Verse 7.119

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

दशी कुलं तु भुञ्जीत विंशी पञ्च कुलानि च ।
ग्रामं ग्रामशताध्यक्षः सहस्राधिपतिः पुरम् ॥ ११९ ॥

daśī kulaṃ tu bhuñjīta viṃśī pañca kulāni ca |
grāmaṃ grāmaśatādhyakṣaḥ sahasrādhipatiḥ puram || 119 ||

The Lord of Ten villages shall enjoy one Kula and the Lord of Twenty villages twenty Kulas; the Lord of Hundred villages one whole village and the Lord of Thousand villages one town.—(119)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Daśi’ is the person in charge of Ten villages; so ‘Viṃśi’ also. The forms of the words are Vedic.

‘Kula’—part of a village; known in some places as ‘haṭṭa’ and in others as ‘uṣṭa’.

Five times this land appertains to the Lord of Ten villages; and an entire village to the Lord of Hundred villages; and the ‘Town’—city, to the Lord of a Thousand villages. The system is that the living should be determined in accordance with the position and duties of the officers.—(119)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Kulam’—‘A portion of the village, known in some places as ghaṭṭa, and in others as ‘uṣṭa’;—‘as much land as can be cultivated with two ploughs’ (Kullūka);—‘as much as is cultivated by one cultivator’ (Nandana).

This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Rājanīti, p. 251), which adds the following notes:—‘Kulam’ is a portion of the village, called ‘pādukā,’ says Kalpataru:—others however hold that it stands for as much land as can be cultivated by two ploughs. That much of land he should have for his livelihood.