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...

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

न साक्षी नृपतिः कार्यो न कारुककुशीलवौ ।
न श्रोत्रियो न लिङ्गस्थो न सङ्गेभ्यो विनिर्गतः ॥ ६५ ॥

na sākṣī nṛpatiḥ kāryo na kārukakuśīlavau |
na śrotriyo na liṅgastho na saṅgebhyo vinirgataḥ || 65 ||

The king should not be made a witness; nor craftsmen, nor actors, nor a Vedic scholar, nor one in holy orders, nor one who has renounced all attachments.—(65)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

At the time that one is lending out money, the king should not he made a party to the transaction by being requested to the effect ‘yon shall he my witness.’ Because if the king gave evidence, people would suspect him of partiality,—being all-powerful as he is; and tin’s would lead to the detriment of the interest of one or the other;—nor would it be proper to question the king in the same manner as an ordinary witness. Though being an inhabitant of the same place, the king might corroborate statements by means of written notes, yet what is forbidden is his appearance as a regular witness of the ordinary class.

As for craftsmen and the rest, they should not be made witnesses for fear of injury to their business. These men live by the good-will of the people; and it is human nature that though men know (that their case is false), yet the mere consideration that they are losing it leads them to bear a grudge against the witnesses and others; and thus the universal goodwill of the artisan and the rest becomes lost, further, in as much as these men are of mean nature, they are prone to being diverted from the path of honesty, and hence becoming partial.

As regards the ‘Vedic scholar,’ what is denied is not his trustworthiness, but the propriety of his appearing as a witness; just as in the case of the king. Because the foot of the man being a ‘Vedic scholar’ does not deprive him of his trustworthiness; on the contrary, it only intensifies it to a special degree; and (his for the same reason that Vedic scholarship has never been found to be the instigator of perjury.

Similarly with those that follow.

Craftsmen’—those that make a living by some crafts; such as cooks and the like.

Actors’—dancers, singers and so forth.

Vedic scholar’—one who studies the Veda; the person meant here is one who is always engaged in Vedic study. Or, ‘Vedic scholarship’ may be taken as indicating the performance of religions rites; and in that, case the prohibition would apply to one who is engaged in such performance;—the work of the witness being prejudicial to such rites.

One in holy orders’—the Religious student. As for those who merely wear the badge of the Wandering Mendicant, or of the heretical orders,—these are inadmissible on the ground of their following the heretical scriptures.

One toko has renounced attachments’—This stands for those householders who have ‘renounced the Veda.’ ‘Attachment’ means either the repeated enjoyment of sensual objects, or the undertaking of acts for ordinary worldly purposes—.(65)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

Kuśīlava’—‘Actors, dancers singers and so forth’ (Medhātithi);—‘actors’ (Nārāyaṇa);—‘actors and so forth’ (Govindarāja and Kullūka);—‘singers’ (Nandana).

This verse is quoted in Parāśaramādhava (Vyavahāra, p. 66);—in Nṛsiṃhaprasāda (Vyavahāra, p. 10a);—in Vyavahāra-Bālambhaṭṭī (p. 281);—in Smṛticandrikā, (Vyavahāra, p. 177);—in Kṛtyakalpataru (80b);—and in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra, 49b), which reproduces Medhātithi’s, explanation.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.64-67)

See Comparative notes for Verse 8.64.

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