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Manava Dharmashastra 2.174

Manubhāṣya 2.174

Language
Sanskrit

2.174

gṛhyakārairvratanāmadheyāni karmāṇyupadiṣṭāni | 'saṃvatsaraṃ vedaṃ bhāgaṃ vā kiñcijjighṛkṣata' | iyaṃ vratacaryā yo yamaniyamasamūhaḥ | tatra pūrvavratasamāptau vratāntarārambhe upanayane ye vidhayastādṛśa eva vratādeśeṣu |
"atha prāgupāttānāṃ kā pratipattiḥ ?"
apsu prāsanam |
"nanu ca taduktaṃ prāgupāttānām | vinaṣṭānāṃ kā pratipattiḥ ?"
vināśe śāstranoditaṃ caiṣāṃ kāryamanyopādānācca teṣāṃ nivṛttiḥ |
yaccarma yasya brahmacāriṇo vihitaṃ yathā ''kārṣṇaṃ brāhmaṇasya rauravaṃ kṣatriyasya' iti | evaṃ daṇḍādiṣvapi draṣṭavyam | tasya vrateṣvapi | prakṛtatvād vrataśabdo vratādeśe vartate |

That skin, that sac red thread, that girdle, that staff and that garment, which has been prescribed for one, stand during the observances also.—(174)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
The authors of Gṛhyasūtras have laid down certain acts called ‘observances’; such for instance as, ‘for one year one desires to get up the Veda or a part of it,’—in which connection there are observances and vows and restraints prescribed; when one of these observances has been completed, and another is taken up, then all the rules and regulations that have been prescribed in connection with the Upanayana have to be followed.

“In that case how are the skin, etc., previously taken up to be disposed of?”

They are to be thrown into the water.

“That has been declared to be the method of disposing of things previously taken up; but of what form would be the disposal of such of those things as might have been destroyed (or lost)?”

As regards cases of loss, in as much as each of the things has its use definitely prescribed in the descriptions, it naturally follows that when one is lost, it is replaced by another; and this taking up of the latter would constitute the ‘disposal’ of the former.

‘That skin’ which has been prescribed for a particular Religious Student, e.g., ‘the skin of the Kṛṣṇa deer for the Brāhmaṇa, that of the Ruru deer for the Kṣatriya and so forth.

Similarly with the staff and other things.

All this stands ‘during the observances, also.’ In view of the context, ‘observances’ here must he taken as standing for ‘instruction regarding observances.’—(174)

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 58), which explains ‘vrateṣu’ as standing for the Sāvitrya and the rest.’

Ganganatha Jha 1920, Manu-Smṛti: The Laws of Manu with the Bhāṣya of Medhātithi

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