Verse 9.114

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

सर्वेषां धनजातानामाददीताग्र्यमग्रजः ।
यच्च सातिशयं किं चिद् दशतश्चाप्नुयाद् वरम् ॥ ११४ ॥

sarveṣāṃ dhanajātānāmādadītāgryamagrajaḥ |
yacca sātiśayaṃ kiṃ cid daśataścāpnuyād varam || 114 ||

Among the goods of every kind, the first-born shall take the best; as also anything that may be particularly good; as well as the best of ten animals.—(114)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The first half of the verse only reiterates what has been said above regarding the eldest brother taking the be of the chattels.

The terra ‘jāta’ is synonymous with ‘jāti,’ ‘kind’; or it may mean ‘variety.’

‘First-born’—eldest.

‘Best’—most excellent.

‘Anything particularly good;’—such as a piece of cloth or an ornament

‘Best of ten.’—He shall take the best one among the ten. That is, if there are ten cows or horses, he shall take the best among these. The term ‘ten’ is used in the sense of a group consisting of ten.

Others explain ‘daśataḥ’ as ending in the ‘tasi’ affix, which has the reflexive sense, and hence meaning ‘ten’ (not ‘from among ten’); and according to this they read ‘varān’ in the plural (for ‘varam’); and the sense in this case is that he should take ten good animals.

Others again declare that the term refers to a particular kind of animals; those that have single hoofs, for instance (?).—(114)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Yacca sātiśayam kiñcit.’—‘A dress or an ornament’ (Medhātithi);—‘something impartible, like an idol’ (Nandana).

‘Daśataḥ varam’—‘The best among ten animals’ (Medhātithi, Kullūka, Nārāyaṇa and Rāghavānanda);—‘ten superior articles’ (‘others’ in Medhātithi; the reading for ‘varam,’ in this case, being ‘varān’).—‘Everything shall he divided into ten shares and the eldest shall receive one such share in excess’ (Nandana).

This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 469), which adds an explanation (for which see note on 112).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

See texts above, under 112-113.

Gautama (28.11-13).—‘Or, let them each take one kind of property, selecting, according to seniority, what they desire, ten head of cattle. But no one brother shall take ten one-hoofed animals or ten slaves.’

Vaśiṣṭha (17. 42-45).—‘Let the eldest take a double share;—and a tithe of kine and horses:—the goats, the sheep, the house belong to the youngest;—black iron, the utensils and the furniture to the middlemost.’

Yājñavalkya (2-114).—(See above under 312-313.)