Verse 8.123

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

कौटसाक्ष्यं तु कुर्वाणांस्त्रीन् वर्णान् धार्मिको नृपः ।
प्रवासयेद् दण्डयित्वा ब्राह्मणं तु विवासयेत् ॥ १२३ ॥

kauṭasākṣyaṃ tu kurvāṇāṃstrīn varṇān dhārmiko nṛpaḥ |
pravāsayed daṇḍayitvā brāhmaṇaṃ tu vivāsayet || 123 ||

The king shall however fine and then banish the three castes giving false evidence; but the Brāhmaṇa he shall deprive of his clothes (and dwelling).—(123)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The penalties prescribed above are for the first offenders; for repeated offenders there is fining, followed by ‘banishment,’—i.e., expulsion from the kingdom;—or death; rules regarding the inflicting of such penalty being met with in political science.

‘But the Brāhmaṇa he shall deprive of his clothes’;—‘vivāsana’ meaning depriving of clothes, or of dwelling. The verb is formed from the noun ‘vivāsa,’ ‘homeless,’ ‘clothesless,’ with the causal affix ‘ṇic,’ which makes the nominal verb ‘makes vivāsa.’

‘The three Castes’—the Kṣatriya and the rest;—since for the Brāhmaṇa a separate punishment is prescribed.—(123)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Pravāsayet’—‘Banish’ (all concur). But Medhātithi suggests ‘put to death’, as an alternative; this is accepted by Mitākṣarā (see below).

‘Vivāsayet’—‘Should deprive him of his clothes (Medhātithi and Govindarāja),—‘or homestead’ (Medhātithi, alternative);—‘banish (without fining, as in the case of the other three castes)’ (Kullūka).

This verse is quoted in Mitākṣarā (on 2.81), which adds the following notes:—This rule is meant for repeated offence, as is clear from the present participle affix in ‘kurvāṇān’ (which implies habit); on the three castes, Kṣatriya and the rest, the king should impose the aforesaid fine and then put them to death;—the root ‘pravāsa’ is used in the sense of killing in works dealing with political science; and this part of the law-book is a treatise on that science. This putting to death is of various kinds—cutting the lips, cutting the tongue and actual killing; which one of these is to be adopted in any particular case will depend upon the nature of the case in regard to which the man may have given false evidence. The Brāhmaṇa, on the other hand, is to be fined and banished, removed from the kingdom; or ‘vivāsayet’ may mean deprive him of his clothes, strip him naked;—or again ‘vāsa’ meaning the dwelling house, ‘vivāsayet’ may mean ‘should deprive him of his house’, his house should be demolished. In the case of the Brāhmaṇa also, if the offence is the first one of its kind, and the man is not found to have been actuated by any such sordid motive as ‘greed’ and the rest,—only simple fine is to be imposed; but if the offence is repeated, there is to be fine and also ‘vivāsana’, i.e., banishment, or stripping naked, or rendering homeless; which one of these three is to be adopted will depend upon the character of the parties, the nature of the subject-matter of dispute and so forth. If the Brāhmaṇa is not found to have been actuated by greed or any such motive, if the offence is the first of its kind, and if the subject-matter of the dispute is a petty one,—then he also is to be only slightly fined, like the Kṣatriya and other lower castes; but if the subject-matter of the dispute is an important one, then he is to be banished. In the case of the offence being repeated, the punishment for all the castes is to be as prescribed by Manu.

This verse is quoted also in Aparārka (p. 680), which explains the meaning as follows:—The three lower castes are to be fined and banished, while the Brāhmaṇa is to be only banished) not fined;—though if the offence is repeated, or if the issues involved in the case are important, the Brāhmaṇa also may be fined.

It is quoted in Parāśaramādhava (Vyavahāra, p. 82);—in Vyavahāra-Bālambhaṭṭī (p. 119);—in Vivādacintāmaṇi (p. 191), which adds the note:—‘If a Kṣatriya or a Vaiśya or a Śūdra is found to depose falsely repeatedly, he should, in addition to the aforesaid fines, be banished from the country,—and in the ease of a Brāhmaṇa, he should be banished with all his belongings’;—in Kṛtyakalpataru (37b), which explains ‘vivāsayet’ as ‘should he banished from the kingdom’;—and in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra, 57a), which adds the explanation that—persons of the three castes other than the Brāhmaṇa are to he fined and then killed—the ‘killing’ consisting either in cutting off the lips or lopping off the tongue or down-right killing, in accordance with the gravity of the offence;—the Brāhmaṇa, is to be banished or rendered naked,—the verb ‘vivāsayet’ meaning ‘deprived of vāsa, habitation or clothes’. It adds that all this refers to cases of repeated perjury.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.118-123)

See Comparative notes for Verse 8.118.