Verse 9.55

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

एष धर्मो गवाश्वस्य दास्युष्ट्राजाविकस्य च ।
विहङ्गमहिषीणां च विज्ञेयः प्रसवं प्रति ॥ ५५ ॥

eṣa dharmo gavāśvasya dāsyuṣṭrājāvikasya ca |
vihaṅgamahiṣīṇāṃ ca vijñeyaḥ prasavaṃ prati || 55 ||

This same law should be understood as applying to the offspring of cows, mares, slave-girls, she-camels, she-goats and ewes; as also of birds and buffaloes.—(55)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

Cows and horses, etc. are added here in order to prevent the notion being entertained that the laws laid down here are meant only for children; or it may be regarded as added for the purpose of precluding the notion that they are meant to apply to only seeds, fruits and crops, as is already known among people.

The same law applies to quadrupeds, and bipeds, as also to immovable things.

‘This’—refers to what has been said in the preceding two verses:—viz. (1) when there is no compact, the produce belongs to the owner of the soil, and (2) when there is compact, it belongs to both.

Cows and the rest have been named only by way of illustration; the same law applies to the cases of dogs, cats and other animals.

“Why then should the declaration in verse 50 have been made?”

It is only a reiteration of the well-known fact that birds and other animals do not form the ‘property’ of men to the same extent as cows do.

‘Slave girls’—i.e., those acquired by the seven sources of slavery.

‘Offspring’— young ones born from their wombs.—(55)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 580), which explains ‘eṣa dharmaḥ’, as ‘the principle that the owner of the seed does not obtain the fruit;’—also in Smṛtitattva (II, p. 150), which adds that the term ‘dāsī’ here stands for the slave-girl married to another slave; the child of such a slave-girl belongs to the owner of the girl, not to that of the father;—and in Vyavahāra-Bālambhaṭṭī (pp. 521 and 574).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 9.48-56)

(See the texts under 31-44.)

See Comparative notes for Verse 9.48.

Other Dharmashastra Concepts:

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Discover the significance of concepts within the article: ‘Verse 9.55’. Further sources in the context of Dharmashastra might help you critically compare this page with similair documents:

She-goat, Young one.

Concepts being referred within the main category of Hinduism context and sources.

Dashi, Well known fact, Immovable things, Cows and horses.