and then ponder over spiritual merit and wealth.’

Viṣṇu (Vīramitrodaya-Āhnika, p. 13).—‘Rising at the moment sacred to Brahman, he shall do all that has been declared to be conducive to Dharma.’

Dakṣa (Do.).—‘During the last two quarters of the night one shall be devoted to Vedic Study.’

Kāśikhaṇḍa (Do., 8.15).—‘The last half-quarter of ṭhe night is the moment sacred to Brahman; at that time should the wise man always rise and ponder over his welfare.’