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 9.237
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
गुरुतल्पे भगः कार्यः सुरापाने सुराध्वजः ।
स्तेये च श्वपदं कार्यं ब्रह्महण्यशिराः पुमान् ॥ २३७ ॥gurutalpe bhagaḥ kāryaḥ surāpāne surādhvajaḥ |
steye ca śvapadaṃ kāryaṃ brahmahaṇyaśirāḥ pumān || 237 ||For violating the preceptor’s bed the sign of the female organ shall be branded; for drinking wine that of the tavern; for theft that of the dog’s foot; and for killing a Brāhmaṇa that of a headless man.—(297)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
From the prohibition of branding the forehead (in certain cases, contained in 240)—‘People shall not be branded on the forehead,’—it follows that the branding here laid down is to be done on the forehead.—(237)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 635) which adds that all this branding is to be done on the forehead;—in Mitākṣarā (2. 270), which adds that this is meant, for those cases where the culprit is unwilling to perform the prescribed expiation;—in Parāśaramādhava (Vyavahāra, p. 304), which also adds the same remark;—in the Aparārka (p. 842);—in Nṛsiṃhaprasāda (Vyavahāra 42b);—in Smṛtisāroddhāra (p. 329);—and in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra 152b), which says that all this penalty is meant for those who refuse to undergo the prescribed expiations.
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 9.235-242)
See Comparative notes for Verse 9.235.