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 10.81 [Variations in the Functions of the Brāhmaṇa due to Abnormal Conditions]

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

अजीवंस्तु यथोक्तेन ब्राह्मणः स्वेन कर्मणा ।
जीवेत् क्षत्रियधर्मेण स ह्यस्य प्रत्यनन्तरः ॥ ८१ ॥

ajīvaṃstu yathoktena brāhmaṇaḥ svena karmaṇā |
jīvet kṣatriyadharmeṇa sa hyasya pratyanantaraḥ || 81 ||

If the Brāhmaṇa is unable to subsist by his own occupation as described above, he may make a living by the function of the Kṣatriya; since this latter is next to him.—(81)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

When ho finds it difficult to maintain himself, his family and his business, and he is unable to obtain wealth sufficient for all this, then he is said to be ‘unable to subsist.’

As described above’;—i.e., by Teaching and the rest Ho may make, like the Kṣatriya, a living by guarding over villages and towns, by carrying arms and weapons, and also, if possible, by ruling over the people.

The exact meaning of ‘making a living’ has been already explained; it does not stand here for the mere maintenance of one’s own body; it implies the maintenance of the family and also the carrying on of one’s business.

He is next to him’—‘pratyanantara’ is the same as ‘anantara.’ Inasmuch as the text has provided this reason, it follows that the occupations of those removed by further degrees (i.e., of the Vaiśya or the Śūdra) involve sin for the Brāhmaṇa. Though the abandoning of his own occupation would be the same in all, yet it should not be thought that there is no difference in the degree of transgression of the law involved in having recourse to the occupations of the Vaiśya and those of the Śūdra; since, as the next verse declares, the Brāhmaṇa may have recourse to the occupation of the Vaiśya).—(81)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Madanapārijāta (p. 231);—in Vīramitrodaya, (Rājanīti, p. 13), to the effect that Kingship is not altogether forbidden to the Brāhmaṇa;—and in Nṛsiṃhaprasāda (Āhnika, 36b).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 10.81-84)

Gautama (7.4-7).—‘In times of distress, it is permissible to offer sacrifices for men of all castes, to teach them and to accept gifts from them; each preceding mode of living being preferable to the succeeding. On failure of the occupations lawful for the Brāhmaṇa, he may live by the occupations of the Kṣatriya; and on failure of these latter, he may live by the occupations of the Vaiśya.’

Baudhāyana (1.4.16-21).—‘A Brāhmaṇa, who is unable to subsist by teaching, sacrificing for others or the acceptance of gifts, shall maintain himself by following the duties of the Kṣatriya, because that is the next following caste. Gautama declares that the Brāhmaṇa shall not act thus; for the functions of the Kṣatriya are too cruel for the Brāhmaṇa. They quote also the following verse:—“Out of regard for the sacred law, a Brāhmaṇa or a Vaiśya may take up arms for the protection of cows or Brāhmaṇas, or when a confusion of castes threatens to take place.” Or, the Brāhmaṇa may adopt the Vaiśya’s means of livelihood; because that is the one following next. If he lives by agriculture, he shall plough before breakfast, and with two bulls whose noses have not been pierced, never striking them with the goad, but frequently coaxing them.’

Vaśiṣṭha (2.22-24, 32-33).—‘Those who are unable to live by their own lawful occupation may adopt that of the next inferior caste; but never that of a higher caste. A Brāhmaṇa and a Kṣatriya who have resorted to the Vaiśya’s mode of livelihood and maintain themselves by trade shall not sell the following things—stone, &c., &c., &c. For the purpose of cultivation, he shall plough before breakfast with two bulls whose noses have not been pierced; if he ploughs in the hot season, he shall water his beasts even in the morning.’

Viṣṇu (2.15).—‘In times of distress, each caste may follow the occupation of that next to it in rank.’

Yājñavalkya (3.34).—‘In times of distress, the Brāhmaṇa may maintain himself by the occupation of the Kṣatriya, or by that of the Vaiśya; but having tided over the distress, he shall purify himself by expiations and confine himself to his own path.’

Mahābhārata (3.208.23—12.263.44-45).—(Same as Manu 84.)

Nārada (1.56-60).—‘In times of distress, a Brāhmaṇa is allowed to gain his subsistence in the mode prescribed for the caste next to him in rank; or he may gain his subsistence like a Vaiśya. But he must never resort to the mode of livelihood prescribed for the lowest caste. At no time should a Brāhmaṇa follow the occupations of a man of vile caste, or a vile man the occupations of a Brāhmaṇa; in either case, expulsion from caste would be the immediate consequence... When a Brāhmaṇa has lived through the times of distress, with the wealth acquired by following the occupations of the Kṣatriya, he must perform a penance and relinquish those occupations. When a Brāhmaṇa takes delight in those occupations and persists in them, he is declared to be a Kāṇḍapṛṣṭha and must be expelled from society, because he has swerved from the path of duty.’

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