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 4.236 [Avoid Pious Vanity]
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
न विस्मयेत तपसा वदेदिष्ट्वा च नानृतम् ।
नार्तोऽप्यपवदेद् विप्रान्न दत्त्वा परिकीर्तयेत् ॥ २३६ ॥na vismayeta tapasā vadediṣṭvā ca nānṛtam |
nārto'pyapavaded viprānna dattvā parikīrtayet || 236 ||He shall not be proud of his austerities; having offered a sacrifice, he shall not utter a lie; even when tormented, he shall not revile the brāhmaṇas; having bestowed a gift, he shall not advertise it.—(236)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
When he performs an austerity, he shall not boast of it,—‘I have performed a most severe austerity, extremely difficult to perform;’ he shall not entertain any such idea.
‘Having performed a sacrifice, he shall not utter a lie.’—Though lying in general has been forbidden, in connection with what is desirable for men, yet it is forbidden again, with a view to indicate that the avoidance of untruth is an essential factor in sacrifices also; and that, if there is a transgression of this, the performance of the Jyotiṣṭoma, etc., would become defective.
‘Tormented’— by the Brāhmaṇas—‘he shall not revile’—abuse, speak ill of—them.
‘Having bestowed a gift’— in the form of the cow and such other things,—‘he shall not advertise it’ before another person, saying, ‘Such and such a gift has been bestowed by me.’—(236)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Hemādri (Dāna, p. 90).
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 4.234-239)
See Comparative notes for Verse 4.234.