Manava Dharmashastra 2.166

2.166

prakṛtaśeṣatayā prāpta eva grahaṇārtho'bhyāso'nūdyate stutyartham ; na punarvidhyantaram | sadāśabdo grahaṇakālāpekṣa eva | tapaḥ śabdaḥ śarīrakleśajananeṣvāhāranirodhādiṣu śāstrīyeṣu vartate | iha tu tajjanyātmasaṃskāro varābhiśāpādisāmarthyaṃ lakṣaṇayocyate | tattapastapsyan tapasā'rjayitumicchan, arjanāṅge santāpe dhāturvartate | karmakartṛtvasyāvivakṣitatvātparasmaipadam | heturūpo dvitīyaślokārdho'rthavādaḥ | vedābhyāso hi yāvatkiñcitprakṛṣṭaṃ tapaḥ, tataḥ paraṃ śreṣṭham vedābhyāsastattulyaphalatāmāropya stūyate |

The best of Brāhmaṇas, desiring to acquire piety, should constantly repeat the Veda; because for the Brāhmaṇa, Veda-repeating is declared to be the highest penance on earth.—(100)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
The repeating of the Text for the purpose of getting it up, which comes up as supplementary to the subject-matter of the context, is here re-iterated for the purpose of eulogising it, and not for enjoining it again.

The term ‘constantly’ refers to the time of study only.

The term ‘tapas,’ ‘piety,’ stands for fasting and such other bodily mortifications; but in the present context it denotes figuratively that spiritual faculty produced by the mortifications which consists in the capacity to grant boons and pronounce curses.—‘Tapasyan’ stands for ‘desiring to acquire’ the said piety by means of bodily mortifications; the root (in ‘tapasyan’) denoting the bodily sufferings undergone in the process of acquiring. The Parasmaipada ending (in ‘tapasyan’) is justified on the ground that the participle is not intended to have the force of the reflexive-passive (in which case alone the Ātmanepada ending would be necessary, by Pāṇini’s Sūtra 3.1.88).

The second half of the verse is a recommendatory reiteration, supplying the reason for what lias been asserted in the first half.

Whatever ‘penance’ there is on the Earth, the ‘repeating of Veda’ is superior to all. This is meant to eulogise the act as leading to results similar to those brought about by all the austerities.—(166)