Verse 8.54

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

अपदिश्यापदेश्यं च पुनर्यस्त्वपधावति ।
सम्यक् प्रणिहितं चार्थं पृष्टः सन्नाभिनन्दति ॥ ५४ ॥

apadiśyāpadeśyaṃ ca punaryastvapadhāvati |
samyak praṇihitaṃ cārthaṃ pṛṣṭaḥ sannābhinandati || 54 ||

He who, having put forward a statement, subsequently retracts; and who on being questioned regarding a fact (previously) duly alleged, does not support it;—(54)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The first half of the verse only re-iterates what has been said before, and it is only the second half that puts forward something new. What had been said in the first half of the preceding verse is exactly what is meant by the first half of the present verse.

‘Who having put forward a statement,’—having said something—‘subsequently retracts,’—deviates from it, saying

‘I am not sure about the time and place’.........,—ho also fails in his suit.

Having once ‘duly’—with certainty, and clearly—‘alleged a fact’,—if, ‘on being questioned about it’—what do you means?—By what evidence do you prove your case?’—if he loses faith in the allegation clearly made by himself, and proceeds to talk about irrelevant matters, with the motive that—‘after due investigation I am sure to lose the case, I may just as well get over a little time,’—then such a person also fails in his suit.

Or, the term ‘apadeśa’ may stand for fraud; the meaning being that if after having set up a fraud, he slinks away from it, saying—‘I have a severe headache now, I cannot answer any questions,’—or if he opens his case with false statements,—then also he fails in his suit.—(54)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Praṇihitam’—‘Duly stated by himself’ (Kullūka and Nandana);—‘stated by himself in the plaint’ (Govindarāja); ‘duly ascertained’ (Rāghavānanda and Nārāyaṇa).

This verse is quoted in Kṛtyakalpataru which has the following notes:—‘Apadiśya’, having put forward,—‘apadeśam’, pretext,—‘apadhāvati’,—retracts,—‘samyak praṇihitam artham,’ what has been stated clearly and definitely,—‘pṛsṭaḥ’, questioned as to what he has to say as against the statement of the other party, or what proofs he has in support of his own statement;—and in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra, 31b), which has the following explanations:—‘He who slinks away from the court under some pretext’,—‘who does not pay heed—by answering,—to what has been said by others, even though fully comprehending what has been said’;—it quotes Medhātithi as reading ‘adeśam’ and reproduces his several explanations.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.53-57)

See Comparative notes for Verse 8.53.