Chapter 10 - Destruction of Pasture Lands

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Summary: Destruction of Pasture Lands, Fields and Roads, and Non-performance of Agreements.

Persons who obstruct, or make any kind of mischief with the flow of water intended for cultivation shall be punished with the first amercement. Construction in the sites belonging to others, of any buildings with a view to attract pilgrims thereto, of abodes of worship (caitya), or of temples of gods; as also the sale or mortgage, or causing the sale or mortgage, of any long-continued charitable building (pūrvānuvṛtta dharmasetu) shall be punished with the middlemost amercement. Those who are witnesses to such transactions shall be punished with the highest amercement, excepting in the case of neglected or ruined buildings. In the absence of claimants 'to dilapidated religious buildings, villagers (grāma), or charitable people (puṇyaśīlavā) may repair them.

(Blocking the Roads)

Forms of roads and paths have been dealt with in connection with the construction of forts (First Chapter, Book II).

Obstruction to roads for inferior beasts or men shall be punished with a fine of 12 paṇas; to roads for superior beasts, 24 paṇas; to roads for elephants or to those leading to fields, 54 paṇas; to those leading to any buildings or forests (setuvanapatha), 600 paṇas;^[1] to those for burial grounds or villages, 200 paṇas; to those for droṇamukha, a fortress, 500 paṇas; and those leading to sthāniya, country parts, or pasture grounds, 1,000 paṇas.^[2] The same fines shall be meted out in case of ploughing the several roads too deep (atikarṣaṇe caiṣā); and one-fourth of the same fines for ploughing merely on their surface.

If a cultivator or a neighbour makes encroachment upon a field during the time of sowing seeds, he shall be fined 12 paṇas, unless the encroachment is due to evils, calamities or intolerable occurrences arising otherwise from the field (anyatra doṣopanipātāviṣahyebhyaḥ).

(Settling in Villages)

Tax payers shall sell or mortgage their fields to tax payers alone; Brāhmans shall sell or mortgage their Brahmadeya or gifted lands only to those who are endowed with such lands; otherwise they shall be punished with the first amercement. The same punishment shall be meted out to a tax payer who settles in a village not inhabited by tax payers. If a tax payer takes the place of another tax payer, he shall enjoy all the holdings but the house of the latter. Even the house may be given to the new settler. If a person cultivates an inalienable land of another person who does not cultivate it, such a person shall restore the same after five years’ enjoyment on taking a certain amount of compensation equivalent to the improvement he made on the lands. Persons who are not tax payers and who sojourn abroad shall retain the right of ownership (bhoga) of their lands.

(The Headman of the Village)

When the headman of a village has to travel on account of any business of the whole village, the villagers shall by turns accompany him.

Those who cannot do this shall pay 1½ paṇas for every yojana.^[3] If the headman of a village sends out of the village any person except a thief, or an adulterer, he shall be punished with a fine of 24 paṇas, and the villagers with the first amercement (for doing the same).

Re-entrance into a village for a person previously sent out of it (nirastasya) is explained by “settlement of persons in villages” (treated of above).

At a distance of 800 aṅgulas around every village, an enclosure with timber posts shall be constructed.^[4]

(Trespassing Cattle)

Pasture lands, plains and forests may be availed of for grazing cattle.

For camels or buffaloes allowed to stray after grazing in pasture grounds, the fine shall be one-fourth of a paṇa; for cows, horses, or asses, one-eighth of a paṇa; for inferior quadrupeds, one-sixteenth of a paṇa; and for cattle found lying thereon after grazing, fine shall be double the above; for cattle ever found to live in the vicinity of pasture grounds, the fines shall be four times the above.

Bulls, let out in the name of the village deity (grāmadevavṛṣa), cows which have not passed ten days inside the enclosure after calving, or bulls or bullocks kept for crossing cows shall not be punished. If crops are eaten away by animals, the owner or owners of them shall, if proved guilty, be made to pay twice as much as the loss. Persons driving their cattle through a field without intimating the owner shall be fined 12 paṇas. Any person who allows his cattle to stray shall be fined 24 paṇas; cowherds doing the same with the cattle under their care shall be fined half the above.^[5] The same punishment shall be meted out for letting cattle graze in flower gardens. For breaking the fence of fields, the punishment shall be double the above. If cattle are allowed to stray and eat the grains stored in houses, a threshing floor, or a courtyard, the owners of the cattle shall pay adequate compensation. If beasts maintained in reserve forests are found grazing in a field, they shall be brought to the notice of the forest officers, and the beasts shall be driven out without being hurt or killed. Stray cattle shall be driven out by the use of ropes or whips. Persons hurting them in any way shall be liable to the punishment for assault or violence. Persons who invite (cattle to graze in the fields of others) or who are caught while committing such offences shall by all means be put down.^[6] Thus the destruction of pasture lands, fields, and roads is dealt with.

(Non-performances of Agreement)

The fine levied on a cultivator who, arriving at a village for work, does not work, shall be taken by the village itself. He shall refund not only double the amount of the wages he received promising to work, but also double the value of food and drink with which he has been provided.^[7] If the work is one of sacrificial performance (prahavaṇeṣu), then also he shall pay double the amount of the wages. Any person who does not co-operate in the work of preparation for a public show shall, together with his family, forfeit his right to enjoy the show (prekṣā). If a man who has not co-operated in preparing for a public play or spectacle is found hearing or witnessing it under hiding, or if any one refuses to give his aid in a work beneficial to all, he shall be compelled to pay double the value of the aid due from him. The order of any person attempting to do a work beneficial to all shall be obeyed.^[8] Disobedience in such a case shall be punished with a fine of 12 paṇas. If others unitedly beat or hurt such a person so ordering, each of them shall pay double the amount of the fine usually levied for such offence.^[9] If among the above offenders one is a Brāhman or a person superior to a Brāhman, he shall first be punished. If a Brāhman does not take part in the combined performance of any sacrifice of his village, he shall not be violated, but may be pursuaded to pay a share.

The above rules shall also apply to non-performance of agreements among countries (deśa), castes, families, and assemblies.^[10]

* Those who, with their united efforts construct on roads buildings of any kind (setubandha) beneficial to the whole country, and who not only adorn their villages but also keep watch on them, shall be shown favourable concessions by the king.

[Thus ends Chapter X, “Destruction of Pasture Lands, Fields, and Roads,” in the section of “Buildings,” in Book III, “Concerning Law” of the Arthaśāstra of Kauṭilya; end of “Buildings; and of Non-performance of Agreements.” End of the sixty-seventh chapter from the beginning.]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

600, ṣaṭchata, seems to be a clerical error, as it falls between 54 and 200 and is inconsistent with the apparent progressive scale.

[2]:

N. 11, 15.

[3]:

A yojana = 5 5/44 miles.

[4]:

M. 8, 237.

[5]:

Y. 2, 159-162-65; N. 11, 34-38; M. 8, 240-42.

[6]:

M. 8, 240-42.

[7]:

Y. 2, 193.

[8]:

Y. 2, 191.

[9]:

Vi. 5, 73.

[10]:

M. 8,221. Meyer reads “Brāhmanā [Brāhmaṇā?] nākāmāḥ,” Brāhmans, if unwilling, may not take part in such works, and shall have a share.