Verse 9.208

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

अनुपघ्नन् पितृद्रव्यं श्रमेण यदुपार्जितम् ।
स्वयमीहितलब्धं तन्नाकामो दातुमर्हति ॥ २०८ ॥

anupaghnan pitṛdravyaṃ śrameṇa yadupārjitam |
svayamīhitalabdhaṃ tannākāmo dātumarhati || 208 ||

If one of them acquires something by his own effort, without interfering with the patrimony,—that property, being acquired by his own labour, he need not give to others, unless he himself wishes it.—(208)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

It has been already declared that a man need not give what he acquires by his learning; this verse lays down that he need not give what he himself acquires by agriculture and other means.

“This verse alone would have been enough:^‘the man need not give, unless he wishes it, what he acquires by his own labour’; what was the need for the other verse making special mention of the ‘gains of learning’?

The answer to this is that there is no individual^‘effort’ or ‘labour’ involved is the case of^‘friendly presents,’ ‘marriage presents,’ and the like; hence it was necessary to have a distinct verse referring to these.—(208)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Īhitalabdham’.—‘Obtained by such labour as agriculture and the like’ (Medhātithi, Kullūka and Nandana);—or ‘by any occupation entailing trouble’ (Nārāyaṇa).

‘Anupaghnan’.—‘Without using’ (Nandana);—‘without living upon (Rāghavānanda);—‘without detriment to’ (Kullūka).

Nandana says that the rule given in this verse may be reconciled with that given in 205 by assuming that the latter presupposes that all brothers exert themselves according to their ability.—Buhler.

This verse is quoted in Mitākṣarā (2.118), which explains ‘Śrameṇa’ as ‘by service, by fighting and so forth’;—and it reads the second line totally differently, the meaning of which is ‘that shall not be given to the co-sharers, norwhat is gained by learning’.—The Bālambhaṭṭī adds that ‘anupaghnan’ is to be construed as ‘anupaghnatā.’

It is quoted in Aparārka (p. 723), which explains ‘śrama’ as ‘soldiering, agriculture and so forth;’—and ‘īhā’ as ‘work without much labour’;—in Vivādaratnākara (p. 501);—in Parāśaramādhava (Vyavahāra, p. 377), which explains ‘śrama’ as ‘agriculture and so forth’ and notes that ‘pitṛdravyam’ here means ‘undivided property’;—in Madanapārijāta (p. 685), which explains ‘śrameṇa’ as ‘by service, soldiering and so forth’;—by Jīmūtavāhana (Dāyabhāga, p. 178);—and in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra 220b), which explains ‘śrameṇa’ as ‘by service and other means.’

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 9.204-208)

See Comparative notes for Verse 9.204.