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# Manava Dharmashastra 3.86

Manubhāṣya 3.86

- **Language:** Sanskrit

### [3.86](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.manu!medhatithi.3.86)

atha vidhivadityuktaṃ so'yaṃ vidhirucyate | aprakṛtasyodapātrasya śravaṇaṃ sarvadā nṝṇāṃ, na bhikṣādānasyaiveti darśayitum | satkṛtya pūjayitvā vidhiḥ pūrvo yasya dānasya tadvidhipūrvakam | pūrvaśabdaḥ kāraṇavacanaḥ | śāstranimittakametadityarthaḥ | itikartavyatā vā vidhiḥ, sā pūrvaṃ kartavyā | uktaṃ ca pūrvaṃ bhikṣādānaṃ, dadāti satkṛtya pūjayitvā | vedasya tattvārthaḥ pāramārthiko niḥsaṃśayo'rthastaṃ 'vetti', tasmai brāhmaṇāyopapādayeddadyāt | brāhmaṇāyeti jātiniyamaḥ viduṣa iti guṇaniyamaḥ | tena yatkiṃciddātavyaṃ tadbrāhmaṇāya, tasmai ca vedārthavide pūjāpūrvakamityarthatrayavidhānaṃ sarvaṃ dadātyarthoddeśena, pauruṣeyatvānnānākārārthavidhānam |  
prāpte dāne doṣaḥ |

> Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):  
> It has been said above that the alms is to be given ‘in the proper form;’ and this form is now described.  
> — Ganganatha Jha 1920, Manu-Smṛti: The Laws of Manu with the Bhāṣya of Medhātithi

> The mention of the ‘water-pot,’ which has not been referred to in this context before, is meant to indicate that in all cases one need not always give alms only.  
> — Ganganatha Jha 1920, Manu-Smṛti: The Laws of Manu with the Bhāṣya of Medhātithi

> ‘Having honoured,’—after having worshipped.  
> — Ganganatha Jha 1920, Manu-Smṛti: The Laws of Manu with the Bhāṣya of Medhātithi

> ‘Vidhipūrvakam,’—‘in accordance with scriptural injun ctions’—means ‘that which has scriptural injunctions for its precedent;’ the term ‘precedent’ meaning reason; the compound therefore means that what is here stated is on the basis of scriptural injunctions.  
> — Ganganatha Jha 1920, Manu-Smṛti: The Laws of Manu with the Bhāṣya of Medhātithi

> Or, the term ‘vidhi’ may stand for method; the sense being that the right, method should be adopted first; the method being that ‘he should be honoured,’ as already mentioned.  
> — Ganganatha Jha 1920, Manu-Smṛti: The Laws of Manu with the Bhāṣya of Medhātithi

> ‘The true meaning of the Veda’—the real, the undoubted, sense of the Veda; he who knows this meaning—to such a Brāhmaṇa one should ‘make over’ the things.  
> — Ganganatha Jha 1920, Manu-Smṛti: The Laws of Manu with the Bhāṣya of Medhātithi

> The term ‘to the Brāhmaṇa’ restricts the gift to the particular caste; and the term ‘knowing, &c.’ restricts it to persons possessing a certain qualification.  
> — Ganganatha Jha 1920, Manu-Smṛti: The Laws of Manu with the Bhāṣya of Medhātithi

> Hence, in connection with the act of giving, three things are enjoined here—  
> — Ganganatha Jha 1920, Manu-Smṛti: The Laws of Manu with the Bhāṣya of Medhātithi

> ‘whatever is to be given should be given to the Brāhmaṇa,’  
> — Ganganatha Jha 1920, Manu-Smṛti: The Laws of Manu with the Bhāṣya of Medhātithi

> ‘to a Brāhmaṇa who knows the meaning of the Veda,’  
> — Ganganatha Jha 1920, Manu-Smṛti: The Laws of Manu with the Bhāṣya of Medhātithi

> and ‘only after having honoured him,’  
> — Ganganatha Jha 1920, Manu-Smṛti: The Laws of Manu with the Bhāṣya of Medhātithi

> And this multiplicity of injunctions (in a single verse) (though inadmissible in a Vedic text) may be admissible in the work of a human author.  
> — Ganganatha Jha 1920, Manu-Smṛti: The Laws of Manu with the Bhāṣya of Medhātithi

> The next, verse proceeds to point out the danger in connection with the act of ‘giving’ enjoined above.—(96).  
> — Ganganatha Jha 1920, Manu-Smṛti: The Laws of Manu with the Bhāṣya of Medhātithi

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## Translations (1)

- [Manu-Smṛti: The Laws of Manu with the Bhāṣya of Medhātithi](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.manu!medhatithi~en-jha.3.96.p2) — Ganganatha Jha 1920, English

## Linked texts (1)

- [Mānava Dharmaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.manu.3.86) — Manu & Bhṛgu, Sanskrit

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Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.manu!medhatithi.3.86](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.manu!medhatithi.3.86) · Pramāṇa
