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 8.38
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
यं तु पश्येन्निधिं राजा पुराणं निहितं क्षितौ ।
तस्माद् द्विजेभ्यो दत्त्वाऽर्धमर्धं कोशे प्रवेशयेत् ॥ ३८ ॥yaṃ tu paśyennidhiṃ rājā purāṇaṃ nihitaṃ kṣitau |
tasmād dvijebhyo dattvā'rdhamardhaṃ kośe praveśayet || 38 ||When the king himself finds a hoard buried of old under the ground, he shall give one-half of it to the Brāhmaṇas and have the other half put in his treasury.—(38)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
When the king himself has found treasure, this text lays down that he shall give one-half of it to the Brāhmaṇas.
The term ‘Treasury’ stands for the place of hoarding.
‘Buried of old under the ground’;—this describes the nature of the treasure-trove.—(38)
Comparative notes by various authors
Gautama (10.43).—(See under 37.)
Viṣṇu (3.56-57).—‘Of a Treasure-trove he must give one half to the Brāhmaṇas;—he may deposit the other half in his Treasury.’
Yajñavalkya (2.34).—‘Having found a Treasure-trove, the King shall give half of it to Brāhmaṇas;—the learned Brāhmaṇa however, may take the whole of what he finds; since he is the master of all.’
Agnipurāṇa (222.14).—‘The King shall deposit half of it in the Treasury and give the other half to Brāhmaṇas; the good Brāhmaṇa however takes the whole of the hidden treasure that he has found.’