Verse 8.34

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

प्रणष्टाधिगतं द्रव्यं तिष्ठेद् युक्तैरधिष्ठितम् ।
यांस्तत्र चौरान् गृह्णीयात् तान् राजैभेन घातयेत् ॥ ३४ ॥

praṇaṣṭādhigataṃ dravyaṃ tiṣṭhed yuktairadhiṣṭhitam |
yāṃstatra caurān gṛhṇīyāt tān rājaibhena ghātayet || 34 ||

Out of the property that has been lost and found, the king, remembering the duty of good men, shall take the sixth part, or the tenth, or the twelfth.—(34)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Shall take’—sieze—either the sixth or the tenth or the twelfth part—of the property lost and found, and make over the remainder to the owner. During the first year, he shall take the twelfth part, during the second year, the tenth part, and during the third year, the sixth part. Or, the option regarding the share may be based upon the amount of trouble entailed in taking care of the property.

‘Remembering the duty of good men,’—i.e., knowing that such is the practice among cultured people.—(34)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 347), which adds the following notes:—‘Praṇaṣṭādhigatam’, ‘was first lost and then recovered’;—‘yuktaiḥ’, ‘carefully devoted to guarding the property—‘ibhena’, ‘by means of an elephant’;—and in Vivādacintāmaṇi (p. 149). which notes that the ‘guarding’ is to be done by the king’s officers, and explains ‘ibhena’ as ‘by an elephant’.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.33-34)

See Comparative notes for Verse 8.33.