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 9.305
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
अष्टौ मासान् यथाऽदित्यस्तोयं हरति रश्मिभिः ।
तथा हरेत् करं राष्ट्रात्नित्यमर्कव्रतं हि तत् ॥ ३०५ ॥aṣṭau māsān yathā'dityastoyaṃ harati raśmibhiḥ |
tathā haret karaṃ rāṣṭrātnityamarkavrataṃ hi tat || 305 ||Just as during eight months, Āditya draws up water with his rays, even so the king shall draw taxes from the people,—this being the function of arka.—(305)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
The sun draws water gently, little by little,—and the King also shall realise his taxes gently, little by little. This is the meaning of the simile.—(305)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Rājanīti, p. 19), where ‘aṣṭau’ is explained as eight months beginning with Mārgaśīrṣa.
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 9.301-312)