Manava Dharmashastra 4.61

4.61

janapadaiśvaryaṃ ‘rājyam’ | yo janapadaḥ śūdravaśavartī tatra na vaset | mantrisaināpatidaṇḍakārikādyāḥ sapta prakṛtayo ‘rājyam’ | yatra sarvāḥ śūdrajātīyāḥ tatra nivāsaniṣedho'yam | ‘‘nanu ca ‘nādhārmike vaset’ ityanenaiva tatsiddhamadhārmikajanāvṛta iti’’ | naiṣa doṣaḥ | pūrvapratiṣedho yatra te nivasanti | ayaṃ punaranyatrāpi nivasanto'nyatra sannihitā yadi bhavanti tathāpi tatra pradeśe na vasitavyam | tathā ca ‘āvṛta’grahaṇamatra | yaḥ pradeśa etairāvṛto na tatra sthātavyam | evaṃ pāṣaṇḍijanairyā ākrānto deśaḥ | yadyapyadhārmikāste vedabāhyatvāttathāpi teṣāṃ dharmabuddhiriti bhedena nirdeśaḥ | antyairupasṛṣṭe sambaddhe | athavā upatapte upasṛṣṭe | yathā bāhīkā mlecchaiḥ |

He shall not dwell in a country with a Śūdra King; nor in one surrounded by unrighteous persons; nor in one occupied by impostors;. nor in one frequented by men of the lowest castes.—(61)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
‘Kingship’ consists in ruling over a country; he shall not dwell in a country which is under the sway of a Śūdra. The term ‘King’ here stands for the seven constituents of Kingship,—vis., the minister! the commander of the army, the judge, and so forth; and the present verse forbids dwelling in a country where all of them belong to the Śūdra caste.

Objection:—“It having been already said that he shall not dwell in an unrighteous village, what is meant by ‘in a country surrounded by unrighteous persons’ is already implied.”

There is no force in this objection. The former prohibition refers to dwelling in a place inhabited by unrighteous persons; while what the present verse means is that one shall not live in a place where unrighteous persons, living elsewhere, may happen to congregate. That is why the text has used the term ‘surrounded;’ the sense being that ‘one shall not stay at a place which is crowded by such persons.’

Similarly with the country swarming with ‘impostors.’ Though these also, being outside the pale of ‘Vedic religion,’ are included among the ‘unrighteous,’ yet they have been mentioned separately in consideration of the fact that they pretend to be ‘righteous.’

‘Frequented by’—associated with—‘men of the lowest castes.’ Or, ‘frequented’ may mean ‘harassed;’ e.g., the Bāhlīka country, which is frequently outrun by barbarians.—(61)

This verse is quoted in Smṛticandrikā (p. 20).

Comparative notes by various authors
(verses 4.60-61)
See Comparative notes for Verse 4.60.