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 9.189
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
अहार्यं ब्राह्मणद्रव्यं राज्ञा नित्यमिति स्थितिः ।
इतरेषां तु वर्णानां सर्वाभावे हरेन्नृपः ॥ १८९ ॥ahāryaṃ brāhmaṇadravyaṃ rājñā nityamiti sthitiḥ |
itareṣāṃ tu varṇānāṃ sarvābhāve harennṛpaḥ || 189 ||The property of the Brāhmaṇa shoved never be taken by the King,—such is the law; but in the case of other castes, the king shall take the property, in the absence of all heirs.—(189)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
(verses 9.182-201)
(No Bhāṣya available.)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
The first half of this verse is quoted in Mitākṣavā (2.136), which remarks that this only means that the king shall not take the Brāhmaṇa’s property, and not that even a son may not inherit the Brāhmaṇa’s property;—again, to the effect that no part of the Brāhmaṇa’s estate shall be an escheat to the king.
It is quoted in Madanapārijāta (p. 675), to the effect that the property of the Kṣatriya caste, in the absence of legal heirs, shall go to the king, and not to the Brāhmaṇa;—in Vivādaratnākara (p. 597);—in Parāśaramādhava (Vyavahāra, p. 355) to the effect that on the failure of legal heirs, the Brāhmaṇa’s property shall never go to the king, while that of the other castes shall go to the king;—in Dāyakramasaṅgraha (p. 12);—in Nṛsiṃhaprasāda (Vyavahāra, p. 41a);—and by Jīmūtavāhana (Dāyabhāga, p. 338).
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 9.186-189)
See Comparative notes for Verse 9.186.