Verse 7.201 [Consolidation of Conquered Territory]

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

जित्वा सम्पूजयेद् देवान् ब्राह्मणांश्चैव धार्मिकान् ।
प्रदद्यात् परिहारार्थं ख्यापयेदभयानि च ॥ २०१ ॥

jitvā sampūjayed devān brāhmaṇāṃścaiva dhārmikān |
pradadyāt parihārārthaṃ khyāpayedabhayāni ca || 201 ||

Having gained victory, he shall worship the gods and the righteous Brāhmaṇas, grant remissions and proclaim amnesties.—(201).

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

After the enemy has been defeated and quiet has been restored in the captured city, and among the people—‘he s hall worship the gods and the righteous Brāhmaṇas’—i.e. those who perform all the acts that are enjoined for the Brāhmaṇa, and who, as much as lies in their power, avoid all that is forbidden. He shall make offerings of sandal-paint, flowers, incense and so forth, with due apportionment and after proper purification of the things offered.

‘Grant remissions’.—For the safety of householders, in order that their livelihood may not suffer, he shall remit such portions of the taxes as may be too burdensome for them, not realising them for one or two years.

‘Proclaim amnesties’.—He shall make it known among the people of the city and the villages—by means of the beat of drum or the felling of the mace and such other means—that what they had done by virtue of their loyalty to their former master had been forgiven and that henceforward every one of them was free to take to his own calling.—(201).

If even after the bestowing of such fanours he finds that the citizens and the people are still so loyal to their former master that they still cherish feelings of attachment towards his dynasty, and that any government of his own would not be lasting,—then, he shall do as follows:—

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Parihāra’—‘Exemptions from taxes and custom-dues etc.’ (Medhātithi);—‘gifts to the gods and Brāhmaṇas’ (Govindarāja and Kullūka);—‘gifts of clothes and ornaments to the inhabitants’ (Rāghavānanda).

“The term ‘parihāra’ occurs very frequently in the inscriptions (see e. g., Arch. Reports of Western India, Vol. IV, p.104 et. seq),and means ‘exemption from, taxes and payments as well as other immunities’. These parihāras were regularly attached to all grants to Brāhmaṇas or temples”—Buhler.

This verse is quoted in Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 403) in Vīramitrodaya (Rājanīti, p. 409), which adds the following notes:—‘Jitvā,’ ‘having conquered the enemy’s territories’,—‘devān dhārmikān brāhmaṇān’—i.e., those inhabiting the conquered country—‘sampūjayet’,—‘he should worship’, i.e., ‘offer them lands, gold, presents and honours’;—‘parihārān’ means ‘explanations of his own action in conquering the country, such as it was not through greed for conquest that I have conquered this kingdom, this king of yours wronged me deeply, that is why I have conquered him—thereby showing that he is not to blame;—or ‘paṛhāra’ may mean ‘gifts’, such proclamations, for instance, as ‘all the gold and wealth that I have won I present to the Brāhmaṇas’;—similary he should proclaim such amnesty as ‘all those who, through loyalty to their late king, acted against, me, only did their duty, and they need not fear any retaliation from me’.

It is quoted in Nṛsiṃhaprasāda (Saṃskāra, p. 73 a).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Śukranīti (4.7, 801, et seq.).—‘When a territory has been acquired, the king should grant maintenances for the conquered king himself; half of it to his son, and a quarter of it to his wife; the rest of the income he shall retain for himself. He should maintain the dispossessed princes for the display of his own majesty, by the bestowal of honours, if they are well-behaved; but punish them, if they are wicked.’