Verse 4.139

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

भद्रं भद्रमिति ब्रूयाद् भद्रमित्येव वा वदेत् ।
शुष्कवैरं विवादं च न कुर्यात् केन चित् सह ॥ १३९ ॥

bhadraṃ bhadramiti brūyād bhadramityeva vā vadet |
śuṣkavairaṃ vivādaṃ ca na kuryāt kena cit saha || 139 ||

What is (not) well, he shall call “well”; or, he shall simply say “well;” he shall not create needless enmity or dispute with any one.—(139)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The first ‘bhadra’ (well) they have explained as with the negative particle understood; the sense being—‘what is not well, he shall call well.’

The particle ‘iti’ (after ‘bhadran’) is meant to be indicative; the meaning being that “one shall make use of such agreeable words as ‘Kalyāṇam’ (welfare), ‘maṅyalam’ (auspicious), ‘siddhan’ (accomplished), ‘śreyaḥ’ (good), and so forth.

If we regard the first term ‘bhadran’ also as indicative of like words, the meaning would be—‘If a man is blind, he should be spoken of as with eyes; if he is illiterate, he should be spoken as learned’ and so forth.

Or, in all these cases, ‘he shall simply say “well.”’

‘Needless enmity.’—When there is no monetary or other interest involved, he shall not make use of words in a mere bravado.

Similarly, he shall not create dispute in the king’s court. The epithet ‘needless’ applies to this also.

‘With any one’—i.e., even with a weaker party.—(139)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Madanapārijāta (p. 117);—and in Vīramitrodaya (Saṃskāra, p. 573);—neither of this provides any explanations.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Gautama (9.21).—‘What is not well, he shall call well.’

Āpastamba Dharmasūtra (1.11.31.12).—‘What is not well he shall call well; he shall call it sacred, excellent.’

Viṣṇu (71.72-74).—‘He shall not say what is indecent; nor what is untrue; nor what is disagreeable.’

Yājñavalkya (1.132).—(See above.)

Gobhila (3.5.19-20).—‘He shall avoid such words as well, when it is not needed. He shall say well.’