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 7.22
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
सर्वो दण्डजितो लोको दुर्लभो हि शुचिर्नरः ।
दण्डस्य हि भयात् सर्वं जगद् भोगाय कल्पते ॥ २२ ॥sarvo daṇḍajito loko durlabho hi śucirnaraḥ |
daṇḍasya hi bhayāt sarvaṃ jagad bhogāya kalpate || 22 ||It is by punishment that all people are kept under control; for an absolutely guileless man is hard to find; it is through fear of punishment that the world subserves the experiences (of men).—(22).
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
A man who, by his very nature, is ‘guileless’, in matters relating to duty, wealth and pleasures, is ‘hard to find,’ can be met with difficulty. In fact, it is ‘by punishment’ that a man is ‘kept under control’, kept firm in the right path; through fear of it, he does not give free vent to his desires.
‘The world subserves etc.’—This has been already explained (under 15).—(22)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Rājanīti, p. 286), which adds the explanation that it is difficult to have any one pure by his very nature; in most cases it is only through fear of punishment that people are kept on the right path.—It is quoted again on p. 292;—and in Vivādacintāmaṇi (p. 263).
Comparative notes by various authors
Mahābhārata (12.15.34).—(Same as Manu.)