Verse 8.19

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

राजा भवत्यनेनास्तु मुच्यन्ते च सभासदः ।
एनो गच्छति कर्तारं निन्दाऽर्हो यत्र निन्द्यते ॥ १९ ॥

rājā bhavatyanenāstu mucyante ca sabhāsadaḥ |
eno gacchati kartāraṃ nindā'rho yatra nindyate || 19 ||

Where, however, the person deserving of censure is actually censured, there the king becomes sinless, the members of the court become freed, and the sin falls upon the perpetrator.—(19)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The same idea is stated conversely.

Where the guilty person is not able to hide his guilt, and his guilt is duly exposed, then everything turns out to be right.

From verse 14 onwards we have a set of supplementary exaggerations, containing praises and condemnations indicating the good and bad results,—put forward for the purpose of forbidding the actual committing of injustice, as also the conniving at it (being committed by others).

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 604);—in Parāśaramādhava (Vyavahāra, p. 26), to the effect that the king becomes absolved from all sin if he shows complete impartiality;—in Smṛtitattva (II, p. 200) which adds the following notes:—‘Kartāram’ means the ‘speaker’, the perjuror,—the term ‘rājā’ here stands for the Judge, —‘anenāḥ’ means ‘free from sin’;—in Smṛticandrikā (Vyavahāra, p. 48);—and in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra, 5a).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Nārada (3.13).—‘The King is freed from responsibility, the members of the Court obtain their absolution, and the guilt rests on the offender,—when the guilty person is punished.’

Bodhāyana (1.19.8).—‘When he who deserves condemnation is condemned, the King is guiltless and the judges free from blame; the guilt falls on the offender alone.’

Hārita( Vyavahāratattva).—(Same as Manu.)