Verse 8.233

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

विघुष्य तु हृतं चौरैर्न पालो दातुमर्हति ।
यदि देशे च काले च स्वामिनः स्वस्य शंसति ॥ २३३ ॥

vighuṣya tu hṛtaṃ caurairna pālo dātumarhati |
yadi deśe ca kāle ca svāminaḥ svasya śaṃsati || 233 ||

But the keeper shall not have to make good what has been taken away by thieves openly,—if he informs his own master of it at the proper place and time.—(233)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

But the keeper shall not have to make good what has been taken away by thieves openly,—if he informs his own master of it at the proper place and time.

‘Openly’—publicly, with beat of drums;—when the cattle is thus taken away by thieves, the keeper is not made to pay for it. The term ‘openly’ is meant to indicate the helplessness of the keeper; the sense being that in a case where there are a large number of thieves, and they have taken away the cattle by force,—the keeper is let off; specially if he ‘at the proper time—i.e., immediately—informs the master,—‘at the proper place’—i.e., wherever the master may happen to be.

“But how could the man know whether the master was on the spot or at his house?”

There is no force in this; even in a case where the master is not on the spot, some substitute of his is bound to be there, who would inform the king or his officer and would have the thieves pursued.

‘His own’;—this has been added for the purpose of precluding the possibility of the information being given directly to the king. The keeper’s own master could make every effort to recover his property—on being informed by the keeper;—not so the king;—and further, it would be extremely difficult for the keeper to convey any information to the king directly.

If the keeper gives the information after the thieves have gone away after taking the cattle,—the blame would lie with him.—(233)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Aparārka, (p. 772), which explains ‘Kilviṣī’ (its reading being ‘na pālastatra kilviṣī,’ for ‘na pālo dādumarhati’) as ‘blame-worthy’;—in Mitākṣarā (2.164) to the effect that the keeper should not be made to pay to the owner the value of such cattle as are carried away by thieves ‘by force,’ i.e., openly, by beat of drums and so forth;—provided that he reports it to the owner at the same time and places (this latter being added in Bālambhatṭṭī as explaining the latter half of the verse);—in Vivādacintāmaṇi, (p. 81) which explains ‘deśe’ as ‘place where a search could be made;’—and in Kṛtyakalpataru, (105a);—and in Vīramitrodaya (Vyavahāra, 137a), which explains ‘vighuṣya’ as ‘with a flourish of the trumpet’ and so forth,—‘deśe’ as at ‘the place where the master lives’,—and kāle as ‘immediately after the robbery’.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Nārada.—(6.12, 16).—‘If a cow under the cowherd’s charge meets with am accident, he shall struggle to save her as best he may. If he is unable to rescue her, he shall hasten to announce the fact to his master. For an animal seized by robbers, though he raised a cry, the cowherd shall not be made to pay; provided he gives notice to his master at the proper time and place.’

Vyāsa (Vivādaratnākara, p. 172).—‘If a cattle perishes or is taken away, when the cowherd has been captured, or during an attack on the village, or during anarchy,—the cowherd shall not he held to blame.’