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 8.161
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:
अदातरि पुनर्दात� विज्ञातप्रकृतावृणम� �
पश्चात� प्रतिभुव� प्रेते परीप्सेत् के� हेतुना � १६� �ٲ punar vijñātaprakṛtāvṛṇam |
paścāt pratibhuvi prete parīpset kena hetunā || 161 ||“By what means then would the creditor seek to obtain his dues, in the event of the death of the surety other than that for ‘payment,� whose character is fully known?”�(161)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
Having raised a question by means of the present verse, the Author answers it in the next verse: and the grounds for doubt are expressed by means of the two words �other than that for payment� and �whose character is fully known�;—the three words with the locative ending—�ٲ,� �pratibhuvi� and �ñٲṛt� being construed together.
�By what means would the Creditor seek to obtain his dues?’ĔShould he seek to obtain it entirely by his own operations? Or should he also urge the surety’s son?
“Why should there be any such doubt, when it has been distinctly asserted that in the case of the death of sureties other than that for payment, the sous shall not be liable?—what connection then can the sons have with such dues?� The doubt arises because the surety is one �whose character is fully known�; which means that it is fully known that the man had received payment for becoming ‘surety �; and this fact, being known, might give rise to the idea that his sons should be liable; since it is possible that the amount paid to the surety was for the purpose of paying off the debt in question.
The particle �ܲԲ�,� �then,� serves to distinguish the present from the preceding verse; the meaning being—‘if the liability falls upon the sons of the surety for payment only, then in the case of the death of one who is surety not for payment, from whom would the creditor, after his death, seek to obtain his dues?�
The rest has been already explained.
�ʲī� is seeking to obtain.�(101)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
This verse is quoted in վ岹ٲ첹 (p. 43), which takes it as putting the question which is answered in the next verse. It adds the following notes:—�Adā tari�, i.e., a surety other than the one for payment (i.e., the surety for appearance and the surety for trust),—being �ñٴDZṛt’�i.e., being known to have stood surety after having received something in pledge from the debtor; and thus having its character fully known;—if such a surety dies ,—�kena hetunā’Ĕby what means—is the �’Ĕthe man who advanced the loan, the creditor,—to receive back the debt? The work goes on to quote Halāyudha as explaining the term �ñٴDZṛt’as ‘being known that he became the lagnaka (?) on receiving a pledge�, and regarding the verse as denying the creditor’s right to receive payment from the surety’s heirs on his death. But remarks that the net result of both explanations is the same.
This verse is quoted in ṛtⲹ첹貹ٲ (74a), which has the following notes:—�ٲ�, a surety other than Բپū,—��, the creditor,—�ñٴDZṛt�, one whose solvency is well known.
Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 8.159-162)
See Comparative notes for Verse 8.159.