Verse 8.8 [Constitution of the Court of Justice (continued)]

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

एषु स्थानेषु भूयिष्ठं विवादं चरतां नृणाम् ।
धर्मं शाश्वतमाश्रित्य कुर्यात् कार्यविनिर्णयम् ॥ ८ ॥

eṣu sthāneṣu bhūyiṣṭhaṃ vivādaṃ caratāṃ nṛṇām |
dharmaṃ śāśvatamāśritya kuryāt kāryavinirṇayam || 8 ||

Taking his stand upon eternal morality, he shall form his decision on the suits of men who mostly carry on disputes in regard to the aforesaid points.—(8)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The addition of the adverb ‘mostly’ is for the purpose of indicating the importance of the said heads of dispute. As a matter of fact, there are several other points of dispute also; e.g., (a) ‘you gave me this house to live in; why then do you give it to another person before the lapse of a year?’ This cannot he regarded as included under ‘non-delivery of what has been given away’; because in this case there is no surrendering of ownership (which is a necessary condition in gifts); the dweller is only permitted to dwell in the house;—again, (b) ‘you have made a window in your house in front of my platform.’

‘Taking his stand upon eternal Morality’;—Wealth and Pleasure are not ‘eternal.’ Or, the term ‘eternal morality’ may mean that he should follow that law or custom the beginnings of which cannot be traced; while he should not pay heed to such customs as may have been adopted only by the present generation; as such custom is not eternal.—(8)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 596);—and in Kṛtyakalpataru (12b).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.4-8)

See Comparative notes for Verses 8.4-7.