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:

मैत्रं प्रसाधनं स्नानं दन्तधावनमञ्जनम् ।
पूर्वाह्ण एव कुर्वीत देवतानां च पूजनम् ॥ १५२ ॥

maitraṃ prasādhanaṃ snānaṃ dantadhāvanamañjanam |
pūrvāhṇa eva kurvīta devatānāṃ ca pūjanam || 152 ||

In the forenoon, he shall perform the evacuation of bow els, toilette, bath, cleaning of the teeth, dying of the eyes, and the worship of the gods.—(152)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Among Vedic passages describing the limbs of animals, the excretory organ is called ‘Mitra;’ taking the term ‘Mitra’ in the same sense here also, its derivative ‘maitra’ is taken to mean the ‘clearing of the excretory organ’.

Toilette’—dressing of the hair, painting, and so forth. Or, the two terms ‘maitram’ and ‘prasādhanam’ may be construed together, as noun and adjective, which would mean that, even without passing any faeces, one should wash his excretory organ, just as the washing of the mouth after sleep has been prescribed as necessary, in view of the fact that, during sleep, saliva is sure to flow out; similarly, even in

the absence of any direct reason, it is necessary to wash the mouth as also the lower limbs of the body.

Others explain that ‘maitra’ means ‘the act of a maitra, friend the friendly act; and what the text means is that ‘friendly acts should be done before all other, even the most entimately necessary, acts but the precedence to be given is only over the acts that one may do for his own benefit, and not those that have to be done for the sake of cleanliness. In this case, the term ‘forenoon’ would mean only precedence over the other acts, and not the exclusion of the afternoon.

Or again, ‘Mitra’ may stand for the sun; and ‘Maitra’ in that case would mean ‘the worshipping of the Sun.’—(152)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Āhnika), on page 31, where it is noted that all this to be done in the forenoon is meant for persons not otherwise engaged;—that the term ‘Pūrvāhṇa’, ‘forenoon’, really stands for ‘early morning’, since ‘the evacuation of the bowels’, and ‘cleaning of the teeth’ have been laid down as to be done in the early mornings—Hence the term ‘forenoon’ should be taken to stand for such parts of the forenoon as have been specifically prescribed for each of the acts; thus it follows that the ‘evacuation of the bowels’, ‘cleaning of the teeth’ and ‘morning-bath’ cannot be done-after sun-rise in regard to the ‘worshipping of gods’, the term ‘forenoon’ should be understood as standing for the first eighth part of the day.—The verse is quoted again on page 148;—and in Nityācārapradīpa (p. 290).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Dakṣa (2.4-6).—‘What is to be done during the first part of the day is now prescribed,—as also that to be done during the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth parts of the day, generally: at dawn, one shall perform the evacuations, and then bath, preceded by the cleansing of the teeth.’

Dakṣa (30.31.33).—‘After that he shall perform his duty towards the gods, and then the seeing of the teacher and the auspicious things; the forenoon is the time prescribed for the duty to the gods; the duties to the gods should be performed during the forenoon; and those to the men, during midday; those to the pitṛs, in the afternoon...... If what has been laid down as to be done in the forenoon is done in the evening, it becomes absolutely futile.’

Kālaviveka (p. 367).—‘Duties to the gods should be performed during the forenoon, those to the Pitṛs, in the afternoon; but the unitary Śrāddha should be performed at midday, and the auspicious Śrāddha in the morning.’

Mahābhārata (Anuśāsana, 61.2).—‘Fully equipped with auspicious rites, duly purified and with due care, he shall perform the duty towards gods in the forenoon, and that towards Pitṛs in the afternoon.’

Do. (Do., 161.25).—(Same as Manu.)

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