Verse 8.361

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

न सम्भाषां परस्त्रीभिः प्रतिषिद्धः समाचरेत् ।
निषिद्धो भाषमाणस्तु सुवर्णं दण्डमर्हति ॥ ३६१ ॥

na sambhāṣāṃ parastrībhiḥ pratiṣiddhaḥ samācaret |
niṣiddho bhāṣamāṇastu suvarṇaṃ daṇḍamarhati || 361 ||

One should not converse with the wives of other men, when forbidden. If, on being forbidden, he does converse, he becomes liable to be fined one ‘suvarṇa.’—(361)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Some people think that the punishment here laid down is meant for the case where mendicants and the rest first mentioned carry on the conversation, even after being forbidden.

This however is not right. It has been said that these men are not to be forbidden. Then again, how could the fine of a ‘suvarṇa’ be imposed upon a mendicant?

Hence the person meant to be fined one ‘suvarṇa’ is one who, even though not previously accused, has been forbidden by the woman’s husband, and yet goes on conversing with her.—(361)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 386);—in Vyavahāra-Bālambhaṭṭī (p. 1011);—and in Vivādacintāmaṇi (p. 173), which explains ‘niṣiddhaḥ’ as ‘forbidden by the husband or other relatives of the woman.’

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Yājñavalkya (2.285).—‘If a man converses with a woman who has been forbidden to do so, the woman shall be fined one hundred, and the man, two hundred; if both have been previously forbidden, the punishment for conversing shall be the same as in adultery.’

Matsyapurāṇa (Aparārka, p. 856).—‘A mendicant male or female, a player,—if these enter the residence of women, after being forbidden, they shall be fined two hundred; and the man who may have admitted them, or who affords them the opportunity for entering, shall be punished like an adulterer.’