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 11.68
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
खराश्वोष्ट्रमृगैभानामजाविकवधस्तथा ।
सङ्करीकरणं ज्ञेयं मीनाहिमहिषस्य च ॥ ६८ ॥kharāśvoṣṭramṛgaibhānāmajāvikavadhastathā |
saṅkarīkaraṇaṃ jñeyaṃ mīnāhimahiṣasya ca || 68 ||The killing of an ass, of a horse, of a camel, of a deer, of an elephant, of a goat, of a sheep, of fish, of a snake, and of a buffalo should be regarded as degrading the man to the rank of a ‘mixed caste.’—(68)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
‘Deer’—stands for such wilder varieties as the ‘Ruru’ the ‘Pṛṣata’ and the like.
‘Ibha’—is elephant. Though the elephant also is a kind of ‘mṛga,’ yet it has been mentioned separately as being, among tame animals.
‘Mīna’—fish.
‘Ahi’—snake.—(68)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Mitākṣarā (3.242);—in Madanapārijāta (p. 924);—in Nṛsiṃhaprasāda (Prāyaścitta 30a);—and i n Prāyaścittaviveka (p. 42 and 465).
Comparative notes by various authors
Viṣṇu (39.1),—‘Killing of domestic or wild animals is a crime degrading to a mixed caste.’