Chapter 5 - The Duties of the Chamberlain (sannidhātā)

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

The chamberlain (sannidhātā = one who ever attends upon the king) shall see to the construction of the treasure-house, trading-house, the store-house of grains, the store-house of forest produce, the armoury and the jail.

Having dug up a square well, not too deep to be moist with water, having paved both the bottom and the sides with slabs of stone, he shall, by using strong timber, construct in that well a cage-like underground chamber of three storeys high, the topmost being on a level with the surface of the ground, with many compartments of various design, with floor plastered with small stones, with one door, with a movable staircase and solemnised with the presence of the guardian deity.

Above this chamber, the treasury house closed on both sides, with projecting roofs and extensively opening into the store-house, shall be built of bricks.

He may employ outcaste men (abhityakta-puruṣa)^[1] to build at the extreme boundary of the kingdom a palatial mansion to hold substantial treasure against dangers and calamities.

The trading-house shall be a quadrangle enclosed by four buildings with one door, with pillars built of burnt bricks, with many compartments, and with a row of pillars on both sides kept apart.

The store-house shall consist of many spacious rooms, and enclose within itself the store-house of forest produce separated from it by means of walls and connected with both the underground chamber and the armoury.

The court (dharmasthīya) and the office of the ministers (mahāmātrīya) shall be built in a separate locality.

Provided with separate accommodation for men and women kept apart, and with many compartments well-guarded, a jail shall also be constructed.

All these buildings shall be provided with halls (śālā), pits (khāta-privy [?]), water well, bathroom,^[2] remedies against fire and poison, with cats, mongooses, and with necessary means to worship the guardian gods appropriate to each.

In (front of) the store-house, a bowl (kuṇḍa) with its mouth as wide as an aratni (24 aṅgulas) shall be set up as rain-gauge (varṣamāna).

Assisted by experts having necessary qualifications and provided with tools and instruments, the chamberlain shall attend to the business of receiving gems, either old or new, as well as raw materials of superior or inferior value.

In cases of deception in gems, both the deceiver and the abettor shall be punished with the highest amercement; in the case of superior commodities, they shall be punished with the middlemost amercement; and in that of commodities of inferior value, they shall be compelled not only to restore the same, but also pay a fine equal to the value of the articles.

He shall receive only such gold coins as have been declared to be pure by the examiner of coins.

Counterfeit coins shall be cut into pieces.

Whoever brings in counterfeit coins shall be punished with the first amercement.

Grains, pure and fresh, shall be received in full measures; otherwise a fine of twice the value of the grains shall be imposed.

The same rule shall hold good with the receipt of merchandise, raw materials, and weapons.

In all departments, whoever, whether as an officer (yukta), a clerk (upayukta), or a servant (tatpuruṣa), misappropriates sums from one to four paṇas, or any other valuable things, shall be punished with the first, middlemost, and highest amercements and death respectively.

If the officer who is in charge of the treasury causes loss in money, he shall be whipped (ghāta), while his abettors shall receive half the punishment; if the loss is due to ignorance, he shall be censured.

If, with the intention of giving a hint, robbers are frightened (by the guards), (the latter) shall be tortured to death.

Hence, assisted by trustworthy persons, the chamberlain shall attend to the business of revenue collection.

He shall have so thorough a knowledge of both external and internal incomes running even for hundred years that, when questioned, he can point out without hesitation the exact amount of net balance that remains after expenditure has been met with.^[3]

[Thus ends Chapter V, “The Duties of the Chamberlain,” in Book II, “The Duties of Government Superintendents” of the Arthaśāstra of Kauṭilya. End of twenty-sixth chapter from the beginning.]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The word may mean criminals, who after the completion of the building might be put to death to safeguard the secrecy of the plan.

[2]:

See Chap. XXI, Book I, and Chap. XXXVI, Book II.

[3]:

In śloka-metre.