Verse 10.113

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

सीदद्भिः कुप्यमिच्छद्भिर्धने वा पृथिवीपतिः ।
याच्यः स्यात् स्नातकैर्विप्रैरदित्संस्त्यागमर्हति ॥ ११३ ॥

sīdadbhiḥ kupyamicchadbhirdhane vā pṛthivīpatiḥ |
yācyaḥ syāt snātakairviprairaditsaṃstyāgamarhati || 113 ||

If Brāhmaṇas, who have completed their study, suffer privation, or seek to obtain wealth and riches, they may beg of the king; and if he be unwilling to give, he should be given up.—(113)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

This verse lays down three occasions on which one may accept gifts from the king.

(1) ‘Suffering privation’—i.e., in times of distress, being threatened with the possibility of the whole family perishing.

(2) ‘Seeking to obtain wealth’—in the shape of ear-rings, bracelets, turbans, seats, gold, etc.

(3) ‘Seeking to obtain riches’—cattle, gold and other tilings necessary for sacrificial performances.

Under these conditions Brāhmaṇas may beg of the ‘king’—the sovereign of their country.

The prohibition contained above in 4.84—‘He shall not receive gifts from the king’—must be taken as referring to a wicked king,—it being added, ‘of one who is avaricious and behaves against the law.’—(‘87).

‘Unwilling to give,’—if on being begged, he be not willing to give what is wanted,—‘he should be given up’— the Brāhmaṇas should cease to live in his kingdom.

Or ‘giving up’ may mean loss; and as nothing else is mentioned, it must mean the ‘loss’ of merit on the part of the king.—(113)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

Cf. 4.84, which is rescinded by this verse, according to Govindarāja and Kullūka.

‘Kupyam’.—‘Pots, kettles, wooden stools, and the like’ (Medhātithi);—‘Beds and seats and such articles of small value’ (Govindarāja);—‘also grain and clothes’ (Kullūka, Rāghavānanda and Nandana);—‘Brass, copper and other common metals’ (Nārāyaṇa).

‘Tyāgamarhati’.—‘The realm of such a king should be abandoned by the Brāhmaṇas’ (Medhātithi, Govindarāja, Nārāyaṇa and Rāghavānanda);—‘such a king is to be excluded from teaching and sacrifices’ (Nandana);—‘must be left to himself, i.e., not asked again’ (Kullūka).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 10.113-114)

[See 4.84 et seq.]

Vaśiṣṭha (12.2-3).—‘The Accomplished Student shall not beg from any body except from the King and a pupil. But he may ask from any body, if pressed by hunger, for some small gift, such as cultivated or uncultivated field, a cow, a goat or a sheep or, at the last extremity, for gold, grain or food.’

Yājñavalkya (3.42),—‘When he has remained hungry for three days, he may take grains from a non-Brāhmaṇa, and if accused of it, he should rightly state the truth.’