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...

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

भूमावप्येककेदारे कालोप्तानि कृषीवलैः ।
नानारूपाणि जायन्ते बीजानीह स्वभावतः ॥ ३८ ॥

bhūmāvapyekakedāre kāloptāni kṛṣīvalaiḥ |
nānārūpāṇi jāyante bījānīha svabhāvataḥ || 38 ||

“In this world, seeds sown in season by the cultivators even in one and the same plot of land spring-forth in various forms, according to their nature”.—(38)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

What has been just said is further explained by means of an example.

In one and the same plot’— the particle ‘api’ being construed after ‘kedāre’—i.e., in one and the same field,—‘sown in season’,—i.e., at the time that may be fit for each of the seeds concerned,—‘by the cultivators,’—‘spring forth in various forms’,—each seed being produced in its own peculiar form.

If the soil were the more important factor, all the products would have been of one and the same quality; since the soil is one and the same for all.—(38)

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 9.31-44)

See Comparative notes for Verse 9.31.

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