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 11.96
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
अमेध्ये वा पतेन् मत्तो वैदिकं वाऽप्युदाहरेत् ।
अकार्यमन्यत् कुर्याद् वा ब्राह्मणो मदमोहितः ॥ ९६ ॥amedhye vā paten matto vaidikaṃ vā'pyudāharet |
akāryamanyat kuryād vā brāhmaṇo madamohitaḥ || 96 ||A Brāhmaṇa, stupefied by drunkenness, might tumble down upon unclean things; or he might wrongly recite the Veda; or he might do some other improper act.—(96)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
‘Tumbling on unclean things’ is purely declamatory, like the mention of ‘the eating of the food of the gods.’
“How can the reciting of Vedic texts ever be an improper act?”
The answer to this is that what is meant is that ‘he might do an act which is improper,’ as compared to the reciting of the Veda. Further, why is it impossible for the reciting of Veda to be ‘improper?’ In fact the uttering of Vedic texts has been clearly forbidden for one who is in an unclean condition.—(96)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Āhnika, p. 548).
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 11.94-97)
See Comparative notes for Verse 11.94.