Verse 9.199

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

न निर्हारं स्त्रियः कुर्युः कुटुम्बाद् बहुमध्यगात् ।
स्वकादपि च वित्ताद् हि स्वस्य भर्तुरनाज्ञया ॥ १९९ ॥

na nirhāraṃ striyaḥ kuryuḥ kuṭumbād bahumadhyagāt |
svakādapi ca vittād hi svasya bharturanājñayā || 199 ||

Women shall never make a hoard out of the family-property common to many, nor out of their own property, without the husband’s permission.—(199)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

(verses 9.182-201)

(No Bhāṣya available.)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

“Kullūka and Rāghavānanda take the first clause to refer to the property of a united family, and the second to the separate property of the husband.—But according to Nārāyaṇa and Nandana the translation should be as follows:—‘Wives should never take anything (for their private expenses) from their husband’s property destined for the support of their families, over which many have a claim, nor from their own property which is not strīdhana, without the consent of their husbands’.”—Buhler.

This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 509), which adds the following notes:—The term ‘Kuṭumba’ stands for the family-property; hence the meaning is that ‘out of the property that belongs to many persons, women shall not make an extraction, withdrawal, without the consent of the owners of that property’; similarly ‘svakāt’—i.e., out of the property that belongs exclusively to her husband, and not to the other members of the family,—she shall not make an extraction without the owner’s consent.

It is quoted in Vyavahāramayūkha (p. 69), which explains ‘nirhāra’ as expenditure;—and in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra 215a), which explains ‘nirhāra’ as ‘vyaya’.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Mahābhārata (13.47.24).

Kātyāyana (Vivādaratnākara, p. 511).—‘After her husband’s death, what the wife inherits from him she may use as she likes; but during his life-time, she shall save that property or spend it on the family.’