Verse 8.302 [Theft (steya)]

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

परमं यत्नमातिष्ठेत् स्तेनानां निग्रहे नृपः ।
स्तेनानां निग्रहादस्य यशो राष्ट्रं च वर्धते ॥ ३०२ ॥

paramaṃ yatnamātiṣṭhet stenānāṃ nigrahe nṛpaḥ |
stenānāṃ nigrahādasya yaśo rāṣṭraṃ ca vardhate || 302 ||

The King shall, make the best efforts for suppressing thieves; by the suppression of thieves comes fame and the kingdom prospers.—(302)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

It is possible that a certain king may be too merciful and hence not undertake the work of suppressing thieves, regarding it to be a cruel act of injury; hence with a view to prompt such a king to do his duty, the text puts forward a valedictory passage appraising the suppression of thieves. The meaning is that the act of punishing thieves does not involve anything wrong in the way in which the ‘injury of living beings’ does; on the contrary, in the case of thieves, it is the act of inflicting hurt on them which serves a visibly useful purpose and enhances the fame of the king.

In the present work several purely valedictory passages have been introduced with a view to indicate that it belongs to the same category as the Veda, in which most of the injunctions are found to be accompanied by valedictory passages; so that from similarity to this latter, it would be thought that what is said in the text is sanctioned by the Veda. Further, there are certain persons who become more quickly prompted to a certain course of action by the force of valedictory descriptions.

‘Best efforts’—He should have recourse to the bast and most vigilant methods; employing spies to try their best to track them down directly as well as openly.

‘Stena’ is thief.

‘Nigraha, suppression’ means putting down by such means as death, imprisonment and the like.

If this is done, the king acquires ‘fame’, good name; all the people saying—‘The kingdom of this king is free from troubles,—thieves do not attack the people,—night is like day.’

‘The kingdom prospers.’—‘Kingdom’ means the country, and when its inhabitants are not attacked by thieves, they prosper in wealth and become affluent, and inhabitants of other countries also are attracted to settle in this kingdom on account of its being free from troubles; and thus also ‘the kingdom prospers.’—(302)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 293);—and in Vivādacintāmaṇi (p. 124).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.302-303)

Āpastamba (2.25.15).—‘That King only takes care of the welfare of his subjects in whose dominions, be it in villages or forests, there is no danger from thieves.’

Viṣṇu (5.190).—‘A king in whose dominion there exists neither thief, nor adulterer, nor calumniator, nor robber, nor murderer, attains the world of Indra.’

Yājñavalkya (1.335).—‘He should guard his people against the attacks of calumniators, thieves, evil-doers, and great criminals,—specially those of Kāyasthas.’

Hārīta (Vivādaratnākara, p. 294).—‘If in the dominion of a king wicked thieves prosper, that evil, reaching large proportions, destroys the very roots of that king.’

Viṣṇudharmottara (Vīramitrodaya-Rājanīti, p. 256).—‘The King should save his people from the ravages of prostitutes, talkers, evil-doers, royal favourites, and specially, Kāyasthas.’