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 10.96
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
यो लोभादधमो जात्या जीवेदुत्कृष्टकर्मभिः ।
तं राजा निर्धनं कृत्वा क्षिप्रमेव प्रवासयेत् ॥ ९६ ॥yo lobhādadhamo jātyā jīvedutkṛṣṭakarmabhiḥ |
taṃ rājā nirdhanaṃ kṛtvā kṣiprameva pravāsayet || 96 ||If a man of low caste, through greed, subsists by the occupations of his superiors, him the King shall deprive of his property and quickly banish.—(96)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
‘A man of low caste’—The Kṣatriya and the rest Though the context deals with the Kṣatriya, yet this verse is meant to be an interdict upon all occupations of the Brāhmaṇa, for all the other castes.
‘Superior’.—It is the Brāhmaṇa alone who is absolutely (not only relatively) ‘superior.’
‘Occupations’.—Teaching and the rest.
If he subsists by these, he should be punished with confiscation of property and banishment.—(96)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 363), which adds the explanation that—‘if the Vaiśya or other lower castes should have recourse to the modes of living ordained for the higher castes, he should have all his property confiscated and then banished from the kingdom;—and in Vivādacintāmaṇi (Calcutta p. 101).
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 10.95-96)
See Comparative notes for Verse 10.95.