Verse 8.50

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

यः स्वयं साधयेदर्थमुत्तमर्णोऽधमर्णिकात् ।
न स राज्ञाऽभियोक्तव्यः स्वकं संसाधयन् धनम् ॥ ५० ॥

yaḥ svayaṃ sādhayedarthamuttamarṇo'dhamarṇikāt |
na sa rājñā'bhiyoktavyaḥ svakaṃ saṃsādhayan dhanam || 50 ||

The creditor who shall himself recover his money from the debtor should not be prosecuted by the king, for recovering what is his own property.—(50)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

This verse serves to make clear what has been said before. If the creditor recovers his money from the debtor by means of ‘trick’ and the other methods, the King shall not tell him anything, such as—‘why did you, without informing me, take from him by trick or fraud, his ornament, etc., for the purpose of recovering your debt? Why do you not return it to him?’—(60)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 74), which explains the meaning to be that if a creditor adopts any of the five methods mentioned in the preceding verse, he should not be prevented by the king from doing so and in Kṛtyakalpataru (p. 80a).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Viṣṇu (6.18).—‘A creditor recovering, by any means, the loan advanced by him shall not be reproved by the King.’

Yājñavalkya (2.40).—‘If a creditor tries to recover an admitted debt, he shall not be reproved by the King.’

Nārada (1.123).—‘A creditor who tries to recover his loan from the debtor must not be checked by the King, both for secular and religious reasons.’