Verse 8.11

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

यस्मिन् देशे निषीदन्ति विप्रा वेदविदस्त्रयः ।
राज्ञश्चाधिकृतो विद्वान् ब्रह्मणस्तां सभां विदुः ॥ ११ ॥

yasmin deśe niṣīdanti viprā vedavidastrayaḥ |
rājñaścādhikṛto vidvān brahmaṇastāṃ sabhāṃ viduḥ || 11 ||

That place, where three Brāhmaṇas learned in the Veda sit, as also the learned Brāhmaṇa appointed by the king,—they regard as the ‘Court of Brahman.’—(11)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

It has been declared that ‘having entered the Court, he shall look into the cases.’ As regards the word ‘sabhā,’ in ordinary language it is used in the sense of a particular apartment of the house; e.g., in the Mahābhārata it is said that the ‘excellent gold-burnished sabhā was built by Maya—sometimes it is also used in the sense of an assemblage of particular men. In order to preclude these two meanings of the term, the author states the definition of the ‘Sabhā,’ ‘Court,’ meant in the present context.

That place where three Brāhmaṇas learned in the Veda are brought together, as also the learned Brāhmaṇa appointed by the king,—or the person mentioned in the preceding verse,—that is the ‘Sabhā’ meant here.

The name of ‘Brahman’ has been mentioned for the purpose of extolling the Court; the sense being that ‘the Court constituted as here stated is as unexceptionable as that of Brahman himself.’—(11)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Smṛtitāttva (II, p. 199), to the effect that the court becomes a true ‘Court,’ only by reason of the presence of the duly qualified Brāhmaṇa-judge appointed by the king;—in Smṛticandrikā (Vyavahāra, p. 46), which explains ‘prakṛtaḥ’ as the appointed judge;—in Kṛtyakalpataru (8b);—in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra, 36 and 11b), which says that no stress is meant to be laid upon the number three, as the number may be larger, up to seven; what is meant is that they shall not be less than three;—and in Rājanītiratnākara (p. 17a).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Bṛhaspati (1.11).—‘That assembly is equal in sanctity to a sacrificial session in which there sit seven, or five or three Brāhmaṇas, who are acquainted with the world, with the Veda and with Law.’

Bṛhaspati (1.5).—‘A Court of Justice is composed of ten members; and an assembly of this sort, in which the King examines the cases attentively, is comparable to a religious session.’

Śukranīti (4.5.50-52).—‘The assembly in which there are seven, five, or even three Brāhmaṇas versed in human affairs, the Vedas and the Dharmaśāstras is like a sacrificial session.’

Śukranīti (4.5.72).—‘The ten requisites in the administration of justice are—the king, officers, councillors, smṛti-books, accountant, clerk, gold, fire, water and one’s own men.’

Nārada (3.18).—‘That is not a court where there are no elders; they are not elders who do not pass a just, sentence; that is not just sentence where there is no truth; that is not truth which is vitiated by error.’