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 8.229 [Disputes between Owner and Keeper]

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

पशुषु स्वामिनां चैव पालानां च व्यतिक्रमे ।
विवादं सम्प्रवक्ष्यामि यथावद् धर्मतत्त्वतः ॥ २२९ ॥

paśuṣu svāmināṃ caiva pālānāṃ ca vyatikrame |
vivādaṃ sampravakṣyāmi yathāvad dharmatattvataḥ || 229 ||

I am going to expound fully the true law relating to disputes between owners and keepers arising from transgressions regarding cattle.—(229)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

In regard to ‘cattle’— such as cows and the like—there may be some ‘transgressions’; and from those may arise ‘disputes between their owners and keepers’;—the owner saying—‘you have destroyed my cow, give her to me’;—on which the keeper retorts—‘There was no neglect on my part.’ The ‘true law’—the established rule—that governs such disputes—that ‘I am going to describe fully.’

This summing up of the sense of the entire section is put forth for the purpose of securing the attention of the audience.—(229)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 170), which adds that ‘paśuṣu’ stands for such cattle as form the subject-matter of dispute;—in Parāśaramādhava, (Vyavahāra, p. 262), which explains ‘vivādam’ as method of settling the dispute;—and in Kṛtyakalpataru (104 b).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.229-230)

Viṣṇu (5.137-138).—‘Cattle being attacked, during daytime, by wolves or other ferocious animals, and the keeper not going to repel the attack, the blame shall fall upon him;—and he shall make good to the owner the value of the cattle that may have perished.’

Yājñavalkya (2.164).—‘The cowherd shall deliver, in the evening, the cattle exactly as they had been made over to him; if any cattle dies or becomes lost through his negligence, the hired cowherd should be made to replace them.’

Nārada (6.11-13).—‘Those cows which a cowherd takes to the pasture every day when the night is over, he shall bring back again in the evening, after they have eaten and drunk. If such a cow meets with an accident, he shall struggle to save her as best he may; if he is unable to rescue her, he shall go quickly to announce it to his master. Should he neither struggle to save her, nor raise a cry, nor announce it to his master, the cowherd shall make good the value of the cow to the owner, and must pay a fine to the King.’

Bṛhaspati (16.20).—‘A cowherd saves cattle from danger of reptiles, robbers and tigers, and from caverns or pits; let him try his best to protect them, call out for help, and give notice to his master.’

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