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 8.403
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
तुलामानं प्रतीमानं सर्वं च स्यात् सुलक्षितम् ।
षट्सु षट्सु च मासेषु पुनरेव परीक्षयेत् ॥ ४०३ ॥tulāmānaṃ pratīmānaṃ sarvaṃ ca syāt sulakṣitam |
ṣaṭsu ṣaṭsu ca māseṣu punareva parīkṣayet || 403 ||Scales, weights and measures should be duly marked; and they should be re-examined after every six months.—(403)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
‘Scales’—well known.
‘Weights’—Seer, 2½ seers and so forth.
‘Measures’—whereby gold and other similar things are weighed.
All this should be duly marked—with the royal sign—on all sides; the king should himself examine them and mark them with his own seal.
After every six months he should have them re-examined by his officers, so that no one might tamper with them.—(403)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 301), which explains ‘pratimānam’ as prices of stone and other materials stamped with a royal mark, which are used for determining the exact weight of gold;—and in Vyavaharā-Bālambhaṭṭī (p. 940).
Comparative notes by various authors
Śaṅkha-Likhita.—(See above, under 402.)
Vaśiṣṭha (19.13).—‘The measures and weights of objects necessary for the household must be guarded against falsification.’
Śukranīti (1.619).—‘All measures should be definitely fixed and examined by the King.’
Arthaśāstra (I, p. 256).—‘The officer in charge of weights and measures shall see to the setting up of instruments for measurement.’