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 10.8
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
ब्राह्मणाद् वैश्यकन्यायामम्बष्ठो नाम जायते ।
निषादः शूद्रकन्यायां यः पारशव उच्यते ॥ ८ ॥brāhmaṇād vaiśyakanyāyāmambaṣṭho nāma jāyate |
niṣādaḥ śūdrakanyāyāṃ yaḥ pāraśava ucyate || 8 ||From the Brāhmaṇa on a Vaiśya maiden is born the ‘Ambaṣṭha’ and on a Śūdra maiden the ‘Niṣāda,’ who is called ‘Pārośora.’—(8)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
For the Brāhmaṇa, the Vaiśya girl is ‘two degrees lower,’ and the child born of her is the ‘ambaṣṭha’; called in another Smṛti (Gautama, 4.20) ‘Bhṛjyakaṇṭha.’
The child born of the Śūdra girl, who is ‘three degrees lower,’ is the ‘Niṣāda,’ also called ‘Pāraśara.’
The name ‘Niṣāda’ also belongs to a caste born from a marriage of the ‘inverse’ order. (See verse 15 below).
The term ‘maiden’ stands for woman in general,—say some people; ‘Vaiśya maiden’ meaning Vaiśya woman; and so on throughout—(8)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
Buhler is not right in saying that “Medhātithi does not give this verse”.
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 10.6-41)
See Comparative notes for Verse 10.6.