Verse 9.10

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

न कश्चिद् योषितः शक्तः प्रसह्य परिरक्षितुम् ।
एतैरुपाययोगैस्तु शक्यास्ताः परिरक्षितुम् ॥ १० ॥

na kaścid yoṣitaḥ śaktaḥ prasahya parirakṣitum |
etairupāyayogaistu śakyāstāḥ parirakṣitum || 10 ||

No man can guard women forcibly; they can however be guarded by the employment of these expedients.—(10)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

This verse serves to eulogise the expedients going to be described.

‘Forcibly’—by shutting them up by force in a harem or by banishing other men, and so forth—they cannot be guarded.

But they can be guarded by the employment of expedients;—i.e., by employing, making use of, these ‘expedients’, means.—(10)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 416);—in Parāśaramādhava (Vyavahāra, p. 323), which adds the explanation;—‘Inasmuch as it is not possible to guard them

by force, they should be employed in such work as will not leave them time for thinking of other men;—thus would they be guarded against evil;—in Madanapārijāta (p. 192);—in Nṛsiṃhaprasāda (Vyavahāra, 32a);—and in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra, 158b), which explains ‘prasahya’ as ‘by force, by keeping cooped up’; it adds that what is meant is that even though by forcible detention you can guard her body from misbehaviour, yet that cannot guard against the uṅcleanliness of her mind.