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 8.269
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
समवर्णे द्विजातीनां द्वादशैव व्यतिक्रमे ।
वादेष्ववचनीयेषु तदेव द्विगुणं भवेत् ॥ २६९ ॥samavarṇe dvijātīnāṃ dvādaśaiva vyatikrame |
vādeṣvavacanīyeṣu tadeva dviguṇaṃ bhavet || 269 ||Among twice-born men, when there is offence against an equal, the fine is twelve only in the case of unutterable abuses, it shall be double.—(269)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
If a once-born person insults a twice-born one with gross abuse, he should suffer the cutting off of his tongue; as he is of low origin.—(270)
‘Once-born person’—the Śūdra; if he ‘insults’—abuses—the higher castes—‘with gross abuse’—harsh words attributing heinous offences,—suffers ‘the cutting off of the tongue.’
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 149), which adds the following notes:—No special stress is meant to be laid here on the mention of the ‘twice-born’ (what is stated being equally applicable to all castes);—‘vyatikrame’ means defamation, other than the divulging, of a secret, which latter is what is spoken of by the phrase ‘vāde avacanīye.’
It is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra, 49a).
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 8.267-270)
See Comparative notes for Verse 8.267.