* After examining the personal property such as travelling requisites, dress, jewels, or other things which the deceased had on his body while murdered, such persons as supplied or had something to do with those things shall be examined as to the associates, residence, causes of journey, profession, and other calls of the deceased.
* If a man or woman under the infatuation of love, anger, or other sinful passions commits or causes to commit suicide by means of ropes, arms, or poison, he or she shall be dragged by means of a rope along the public road by the hands of a Chanddla.
* For such murderers as the above, neither cremation rites nor any obsequies usually performed by relatives shall be observed.
* Any relative who performs funeral rites to such wretches, shall either himself be deprived of his own funerals or be abandoned by his kith and kin.
* Whoever associates himself with such persons as perform forbidden rites, shall with his other associates, if any, forfeit within a year the privileges of conducting or superintending a sacrifice, of teaching, and of giving or receiving gifts.
[Thus ends Chapter VII, "Examination of sudden death," in Book IV, "The Removal of Thorns" of the Arthasdsatra of Kautilya. End of the eighty-fourth chapter from the beginning.]
Kautilya's Arthashastra CHAPTER VIII. TRIAL AND TORTURE TO ELICIT CONFESSION.
WHETHER an accused is a stranger or a relative to a complainant, his defence witness shall, in the presence of the complainant, be asked as to the defendant's country, caste, family, name, occupation, property, friends, and residence. The answers obtained shall be compared with the defendant's own statements regarding the same. Then the defendant shall be asked as to not only the nature of the work he did during the day previous to the theft, but also the place where he spent the night till he was caught hold of. If his answers for these questions are attested to by reliable referees or witnesses, he shall be acquitted. Otherwise he shall be subjected torture (anyatha karmaprdptah).
Three days after the commission of a crime, no suspected person (sankitakah) shall be arrested inasmuch as there is no room for questions unless there is strong evidence to bring home the charge.
Persons who charge an innocent man with theft, or conceal a thief shall themselves be liable to the punishment for theft.
When a person accused of theft proves in his defence the complainant's enmity or hatred towards himself he shall be acquitted.
Any person who keeps an innocent man in confinement (parivdsayatah suddham) shall be punished with the first amercement.
Guilt against a suspected person shall be established by the production of such evidences as the instruments made use of by the accused, his accomplices or abettors, the stolen article, and any Kautilya's Arthashastra middlemen involved in selling or purchasing the stolen article. The validity of the above evidences shall also be tested with reference to both the scene of the theft and the circumstances connected with the possession and distribution of the stolen article.
When there are no such evidences and when the accused is wailing much, he shall be regarded as innocent. For owing to one's accidental presence on the scene of theft, or to one's accidental resemblance to the real thief in respect to his appearance, his dress, his weapons, or possession of articles similar to those stolen, or owing to one's presence near the stolen articles as in the case of Mdndavya who under the fear of torture admitted himself to be the thief, one, though innocent, is often seized as a thief. Hence the production of conclusive evidences shall be insisted upon. (tasmdtsamdptakaranam niyamayet = hence punishment shall be meted out only when the charge is quite established against the accused?)
Ignoramuses, youngsters, the aged, the afflicted, persons under intoxication, lunatics, persons suffering from hunger, thirst, or fatigue from journey, persons who have just taken more than enough of meal, persons who have confessed of their own accord (dtmakdsitam), and persons who are very weak,— none of these shall be subjected to torture.
Among the spies such as harlots, suppliers of water and other drinks to travellers, story-tellers, hotel-keepers providing travellers with boarding and lodging, any one who happens to be acquainted with the work similar to that of the suspected may be let off to watch his movements, as described in connection with misappropriation of sealed deposits.
Those whose guilt is believed to be true shall be subjected to torture (aptadosham karma karayet). But not women who are Kautilya's Arthashastra carrying or who have not passed a month after delivery.
Torture of women shall be half of the prescribed standard. Or women with no exception may be subjected to the trial of cross-examination (vdkyanuyogo vd).
Those of Brahman caste and learned in the Vedas as well as asceties shall only be subjected to espionage.
Those who violate or cause to violate the above rules shall be punished with the first amercement. The same punishment shall be imposed in case of causing death to any one by torture.
There are in vogue four kinds of torture (karma):— Six punishments (shatdanddh), seven kinds of whipping (kasa), two kinds of suspension from above (upari nibandhau), and water- tube (udakandlikd cha).
As to persons who have committed grave offences, the form of torture will be nine kinds of blows with a cane: — 12 beats on each of the thighs; 28 beats with a stick of the tree (naktamdla); 32 beats on each palm of the hands and on each sole of the feet; two on the knuckles, the hands being joined so as to appear like a scorpion; two kinds of suspensions, face downwards (ullambane chale); burning one of the joints of a finger after the accused has been made to drink rice gruel; heating his body for a day after be has been made to drink oil; causing him to lie on coarse green grass for a night in winter. These are the 18 kinds of torture.
The instruments of the accused such as ropes, clubs, arrows, spades, knives, etc., shall be paraded on the back of an ass.
Each day a fresh kind of the torture may be employed.
Kautilya's Arthashastra Regarding those criminals who rob in accordance with the threat previously made by them, who have made use of the stolen articles in part, who have been caught hold of in the very act or with the stolen articles, who have attempted to seize the king's treasury, or who have committed culpable crime, may, in accordance with the order of the king, be subjected once or many times to one all of the above kinds of torture.
Whatever may be the nature of the crime, no Brahman offender shall be tortured. The face of a Brahman convict shall be branded so as to leave a mark indicating his crime:— the sign of a dog in theft, that of a headless body in murder; that of the female part (bhaga) in rape with the wife of a teacher, and that of the flag of vintners for drinking liquor.
After having thus branded to a wound and proclaimed his crime in public, the king shall either banish a Brahman offender or send him to the mines for life.
[Thus ends Chapter VIII, "Trial and Torture to Elicit Confession" in Book IV, "The Removal of Thorns" of the Arthasdstra of Kautilya. End of the eighty-fifth chapter from the beginning.]
CHAPTER IX. PROTECTION OF ALL KINDS OF GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS.
COMMISSIONERS appointed by the Collector-general shall first check (the proceedings of) Superintendents and their subordinates.
Those who seize valuable articles or precious stones from either mines or any great manufactories shall be beheaded. Those Kautilya's Arthashastra who seize ordinary articles or necessaries of life from manufactories of articles of small value shall be punished with the first amercement. Those who seize from manufactories or from the king's granary articles of 1/16 to 1/4 apana in value shall be fined 12 panas; articles of 1/4 to 1/2 apana in value, 24 panas; articles 1/2 to 3/4 pana in value, 36 panas; and articles of 3/4 to 1 pana in value, 48 panas.
Those who seize articles of 1 to 2 panas in value shall be punished with the first amercement; articles of 2 to 4 panas in value with the middlemost; and articles of 4 to 8 panas in value with the highest amercement. Those who seize articles of 8 to 10 panas in value shall be condemned to death.
When any one seizes from courtyards, shops, or arsenals commodities such as raw materials, manufactured articles, etc., of half the above value, he shall also be punished as above. When any person seizes articles of '/4th of the above value from Government treasury, granaries, or offices of Superintendents, he shall be punished with twice the above fines.
It has already been laid down in connection with the king's harem that those who intimidate thieves (with a view to give them a signal to run away) shall be tortured to death.
When any person other than a Government servant steals during the day from fields, yards prepared for threshing out grains, houses, or shops commodities such as raw materials, manufactured articles, or necessaries of life, of l/16th to l/4th of apana in value, he shall be fined 3 panas or paraded through the streets, his body being smeared over with cow-dung, and an earthen ware pan with blazing light tied round his loins (sardvamekhalayd). When any person steals articles of lA to Vi of apana in value, he shall be fined 6 panas, or his head may be shaved, or he may be exiled Kautilya's Arthashastra (mundanam pravrajanam vd). When a person steals articles of Vi to 1/3 of a pana in value, he shall be fined 9 panas, or he may be paraded through streets, his body being bedaubed with cowdung or ashes or with an earthenware pan with blazing light tied round his waist. When a person steals articles of 1/3 to 1 pana in value, be shall be fined 12 panas, or his head may be shaved, or he may be banished. When a person steals commodities of 1 to 2 panas in value, he shall be fined 24 panas, or his head may be shaved with a piece of brick, or he may be exiled. When a person steals articles of 2 to 4 panas in value, he shall be punished with a fine of 36 panas; articles of 4 to 5 panas in value, 48 panas; articles of 5 to 10 panas in value, with the first amercement; articles of 10 to 20 panas in value, with a fine of 200 panas; articles of 20 to 30 panas in value, with a fine of 500 panas; articles of 30 to 40 panas in value, with a fine of 1,000 panas; and articles of 40 to 50 panas in value, he shall be condemned to death.
When a person seizes by force, whether during the early part of the day or night, articles of half the above values, he shall be punished with double the above fines.
When any person with weapons in hand seizes by force, whether during the day or night, articles of Vith of the above values, he shall be punished with the same fines.
When a master of a household (kutumbddhyaksha,) a superintendent, or an independent officer (mukhyaswdmi) issues or makes use of unauthorised orders or seals, he shall be punished with the first, middlemost, or highest amercement, or he may be condemned to death, or punished in any other way in proportion to the gravity of his crime.
When a judge threatens, browbeats, sends out, or unjustly silences any one of the disputants in his court, he shall first of all be Kautilya's Arthashastra punished with the first amercement. If he defames or abuses any one of them, the punishment shall be doubled. If he does not ask what ought to be asked, or asks what ought not to be asked, or leaves out what he himself has asked, or teaches, reminds, or provides any one with previous statement, he shall be punished with the middle-most amercement.
When a judge does not inquire into necessary circumstances, inquires into unnecessary circumstances, (desa), makes unnecessary delay in discharging his duty, postpones work with spite, causes parties to leave the court by tiring them with delay, evades or causes to evade statements that lead to the settlement of a case, helps witnesses giving them clues, or resumes cases already settled or disposed of, he shall be punished with the highest amercement. If he repeats the offence, he shall both be punished with double the above fine and dismissed.
When a clerk does not take down what has been deposed by parties, but enters what has not been deposed, evades what has been badly said (duruktam), or renders either diverse or ambiguous in meaning such depositions as are satisfactorily given out, he shall be punished either with the first amercement or in proportion to his guilt.
When a judge or commissioner imposes an unjust fine in gold, he shall be fined either double the amount of the fine, or eight times that amount of imposition which is either more or less than the prescribed limit.
When a judge or commissioner imposes an unjust corporeal punishment, he shall himself be either condemned to the same punishment or made to pay twice the amount of ransom leviable for that kind of injustice.
When a judge falsifies whatever is a true amount or declares Kautilya's Arthashastra as true whatever amount is false, he shall be fined eight times that amount.
When an officer lets out or causes to let out offenders from lock-up (chdraka), obstructs or causes to obstruct prisoners in such of their daily avocations as sleeping, sitting, eating, or execreting, he shall be punished with fines ranging from 3 panas and upwards.
When any person lets out or causes to let out debtors from lock-up, he shall not only be punished with the middlemost amercement, but also be compelled to pay the debt the offender has to pay.
When a person lets out or causes to let out prisoners from jails (bandhandgdra), he shall be condemned to death and the whole of his property confiscated.
When the superintendeat of jails puts any person in lock-up without declaring the grounds of provocation (samkrudhakamandkhydya), he shall be fined 24 panas; when he subjects any person to unjust torture, 48 panas; when he transfers a prisoner to another place, or deprives a prisoner of food and water, 96 panas; when be troubles or receives bribes from a prisoner, he shall be punished, with the middlemost amercement; when he beats a prisoner to death, he shall be fined 1,000 panas. When a person commits rape with a captive, slave, or hired woman in lock-up, he shall be punished with the first amercement; when he commits rape with the wife of a thief, or of any other man who is dead in an epidemic (ddmara), he shall be punished with the middlemost amercement; and when he commits rape with an Arya woman in lock-up, he shall be punished with the highest amercement.
When an offender kept in lock-up commits rape with an Arya woman in the same lock-up, he shall be condemned to death in the Kautilya's Arthashastra very place.
When an officer commits rape with an Arya woman who has been arrested for untimely movement at night (akshanagrihitdydm), he shall also be hanged at the very spot; when a similar offence is committed with a woman under slavery, the offender shall be punished with the first amercement.
(An officer) who causes a prisoner to escape from a lock-up without breaking it open, shall be punished with the middlemost amercement. (An officer) who causes a prisoner to escape from a lock-up after breaking it open, shall be condemned to death. When he lets out a prisoner from the jail, he shall be put to death and his property confiscated.
Thus shall the king, with adequate punishments, test first the conduct of Government servants, and then shall, through those officers of approved character, examine the conduct of his people both in towns and villages.
[Thus ends Chapter IX, "Protection of all kinds of Government Departments" in Book IV, "The Removal of Thorns" of the Arthasdstra of Kautilya. End of the eighty-sixth chapter from the beginning.]
CHAPTER X. FINES IN LIEU OF MUTILATION OF LIMBS.
WHEN Government servants (arthachara) commit for the first time such offences as violation of sacred institutions (tirthdghdta), or pickpocketing (granthibheda), they shall have their index finger cut off or shall pay a fine of 54 panas; when for a Kautilya's Arthashastra second time they commit the same, they shall have their ( ) cut off or pay a fine of 100 panas; when for a third time, they shall have their right hand cut off or pay a fine of 400 panas; and when for a fourth time, they shall in any way be put to death.
When a person steals or destroys cocks, mangoose, cats, dogs or pigs, of less than 54 panas in value, he shall have the edge of his nose cut off or pay a fine of 54 panas. If these animals belong to either Chandalas or wild tribes half of the above fine shall be imposed.
When any person steals wild beasts, cattle, birds, elephants, tigers, fish, or any other animals confined in traps, fences, or pits, he shall not only pay a fine equal to the value of the stolen animals, but also restore the animals.
For stealing beasts or raw materials from forests, a fine of 100 panas shall be imposed. For stealing or destroying dolls, beasts, or birds from infirmaries, twice the above fine shall be levied.
When a person steals articles of small value, belonging to artisans, musicians, or ascetics he shall pay a fine of 100 panas; and when he steals big articles or any agricultural implements, he shall pay double the above fine.
When any person enters into a fort without permission, or carries off treasure through a hole or passage in the wall of the fort, he shall either be beheaded or be made to pay a fine of 200 panas.
When a person steals a cart, a boat or minor quadruped, he shall have one of his legs cut off or pay a fine of 300 panas.
When a gambler substitutes false dice to be hired for a kdkani or any other accessory things of dice-play, or commits fraud by Kautilya's Arthashastra tricks of hand, he shall have his hand cut off or pay a fine of 400 panas.
When any person abets a thief or an adulterer, he as well as the woman who voluntarily yields herself for adultery shall have their ears and nose cut off or pay each a fine of 500 panas, while the thief or the adulterer shall pay double the above fine.
When any person steals a big animal, abducts a male or female slave, or sells the articles belonging to a dead body (pretabhdndam), he shall have both of his legs cut off or pay a fine of 600 panas.
When a man contemptuously rushes against the hands or legs of any person of a higher caste, or of a teacher, or mounts the horse, elephant, coach, etc., of the king, he shall have one of his legs and one of his hands cut off or pay a fine of 700 panas.
When a Sudra calls himself a Brahman, or when any person steals the property of gods, conspires against the king, or destroys both the eyes of another, he shall either have his eyes destroyed by the application of poisonous ointment, or pay a fine of 800 panas.
When a person causes a thief or an adulterer to be let off or adds or omits anything while writing down the king's order, abducts a girl or a slave possessed of gold, carries off any deceitful transaction, or sells rotten flesh, he shall either have his two legs and one hand cut off or pay a fine of 900 panas.
Any person who sells human flesh shall be condemned to death.
When a person steals images of gods or of animals, abducts men, or takes possession of fields, houses, gold, gold-coins, precious stones, or crops of others, he shall either be beheaded or Kautilya's Arthashastra compelled to pay the highest amercement.
* Taking into consideration the (social position of) persons, the nature of the offence, the cause, whether grave or slight (that led to the perpetration of the offence), the antecedent and present circumstances, the time, and the place; * and without failing to notice equitable distinctions among offenders, whether belonging to royal family or to the common people, shall the commissioner determine the propriety of imposing the first, middlemost, or highest amercements.
[Thus ends Chapter X, "Fines in lieu of mutilation of limbs" in Book IV, "The Removal of Thorns" of 'the Arthas as tra of Kautilya. End of the eighty- seventh chapter from the. beginning.]
CHAPTER XI. DEATH WITH OR WITHOUT TORTURE.
WHEN a man murders another in a quarrel, he shall be tortured to death. When a person wounded in a fight dies within seven nights, he who caused the wound shall be put to instantaneous death (suddhavadhah). If the wounded man dies within a fortnight, the offender shall be punished with the highest amercement. If the wounded man dies within a month, the offender shall be compelled to pay not only a fine of 500 panas, but also an adequate compensation (to the bereaved).
When a man hurts another with a weapon, he shall pay the highest amercement; when he does so under intoxication, his hand shall be cut off; and when he causes instantaneous death, be shall be put to death.
Kautilya's Arthashastra When a person causes abortion in pregnancy by striking, or with medicine, or by annoyance, the highest, middlemost, and first amercements shall be imposed respectively.
Those who cause violent death either to men or women, or those who are in the habit of often going to meet prostitutes (abhisdraka), those who inflict unjust punishment upon others, those who spread false or contemptuous rumours, who assault or obstruct travellers on their way, who commit house-breaking, or who steal or cause hurt to royal elephants, horses, or carriages shall be hanged.
Whoever burns or carries away the corpses of the above offenders shall meet with similar punishment or pay the highest amercement.
When a person supplies murderers or thieves with food, dress, any requisites, fire, information, any plan, or assistance in any way, he shall be punished with the highest amercement. When he does so under ignorance, he shall be censured.
Sons or wives of murderers or of thieves shall, if they are found not in concert, be acquitted; but they shall be seized if found to have been in concert.
Any person who aims at the kingdom, who forces entrance into the king's harem, who instigates wild tribes or enemies (against the king), or who creates disaffection in forts, country parts, or in the army shall be burnt alive from head to foot.
If a Brahman does similar acts, he shall be drowned.
Any person who murders his father, mother, son, brother, teacher, or an ascetic, shall be put to death by burning both his head Kautilya's Arthashastra and skin; if he insults any of the above persons, his tongue shall be cut off; if he bites any limb of these persons, be shall be deprived of the corresponding limb.
When a man wantonly murders another, or steals a herd of cattle, he shall be beheaded.
A herd of cattle shall be considered to consist of not more than ten heads.
When a person breaks the dam of a tank full of water, he shall be drowned in the very tank; of a tank without water, he shall be punished with the highest amercement; and of a tank which is in ruins owing to neglect, he shall be punished with the middle-most amercement.
Any man who poisons another and any woman who murders a man shall be drowned.
Any woman who murders her husband, preceptor, or offspring, sets fire to another's property, poisons a man or cuts off any of the bodily joints of another shall be torn off by bulls, no matter whether or not she is big with a child, or has not passed a month after giving birth to a child.
Any person who sets fire to pasture lands, fields, yards prepared for threshing out grains, houses, forests, of timber or of elephants shall be thrown into fire.
Any person who insults the king, betrays the king's council, makes evil attempts (against the king), or disregards the sanctity of the kitchens of Brdhmans shall have his tongue cut off.
When a man other than a soldier steals weapons or armour, Kautilya's Arthashastra he shall be shot down by arrows; if he is a soldier, he shall pay the highest amercement.
He who castrates a man shall have his generative organ cut off.
He who hurts the tongue or nose of another shall have his fingers cut off.
* Such painful punishments (klesadanda) as the above have been laid down in the Sastras of great sages; but it has been declared as just to put to simple death those offenders who have not been cruel.
[Thus ends Chapter XI, "Death with or without torture" in Book IV, "The Removal of Thorns" of the Arthasdstra of Kautilya. End of the eighty-eighth chapter from the beginning.]
CHAPTER XII. SEXUAL INTERCOURSE WITH IMMATURE GIRLS.
HE who defiles a maiden of equal caste before she has reached her maturity shall have his hand cut off or pay a fine of 400 panas; if the maiden dies in consequence, the offender shall be put to death.
He who defiles a maiden who has attained maturity shall have his middle finger cut off or pay a fine of 200 panas, besides giving an adequate compensation to her father.
No man shall have sexual intercourse with any woman Kautilya's Arthashastra against her will.
He who defiles a willing maiden shall pay a fine of 54 panas, while the maiden herself shall pay a fine of half the amount.
When a man impersonates another man who has already paid the nuptial fee to a woman (parasulkopadhdydm), he shall have his hand cut off or pay a fine of 400 panas, besides making good the nuptial fee.
No man who has connection with a maiden that has passed seven menses and has not yet succeeded in marrying her, though she has been betrothed to him, shall either be guilty or pay any compensation to her father; for her father has lost his authority over her in consequence of having deprived her so long of the result of her menses.
It is no offence for a man of equal caste and rank to have connection with a maiden who has been unmarried three years after her first menses. Nor is it an offence for a man, even of different caste, to have connection with a maiden who has spent more than three years after her first menses and has no jewellery on her person; for taking possession of paternal property (under such circumstances) shall be regarded as theft.
Any person who, while pretending to secure a bride to a particular person, ultimately obtains her for a third person shall be fined 200 panas.
No man shall have sexual intercourse with any woman against her will.
If a person substitutes in marriage another maiden for the one he has before shown, he shall, if the substitute is of the same rank, be fined 100 panas, and 200 panas if she is of lower rank. The Kautilya's Arthashastra substituted maiden shall be fined 54 panas, while the offender shall also be compelled to return both the nuptial fee and the amount of expenditure (incurred by the bridegroom).
When a man refuses to live in marriage a particular maiden as agreed upon, he shall pay double the above fine.
When a man substitutes in marriage a maiden of different blood or is found to have bestowed false praises (on her quality), he shall not only pay a fine of 200 panas and return the nuptial fee, but also make good the expenditure.
No man shall have sexual intercourse with any woman against her will.
When a woman being desirous of intercourse, yields herself to a man of the same caste and rank, she shall be fined 12 panas, while any other woman who is an abettor in the case shall be fined twice as much. Any woman who abets a man in having intercourse with a maiden against her will shall not only pay a fine of 100 panas, but also please the maiden providing her with an adequate nuptial fee.
A woman who, of her own accord, yields herself to a man shall be a slave to the king.
For committing intercourse with a woman outside a village, or for spreading false report regarding such things, double the usual fines shall be imposed.
He who carries off a maiden by force shall be fined 200 panas; if the maiden thus carried off has golden ornaments on her person, the highest amercement shall be imposed. If a number of persons abduct a maiden, each of them shall be punished as above.
Kautilya's Arthashastra When a man has connection with a harlot's daughter, he shall not only pay a fine of 54 panas, but also give her mother sixteen times her daily income.
When a man defiles the daughter of his own male or female slave, he shall not only pay a fine of 24 panas, but also provide the maiden with an adequate nuptial fee (sulka) and jewellery (dbaddhya).
When a man has connection with a woman who has been held in slavery on account of certain ransom due from her, he shall not only pay a fine of 12 panas, but also provide the woman with dress and maintenance.
Abettors in all the above cases shall each have the same punishment as the principal offender.
A relative, or a servant of an absentee husband may take the latter's wife of loose character under his own protection (samgrihniyat = may marry her). Being under such protection, she shall wait for the return of her husband. If her husband, on his return, entertains no objection, both the protector and the woman shall be acquitted. If he raises any objection, the woman shall have her ears and nose cut off, while her keeper shall be put to death as an adulterer.