Queries from Manu

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> I seek the whole verse (in Sanskrit, with diacrits) and translation of the

> verse (from Manu) in which the stanza "dharmo raksati raksitah" appears.

 

This is Manu 8.15:

 

dharma eva hato hanti dharmo rakati rakitaƒ

tasm€d dharmo na hantavyo m€ no dharmo hato vadh…t

 

Max Mueller's translation:

 

Justice, being violated, destroys; justice, being preserved, preserves:

therefore justice must not be violated, lest violated justice destroys us.

 

> Also, in giving pramanas about deciding how to act, Manu mentions one's

> own conscience as the final deciding factor. What exactly does he say?

 

Manu mentions "pramana(s)" in eight different places. I am not sure which

one you are asking about. Could it be 2.6? Here Medhatithi has produced

twelve pages of (small print) Sanskrit commentary. It appears to be an

important verse:

 

vedo 'khilo dharma-m™laˆ smti-…le ca tad-vid€m

€c€ra caiva s€dh™n€m €tmanas tu˜ir eva ca

 

Max Mueller's translation:

 

The whole Veda is the (first) source of the sacred law, next the tradition

and the virtuous conduct of those who know the (Veda further), also the

customs of holy men, and (finally) self-satisfaction.

 

This verse could be interpreted as being the basis of the famous "guru,

sadhu, sastra," dictum.

 

The interesting word would of course be "€tmanas tu˜iƒ,"

"self-satisfaction." Mueller has the following note:

 

"The 'self-satisfaction,' i.e. of the virtuous (Medh., Gov., Nand.), is the

rule for the cases not to be settled by any of the other authorities (Nar.,

Nand.), or for cases where an option is permitted (Medh., Gov., Kull.)."

 

A verse that seems to summarize or repeat the statements of 2.6, appears at

2.12:

 

vedaƒ smtiƒ sad€c€raƒ svasya ca priyam €tmanaƒ

etac catur vidhaˆ pr€huƒ s€k€d dharmasya lakaŠam

 

And Mueller's translation:

 

"The Veda, the sacred tradition, the customs of virtuous men, and one's own

pleasure, they declare to be visibly the fourfold means of defining the

sacred law."

 

Here, "one's own pleasure," is what remains to be defined. If these are the

passages that you have in mind, it would appear that "one's own conscience"

has been chosen by some as a suitable interpretation of both "€tmanas

tu˜iƒ" and "priyam €tmanaƒ." One could perhaps say "one's own discretion,"

but (I think), it would have to be made clear that this should mean the

discretion of a properly trained person of saintly character.

 

But I don't want to speculate more about this, since I don't know which

verses you are really asking about.

 

ys end