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 9.243 [Disposal of the Fine realised from the Worst Offenders]
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
नाददीत नृपः साधुर्महापातकिनो धनम् ।
आददानस्तु तत्लोभात् तेन दोषेण लिप्यते ॥ २४३ ॥nādadīta nṛpaḥ sādhurmahāpātakino dhanam |
ādadānastu tatlobhāt tena doṣeṇa lipyate || 243 ||The righteous King shall not appropriate the property of the man guilty of a heinous crime; if, through greed, he takes it, he becomes tainted with that guilt.—(243)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
“It has been laid down that fines constitute one of the sources of income for the King; why then should it now be declared that he shall not appropriate such property?”
This has been explained under the text ‘Rājanirdhūta-daṇḍaḥ etc., etc.’—(243)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 637);—in Vyavahāra-Bālambhaṭṭī (p. 1053);—and in Prāyaścittaviveka (p. 121), which says that what is forbidden is the confiscation of the property by the king for his own use, and not the taking of it for other purposes, such as is mentioned in the next verse.
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 9.243-246)
Yama (Vivādaratnākara, p. 638).—‘Having confiscated the property of the outcast, the King shall have it handed over to the Assembly.’