Verse 10.73

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

अनार्यमार्यकर्माणमार्यं चानार्यकर्मिणम् ।
सम्प्रधार्याब्रवीद् धाता न समौ नासमाविति ॥ ७३ ॥

anāryamāryakarmāṇamāryaṃ cānāryakarmiṇam |
sampradhāryābravīd dhātā na samau nāsamāviti || 73 ||

Having examined the Non-ārya behaving like an Ārya and the Ārya behaving like the Non-Ārya, the creator declared ‘that these are neither equal nor unequal.’—(73)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Non-ārya,’— Śūdra.

‘Behaving like an Ārya,’—devoted to the service of twice-born men, performing the Pākayajña sacrifices, always respectful towards Gods and Brāhmaṇas.

‘Ārya’—Brāhmaṇa and the rest.

^‘Behaving like a non-ārya,’—doing what is forbidden and omitting what is enjoined.

Having ‘examined these two,’—i.e., having considered their relative merits; having pondered over the question whether the one or the other was superior in his qualities,—Prajāpati, Manu, made the declaration.

^‘They are not equal.’—Inasmuch as ‘caste’ is the most important factor, the Śūdra, even though possessed of superior merit, can never be equal to the Brāhmaṇa.

He said again—^‘they are not unequal’;—for though of superior caste, the Brāhmaṇa is beset with many defects.

The meaning of all this is that no man can be respected simply on the strength of his caste; what wins respect is quality; if one is devoid of good qualities, his caste cannot come to his rescue; for if it did, then there would be no point in the prescribing of expiatory rites.

From verse 66 to the present one, the text is intended to be a deprecation of the ‘confusion of castes,’ and the praise of the due performance of one’s duties; there is nothing either enjoined or forbidden, nor is anything new asserted. Hence all these verses should he taken as purely commendatory.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 10.66-73)

[See texts under 9.33 et seq.]