Verse 10.84

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

कृषिं साधुइति मन्यन्ते सा वृत्तिः सद्विगर्हिताः ।
भूमिं भूमिशयांश्चैव हन्ति काष्ठमयोमुखम् ॥ ८४ ॥

kṛṣiṃ sādhuiti manyante sā vṛttiḥ sadvigarhitāḥ |
bhūmiṃ bhūmiśayāṃścaiva hanti kāṣṭhamayomukham || 84 ||

People think agriculture to be good; but that occupation is despised by the righteous; the iron-tipped wood injures the earth and the earthly creatures.—(84)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

People think agriculture to be a good occupation; one who carries on agricultural operations obtains much grain, whereby he feeds guests; that is why it is ‘good.’ To the same end we have such assertions as—‘He who does not till the ground is not loved by his guests,’ ‘one should carefully carry on agricultural operations,’ and ‘the plough, the spear, tills the soil etc., etc.,’ (Vājasaneya Saṃhitā, 12.71)

This view however is not the right one to take. This is an occupation that is despised by the righteous;—and the reason for this lies in the fact that ‘the iron-tipped wood’—the plough—‘injures the Earth and the earthly creatures,’—i.e., those creatures that live under the ground, e.g., the caterpillar and the rest.

“What sort of injury is inflicted on the Earth? The Earth certainly does not suffer pain, like the living creatures, by the stroke of the wooden implement.”

What the text means is that the Earth does suffer pain, and thereby forbids all tearing of the ground.—(84)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 426);—and in Aparārka, (p. 937) as supplying the reason for forbidding land-cultivation by the Brāhmaṇa.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 10.81-84)

See Comparative notes for Verse 10.81.