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:

यानि राजप्रदेयानि प्रत्यहं ग्रामवासिभिः ।
अन्नपानेन्धनादीनि ग्रामिकस्तान्यवाप्नुयात् ॥ ११८ ॥

yāni rājapradeyāni pratyahaṃ grāmavāsibhiḥ |
annapānendhanādīni grāmikastānyavāpnuyāt || 118 ||

The Village-lord shall get daily those things that ought to be furnished to the King by the villagers, in the shape of food, drink, fuel and the rest.—(118)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

This lays down the means of subsistence for the Village-lord. ‘Village-lord’—the officer in charge of one village,—‘shall get’—obtain—‘those things’ for his subsistence, which ‘ought to be furnished to the King by the villagers.’

Food etc.’—i.e., the sixth or eighth part of the corn produced;—as is going to be prescribed under 10.120 etc.—(118)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Rājanīti, p. 250), which explains the meaning to be that the ‘lord of the village’ should receive for his living only the food, drink and fuel and such other things as are due to be presented to the king,—and not the annual rent;—this annual rent being realised by the king himself through a trusted official.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Mahābhārata (2.87.6).—‘The lord of the village shall take all the eatables that may be produced in the village he shall maintain the lord of ten villages who, in his turn, shall maintain the lord of a hundred villages.’

Śukranīti (1.631-635).—‘The heads of villages are to receive one-twelfth of the income from the village, the army

is to be maintained by three such parts, charity with half such part, entertainment of the people with that same part; officers are to he paid out of half such part; and personal expenditure is to he met with half that part; the balance to go to swell the State Treasury.’

Mahābhārata (12.87.6-8).—‘The Lord of hundred villages shall enjoy one village, which is large, prosperous and well-populated. The Lord of a thousand villages enjoys a Śākhā-nagara, a sub-city.’

Like what you read? Consider supporting this website: