Verse 8.177

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

कर्मणाऽपि समं कुर्याद् धनिकायाधमर्णिकः ।
समोऽवकृष्टजातिस्तु दद्यात्श्रेयांस्तु तत्शनैः ॥ १७७ ॥

karmaṇā'pi samaṃ kuryād dhanikāyādhamarṇikaḥ |
samo'vakṛṣṭajātistu dadyātśreyāṃstu tatśanaiḥ || 177 ||

Even by labour shall the debtor make good what is due to the creditor, if he is of the same or of a lower caste; the superior person shall pay it up gradually.—(177)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

If the debtor has no property, he is not let off simply because he has no property; he should he made to do ‘labour’; i.e., he should become a servant, and the amount of wages that would, be payable to the servant for doing the work that he does shall be credited to his account; and when the total amount thus credited equals the sum of his debt along with the interest, then he should be freed from service.

‘Make good to the creditor’; ‘uttamarṇa’ and ‘udhamarṇa’ are relative terms applied to one or the other party on the basis of their possessions.

The manual labour is made to be done by all who are of the same caste as, or of the lower caste than, the creditor.

‘The superior person’—i.e., one belonging to a higher caste, or possessed of higher qualifications—‘shall pay it up gradually’—i.e., according as he goes on earning. We read in Nārada—‘If the Brāhmaṇa is poor, he shall pay up gradually according to his circumstances.’ Hence for the liquidation of the creditor’s debts, the Brāhmaṇa shall not he made by the king to suffer any pains; and the interests of the creditor too have to be protected.—(177)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

Cf. 8.49, and 9.229; also 8.415.

This verse is quoted in Mitākṣarā (2.43), which explains the meaning to be that “the debtor should make himself ‘samam’, equal, to the creditor by putting an end ṭo the relation of creditor and debtor”;—in Aparārka (p. 146), which explains the meaning to be that “even by doing some work for the creditor, the debtor should make himself equal, similar, to the creditor, by becoming free from debt”;—in Vivādaratnākara (p. 70), which adds the following explanation:—The debtor, who is either of the same caste with, or of a lower caste than, the creditor, should, even by means of working, clear off his debt, and thereby render himself equal to the creditor. So long as the debt is not paid off, there is an inequality between them—one being the creditor and the other the debtor; but when by means of work, the debt has been paid off, both of them become ‘equal’.—But if the debtor belongs to a higher caste, he should not be made by the creditor to work for him.

It is quoted also in Vyavahāramayūkha (p. 89);—in Kṛtyakalpataru (79b), which explains ‘samam kuryāt’ as ‘remove his indebtedness, which puts him in a position lower than that of his creditor, by doing such work for the latter as would suffice to liquify the amount of debt’—‘śreyān’ is ‘one belonging to a higher caste’ and also ‘one possessed of higher qualifications’;—and in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra, 104b), which also has the same explanation.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Bṛhaspati (11.59).—‘An indigent debtor may be taken by the creditor to his own house and compelled to work there, such as distilling spirits and the like; but a Brāhmaṇa should be made to pay gradually.’

Nārada (1.132).—“If a wealthy debtor, from malice, refuses to pay his debt, the King shall compel him to pay it by forcible means, and shall take five in the hundred for himself.’

Yājñavalkya (2.43)—‘If the debtor of a lower caste is too indigent to pay, the creditor shall make him do work; but an indigent Brāhmaṇa should he made to pay gradually, as he obtains the means to pay.’