shall not only restore four times its value, but pay a fine of five times the stipulated value (pancbabandho dandah). If the deposit is exchanged for a similar one (by the depositary), or lost in any other way, its value shall be paid.
(Pledges.)
The same rules shall hold good in the case of pledges Kautilya's Arthashastra whenever they are lost, used up, sold, mortgaged, or misappropriated.
A pledge, if productive, i.e. (a usufructary mortgage), shall never be lost to the debtor (nddhissopakdrassidet), nor shall any interest on the debt be charged; but if unproductive (i.e., hypothecation), it may be lost, and interest on the debt shall accumulate. The pledgee who does not re-convey the pledge when the debtor is ready for it shall be fined Ylpanas.
In the absence of the creditor or mediator (prayojahdsannidhdna), the amount of the debt may be kept in the custody of the elders of the village and the debtor may have the pledged property redeemed; or with its value fixed at the time and with no interest chargeable for the future, the pledge may be left where it is. When there is any rise in the value of the pledge or when it is apprehended that it may be depriciated or lost in the near future, the pledgee may, with permission from the judges (dharmasthas), or on the evidence furnished by the officer in charge of pledges (ddhipdlapratyayo vd), sell the pledge either in the presence of the debtor or under the presidency of experts who can see whether such apprehension is justified.
An immovable property, pledged and enjoyable with or without labour (praydsabhogyhah phalabhogyovd), shall not be caused to deteriorate in value while yielding interest on the money lent, and profit on the expenses incurred in maintaining it.
The pledgee who enjoys the pledge without permission shall not only pay the net profit he derived from it, but also forfeit the debt. The rules regarding deposits shall hold good in other matters connected with pledges.
(Property entrusted to another for delivery to a third person.)
Kautilya's Arthashastra The same rules shall apply to orders (ddesa), and property entrusted for delivery to a third person (anvddhi).
If, through a merchant, a messenger is entrusted with a property for delivery to a third person (anvddhihasta) and such messenger does not reach the destined place, or is robbed of the property by thieves, the merchant shall not be responsible for it; nor shall a kinsman of the messenger who dies on his way be responsible for the property.
For the rest, the rules regarding deposits shall also hold good here.
(Borrowed or hired properties.)
Properties either borrowed (ydchitakam) or hired (avakritakam) shall be returned as intact as they were when received. If owing to distance in time or place, or owing to some inherent defects of the properties or to some unforeseen accidents, properties either borrowed or hired are lost or destroyed, they need not be made good. The rules regarding deposits shall also apply here.
(Retail sale.)
Retail dealers, selling the merchandise of others at prices prevailing at particular localities and times shall hand over to the wholesale dealers as much of the sale proceeds and profit as is realised by them. The rules regarding pledges shall also apply here. If owing to distance in time or place there occurs any fall in the value of the merchandise, the retail dealers shall pay the value and profit at that rate which obtained when they received the merchandise.
Servants selling commodities at prices prescribed by their Kautilya's Arthashastra masters shall realise no profit. They shall only return the actual sale proceeds. If prices fall, they shall pay only as much of the sale proceeds as is realised at the low rate.
But such merchants as belong to trade-guilds (samvyavaharikeshu) or are trustworthy and are not condemned by the king need not restore even the value of that merchandise which is lost or destroyed owing to its inherent defects or to some unforeseen accidents. But of such merchandise as is distanced by time or place, they shall restore as much value and profit as remains after making allowance for the wear and tear of the merchandise.
For the rest the rules regarding deposits shall apply here. It explains retail sale.
(Sealed deposits.)
The rules laid down concerning unsealed deposits (upanidhis) shall apply to sealed deposits also. A man handing over a sealed deposit to other than the real depositor shall be punished. In the case of a depositary's denial of having received a deposit, the antecedent circumstances (piirvdpaddnam) of the deposit and (the character and social position of) the depositor are the only evidences. Artisans (kdravah) are naturally of impure character. It is not an approved custom with them to deposit for some reliable reason.
When a depositary denies having received a sealed deposit which was not, however, deposited for any reasonable cause, the depositor may obtain secret permission (from the judges) to produce such witnesses as he might have stationed under a wall (gudhabhitti) while depositing.
In the midst of a forest or in the middle of a voyage an old or Kautilya's Arthashastra afflicted merchant might with confidence put in the custody of a depositary some valuable article with certain secret mark, and go on his way. On his sending this information to his son or brother, the latter may ask for the sealed deposit. If the depositary does not quietly return it, he shall not only forfeit his credit, but be liable to the punishment for theft besides being made to restore the deposit.
A reliable man, bent on leaving this world and becoming an ascetic, may place a certain sealed deposit with some secret mark in the custody of a man, and, returning after a number of years, ask for it. If the depositary dishonestly denies it, he shall not only be made to restore it, but be liable to the punishment for theft.
A childish man with a sealed deposit with some secret mark may, while going through a street at night, feel frightened at his being captured by the police for untimely walking, and, placing the deposit in the custody of a man, go on his way. But subsequently put into the jail, he may ask for it. If the depositary dishonestly denies, he shall not only be made to restore it, but be liable to the punishment for theft.
By recognising the sealed deposit in the custody of a man, any one of the depositor's family may probably ask not only for the deposit, but also for information as to the whereabouts of the depositor. If the custodian denies either, he shall be treated as before.
In all these cases, it is of first importance to inquire how the property under dispute came in one's possession, what are the circumstances connected with the various transactions concerning the property and what is the status of the plantiff in society as to wealth (arthasdmarthyam).
The above rules shall also apply to all kinds of transaction Kautilya's Arthashastra between any two persons (mithassamavdyah).
* Hence before witnesses and with no secrecy whatever, shall all kinds of agreements be entered into; either with one's own or different people, shall the circumstances of the time and place be minutely considered first.
[Thus ends Chapter XII "Concerning Deposits" in Book III, "Concernig Law" of the Arthasdstra of Kautilya. End of the sixty-ninth chapter from the beginning.]
CHAPTER XIII. RULES REGARDING SLAVES AND LABOURERS.
THE selling or mortgaging by kinsmen of the life of a Sudra who is not a born slave, and has not attained majority, but is an Arya in birth shall be punished with a fine of 12 panas; of a Vaisya, 24 panas; of a Kshatriya, 36 panas; and of a Brahman, 48 panas. If persons other than kinsmen do the same, they shall be liable to the three amercements and capital punishment respectively: purchasers and abettors shall likewise be punished. It is no crime for Mlechchhas to sell or mortgage the life of their own offspring. But never shall an Arya be subjected to slavery.
But if in order to tide over family troubles, to find money for fines or court decrees, or to recover the (confiscated) household implements, the life of an Arya is mortgaged, they (his kinsmen) shall as soon as possible redeem him (from bondage); and more so if he is a youth or an adult capable of giving help.
Any person who has once voluntarily enslaved himself shall, Kautilya's Arthashastra if guilty of an offence (nishpatitah), be a slave for life. Similarly, any person whose life has been twice mortgaged by others shall, if guilty of an offence, be a slave for life. Both of these two sorts of men shall, if they are once found desirous to run away to foreign countries, be slaves for life.
Deceiving a slave of his money or depriving him of the privileges he can exercise as an Arya (Aryabhava), shall be punished with half the fine (levied for enslaving the life of an Arya).
A man who happens to have taken in mortgage the life of a convict, or of a dead or an afflicted man shall be entitled to receive back (from the mortgager) the value he paid for the slave.
Employing a slave to carry the dead or to sweep ordure, urine, or the leavings of food; keeping a slave naked; or hurting or abusing him; or violating (the chastity of) a female slave shall cause the forfeiture of the value paid for him or her. Violation (of the chastity) of nurses, female cooks, or female servants of the class of joint cultivators or of any other description shall at once earn their liberty for them. Violence towards an attendant of high birth shall entitle him to run away. When a master has connection with a nurse or pledged female slave against her will, he shall be punished with the first amercement; a stranger doing the same shall be punished with the middlemost amercement. When a man commits or helps another to commit rape with a girl or a female slave pledged to him, he shall not only forfeit the purchase value, but also pay a certain amount of money (sulka) to her and a fine of twice the amount (of sulka to the Government).
The offspring of a man who has sold off himself as a slave shall be an Arya. A slave shall be entitled to enjoy not only whatever he has earned without prejudice to his master's work, but Kautilya's Arthashastra also the inheritance he has received from his father.
On paying the value (for which one is enslaved), a slave shall regain his Aryahood. The same rule shall apply either to born or pledged slaves.
The ransom necessary for a slave to regain his freedom is equal to what he has been sold for. Any person who has been enslaved for fines or court decrees (dandapranitah) shall earn the amount by work. An Arya, made captive in war shall for his freedom pay a certain amount proportional to the dangerous work done at the time of his capture, or half the amount.
If a slave who is less than eight years old and has no relatives, no matter whether he is born a slave in his master's house, or fell to his master's share of inheritance, or has been purchased or obtained by his master in any other way, is employed in mean avocations against his will or is sold or mortgaged in a foreign land; or if a pregnant female slave is sold or pledged without any provision for her confinement, his or her master shall be punished with the first amercement. The purchaser and abettors shall likewise be punished.
Failure to set a slave at liberty on the receipt of a required amount of ransom shall be punished with a fine of 12 panas; putting a slave under confinement for no reason (samrodhaschdkarandt) shall likewise be punished.
The property of a slave shall pass into the hands of his kinsmen; in the absence of any kinsmen, his master shall take it.
When a child is begotten on a female slave by her master, both the child and its mother shall at once be recognised as free. If for the sake of subsistence, the mother has to remain in her Kautilya's Arthashastra bondage, her brother and sister shall be liberated.
Selling or mortgaging the life of a male or a female slave once liberated shall be punished with a fine of 12 panas with the exception of those who enslave themselves. Thus the rules regarding slaves.
(Power of Masters over their hired servants.)
Neighbours shall know the nature of agreement between a master and his servant. The servant shall get the promised wages. As to wages not previously settled the amount shall be fixed in proportion to the work done and the time spent in doing it (karmakdldnurupam = at the rate prevailing at the time.) Wages being previously unsettled, a cultivator shall obtain l/10th of the crops grown, a herdsman l/10th of the butter clarified, a trader l/10th of the sale proceeds. Wages previously settled shall be paid and received as agreed upon.
Artisans, musicians, physicians, buffoons, cooks, and other workmen, serving of their own accord, shall obtain as much wages as similar persons employed elsewhere usually get or as much as experts (kusaldh) shall fix.
Disputes regarding wages shall be decided on the strength of evidences furnished by witnesses. In the absence of witnesses, the master who has provided his servant with work shall be examined. Failure to pay wages shall be punished with a fine of ten times the amount of wages (dasabandhah), or 6 panas; misappropriation of wages shall be punished with a fine of 12 panas or of five times the amount of the wages (panchabandho vd).
Any person who, while he is being carried away by floods, or is caught in a fire, or is in danger from elephants or tigers, is rescued on his promise to offer to his rescuer not only the whole of Kautilya's Arthashastra his property, but also his sons, wife, and himself as slaves, shall pay only as much as will be fixed by experts. This rule shall apply to all cases where help of any kind is rendered to the afflicted.
* A public woman shall surrender her person as agreed upon; but insistence on the observance of any agreement which is ill-considered and improper shall not succeed.
[Thus ends Chapter XIII, "Rules regarding slaves" in the section of "Rules regarding slaves" and the "Right of Masters" in the section of "Rules regarding Labourers" in Book III, "Concerning Law" of the Arthasdstra of Kautilya. End of the seventieth chapter from the beginning.]
CHAPTER XIV. RULES REGARDING LABOURERS; AND CO-OPERATIVE UNDERTAKING.
A servant neglecting or unreasonably putting off work for which he has received wages shall be fined 12 panas and be caught-hold of till the work is done. He who is incapable to turn out work, or is engaged to do a mean job, or is suffering from disease, or is involved in calamities shall be shown some concession or allowed to get the work done by a substitute. The loss incurred by his master or employer owing to such delay shall be made good by extra work.
An employer may be at liberty to get the work done by (another) provided there is no such adverse condition that the former shall not employ another servant to execute the work, nor shall the latter go elsewhere for work.
Kautilya's Arthashastra An employer not taking work from his labourer or an employee not doing his employers work shall be fined 12 panas. An employee who has received wages to do a certain work which is however, not brought to termination shall not, of his own accord, go elsewhere for work.
My preceptor holds that not taking work on the part of an employer from his employee when the latter is ready, shall be regarded as work done by the labourer.
But Kautilya objects to it; for wages are to be paid for work done, but not for work that is not done. If an employer, having caused his labourer to do a part of work, will not cause him to do the rest for which the latter may certainly be ready, then also the unfinished portion of the work has to be regarded as finished. But owing to consideration of changes that have occurred in time and place or owing to bad workmanship of the labourer, the employer may not be pleased with what has already been turned out by the labourer. Also the workman may, if unrestrained, do more than agreed upon and thereby cause loss to the employer.
The same rules shall apply to guilds of workmen (sanghabhritdh.)
Guilds of workmen shall have a grace of seven nights over and above the period agreed upon for fulfilling their engagement. Beyond that time they shall find substitutes and get the work completed. Without taking permission from their employer, they shall neither leave out anything undone nor carry away anything with them from the place of work. They shall be fined 24 panas for taking away anything and 12 panas for leaving out anything undone. Thus the Rules regarding labourers.
Guilds of workmen (sanghabhritdh, workmen employed by Companies) as well as those who carry on any cooperative work Kautilya's Arthashastra (sambhuya samutthdtarah) shall divide their earnings (vetanam = wages) either equally or as agreed upon among themselves.
Cultivators or merchants shall, either at the end or in the middle of their cultivation or manufacture, pay to their labourers as much of the latter's share as is proportional to the work done. If the labourers, giving up work in the middle, supply substitutes, they shall be paid their wages in full.
But when commodities are being manufactured, wages shall be paid out according to the amount of work turned out; for such payment does not affect the favourable or unfavourable results on the way (i.e., in the sale of merchandise by peddlars).
A healthy person who deserts his company after work has been begun shall be fined 12 panas; for none shall, of his own accord, leave his company. Any person who is found to have neglected his share of work by stealth shall be shown mercy (abhayam) for the first time and given a proportional quantity of work anew with promise of proportional share of earnings as well. In case of negligence for a second time or of going elsewhere, he shall be thrown out of the Company (pravdsanam). If he is guilty of a glaring offence (mahdparddhe), he shall be treated as the condemned.
(Co-operation in sacrificial acts.)
Priests cooperating in a sacrifice shall divide their earnings either equally or as agreed upon excepting what is especially due to each or any of them. If a priest employed in such sacrifices as Agnishtoma, etc., dies after the ceremony of consecration, (his claimant) shall get l/5th of the promised or prescribed present (dakshind); after the ceremony consecrating the purchase of Soma, lMh of the present; after the ceremony called Madhyamopasad; or Kautilya's Arthashastra Pravargyodvdsana, l/3rd of the present; and after the ceremony called Maya, Vi of the share. If in the sacrifice called Sutya, the same thing happens after the ceremony called Prdtassavana, %ths, of the share shall be paid; after the ceremony called Madhyandina, the present shall be paid in full; for by that time the payment of presents shall be over. In every sacrifice except the one called Brihaspatisavana, it is usual to pay presents. The same rule shall apply to the presents payable in Aharganas, sacrifices so called.
The surviving priests carrying the balance of the present or any other relatives of a dead priest shall perform the funeral ceremony of the dead for ten days and nights.
If the sacrificer himself (he who has instituted the sacrifice) dies, then the remaining priests shall complete the sacrifice and carry away the presents. If a sacrificer sends out any priest before completing the sacrifice, he shall be punished with the first amercement. If a sacrificer sending out a priest happens to be a person who has not kept the sacrificial fire, or to be a preceptor or one who has already performed sacrifices, then the fines shall be 100, 1000, and 1000 panas respectively.
* As it is certain that sacrificial merits fall in value when performed in company with a drunkard, the husband of a Sudra woman, a murderer of a Brahman, or one who has violated the chastify of the wife of his preceptor, a receiver of condemnable gifts, or is a thief, or one whose performance of sacrificial acts is condemnable, it is no offence to send out such a priest.
[Thus ends Chapter XIV, "Rules regarding labourers, and Co-operative undertaking" in the section of "Rules regarding slaves and labourers," in Book III, "Concerning Law" of the Arthasdstra of Kautilya. End of the seventy-first chapter from the beginning.]
Kautilya's Arthashastra CHAPTER XV. RESCISSION OF PURCHASE AND SALE.
A merchant refusing to give his merchandise that he has sold shall be punished with a fine of 12 panas, unless the merchandise is naturally bad, or is dangerous, or is intolerable.
That which has inherent defects is termed naturally bad; whatever is liable to be confiscated by the king, or is subject to destruction by thieves, fire, or floods is termed as being dangerous; and whatever is devoid of all good qualities, or is manufactured by the deceased is called intolerable.
Time for rescission of a sale is one night for merchants; 3 nights for cultivators; 5 nights for herdsmen; and with regard to the sale or barter of precious things and articles of mixed qualities (vivrittivikraye), 7 nights.
Merchandise which is likely to perish sooner may, if there is no loss to others, be shown the favour of early disposal by prohibiting the sale elsewhere of similar merchandise which is not likely to perish so soon. Violation of this rule shall be punished with a fine of 24 panas or l/10th of the value of the merchandise sold against this rule.
A person who attempts to return an article purchased by him shall if the article is other than what is naturally bad, or is dangerous, or is intolerable, be punished with a fine of 12 panas. The same rescission rules that apply to a seller shall apply to the purchaser also. (Marriage Contracts) [As regards marriages among the three higher castes, rejection of a bride before the rite of pdnigrahana, clasping of Kautilya's Arthashastra hands, is valid; likewise among the Sudras, observing religious rites. Even in the case of a couple that has gone through the rite of pdnigrahana,] rejection of a bride whose guilt of having lain with another man has been afterwards detected is valid. But never so in the case of brides and bridegrooms of pure character and high family. Any person who has given a girl in marriage without announcing her guilt of having lain with another shall not only be punished with a fine of 96 panas, but also be made to return the sulka and stridhana. Any person receiving a girl in marriage without announcing the blemishes of the bridegroom shall not only pay double the above fine, but also forfeit the sulka and stridhana (he paid for the bride).
(Sale of bipeds, etc.)
Sale of bipeds and quadrupeds as strong, healthy, and clean though they are either unclean or actually suffering from leprosy and other diseases, shall be punished with a fine of 12 panas. The time of rescission of sale is three fortnights for quadrupeds and one year for men; for it is possible to know by that time their good or bad condition.
* An assembly convened for the purpose shall, in the matter of rescending sales or gifts, decide in such a way that neither the giver nor the receiver shall be injured thereby.
[Thus ends Chapter XV, "Rescission of purchase and sale" in Book III, "Concerning Law" of the Arthasdstra of Kautilya. End of the seventy- second chapter from the beginning.]
CHAPTER XVI. RESUMPTION OF GIFTS, SALE Kautilya's Arthashastra WITHOUT OWNERSHIP AND OWNERSHIP.
RULES concerning recovery of debts shall also apply to resumption of gifts. Invalid gifts shall be kept in the safe custody of some persons. Any person who has given as gift not only his whole property, his sons, and his wife, but also his own life shall bring the same for the consideration of rescissors. Gifts or charitable subscriptions to the wicked or for unworthy purposes, monetary help to such persons as are malevolent or cruel, and promise of sexual enjoyment to the unworthy shall be so settled by rescissors that neither the giver nor the receiver shall be injured thereby.
Those who receive any kind of aid from timid persons, threatening them with legal punishment, defamation, or loss of money, shall be liable to the punishment for theft; and the persons who yield such aids shall likewise be punished.
Co-operation in hurting a person, and showing a haughty attitude towards the king shall be punished with the highest amercement. No son, or heir claiming a dead man's property shall, against his own will, pay the value of the bail borne by the dead man (prdtibhdvyadanda), the balance of any dowry (sulkasesha), or the stakes of gambling; nor shall he fulfill the promise of gifts made by the dead man under the influence of liquor or love. Thus resumption of gifts is dealt with.
(Sale without ownership.)
As regards sale without ownership:— On the detection of a lost property in the possession of another person, the owner shall cause the offender to be arrested through the judges of a court. If time or place does not permit this action, the owner himself shall catch hold of the offender and bring him before the judges. The judge shall put the question; how the offender came by the property. If he Kautilya's Arthashastra narrates how he got it, but cannot produce the person who sold it to him, he shall be left off, and shall forfeit the property. But the seller, if produced, shall not only pay the value of the property, but also be liable to the punishment for theft.
If a person with a stolen property in his possession runs away or hides himself till the property is wholly consumed, he shall not only pay the value, but also be liable to the punishment for theft.
After proving his claim to a lost property (svakaranam kritva), its owner shall be entitled to take possession of it. On his failure to prove his title to it, he shall be fined 5 times the value of the property, (panchabandhadandah), and the property shall be taken by the king.
If the owner takes possession of a lost article without obtaining permission from the court, he shall be punished with the first amercement.
Stolen or lost articles shall, on being detected, be kept in the toll-gate. If no claimant is forthcoming within three fortnights, such articles shall be taken by the king.
He who proved his title to a lost or stolen biped shall pay 5 panas towards ransom (before taking possession of it). Likewise the ransom for a single-hoofed animal shall be 4 panas; for a cow or a buffalo, 2 panas, for minor quadrupeds lMh of apana; and for articles such as precious stones, superior or inferior raw materials, five per cent of their value.
Whatever of the property of his own subjects the king brings back from the forests and countries of enemies, shall be handed over to its owner. Whatever of the property of citizens robbed by thieves the king cannot recover, shall be made good from his own Kautilya's Arthashastra pocket. If the king is unable to recover such things, he shall either allow any self-elected person (svayamgrdha) to fetch them, or pay an equivalent ransom to the sufferer. An adventurer may enjoy whatever the king graciously gives him out of the booty he has plundered from an enemy's country, excepting the life of an Arya and the property belonging to gods, Brdhmans or ascetics. Thus sale without ownership is dealt with. (Ownership.)
As to the title of an owner to his property:— The owners who have quitted their country where their property lies shall continue to have their title to it. When the owners other than minors, the aged, those that are afflicted with decease or calamities, those that are sojourning abroad, or those that have deserted their country during national disturbances, neglect for ten years their property which is under the enjoyment of others, they shall forfeit their title to it.
Buildings left for 20 years in the enjoyment of others shall not be reclaimed. But the mere occupation of the buildings of others during the absence of the king by kinsmen, priests, or heretics shall not give them the right of possession. The same shall obtain with regard to open deposits, pledges, treasure trove (nidhi), boundary, or any property belonging to kings or priests (srotriyas).
Ascetics and heretics shall, without disturbing each other, reside in a large area. A new comer shall, however, be provided with the space occupied by an old resident. If not willing to do so, the old occupier shall be sent out.
The property of hermits, (vdnaprastha) ascetics (yati), or bachelors learning the Vedas (Brahmachdri) shall on their death be taken by their preceptors, disciples, their brethren (dharmabhrdtri), or class-mates in succession.
Kautilya's Arthashastra Whenever hermits, etc., have to pay any fines, they may, in the name of the king, perform penance, oblation to gods, fireworship, or the ritual called Mahdkachchhavardhana for as many nights as the number of panas of their fines. Those heretics (pdshanddh) who have neither gold nor gold-coin shall similarly observe their fasts except in the case of defamation, theft, assault and abduction of women. Under these circumstances, they shall be compelled to undergo punishment.
* The king shall, under penalty of fines, forbid the wilful or improper proceedings of ascetics: for vice overwhelming righteousness will in the long run destroy the ruler himself.