Verse 7.130

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

पञ्चाशद्भाग आदेयो राज्ञा पशुहिरण्ययोः ।
धान्यानामष्टमो भागः षष्ठो द्वादश एव वा ॥ १३० ॥

pañcāśadbhāga ādeyo rājñā paśuhiraṇyayoḥ |
dhānyānāmaṣṭamo bhāgaḥ ṣaṣṭho dvādaśa eva vā || 130 ||

In the case of cattle and gold the fiftieth part shall be taken by the King; and in the case of grains, the eighth, sixth or twelfth part.—(130)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘In the ease of cattle and gold’—which are of high value—‘the fiftieth part shall be taken by the Ring’.

‘In the case of grains’—the exact share to be taken is to be determined in accordance with the greater or less labour involved in the producing of each kind.

‘Pañcāśaḥ’—the fiftieth; the affix being ‘tamaṭ’. If the reading be ‘pañcāthadbhāgah,’ it would be similar to such expressions as ‘dvibhāga’ (‘two parts’) and the like; and in that case it would stand for a totally different number (meaning ‘fifty parts’).—(130)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

The second half of this verse is quoted in Vīramitrodaya (Rājanīti, p. 262), which remarks that the option laid down is in view of the varying fertility of the soil and the consequent greater or less labour involved in cultivation; it explains ‘dhānya’ as standing for Vrīhi, Yava and so forth and adds that what is here mentioned is to be realised only from cultivators.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

See above, 10, 118 and 120.

Gautama (10.24, 25),—‘Cultivators should pay to the king a tax amounting to one-tenth, one-eighth, or one-sixth of the produce. Some declare that there is a tax also on cattle and gold, viz., one-fifth of the stock.’

Baudhāyana (1.18.1).—‘The king shall protect his subjects, receiving as his wage a sixth part of their incomes.’

Vaśiṣṭha (1.42).—‘A king who rules according to the sacred law may take the sixth part of the wealth of his subjects.’

Viṣṇu (3.22-24).—‘He should lake from his subjects as taxes a sixth part of every ear of the corn, and a sixth part of all other seeds;—two in the hundred, of cattle, gold and clothes.’

Viṣṇudharmottara (Vīramitrodaya-Rājanīti, p. 262).—‘Of awned grains, the sixth part, of leguminous grains, the eighth part, shall be taken by the king as the tax.’

Bṛhaspati (Do., p. 263).—‘The cultivator shall pay to the king, (a) the tenth, (b) eighth and (c) sixth parts of the produce (a) from fallow land (b) of the autumn crop and (c) the spring crop, respectively. “They shall pay taxes six-monthly or yearly, in accordance with the custom of the country; such is the eternal duty of cultivators.”

Śukranīti (4.2.212 et. seq.)—‘Duty is the king’s share received from the buyer and the seller. The regions of the duty arc the market-place, streets and mines. Duties are to he levied on goods only once. The king should receive the thirty-second portion from the seller or buyer. The twentieth or the sixteenth part is not a drawback upon the price. The king shall not realise duty from the seller when he receives what is less than cost price for his commodity; he shall realise it from the buyer on finding him to be the gainer. Having ascertained the amount of produce from the measured plots of land, the king shall demand revenue, apportioning it among the cultivators. The king shall realise rent from the peasant in such a way as may not ruin him. The king should realise one-third, one-fourth, or one-half from places irrigated by tanks, canals and wells, by rains and by rivers respectively, he should have one-sixth from barren and rocky soils. If the king realises from one cultivator 100 silver kārṣāpaṇas, he should refund to him 20 Karṣas. For minerals, the king shall realise duty at the following rates after deducting the expenses incurred:—Half of gold, one-third of silver, one-fourth of copper, one-sixth of zinc and iron, half of gems, half of glass and lead. He should realise one-third, one-fifth, one-seventh, one-tenth and one-twentieth from the collectors of grasses and foods. He should have one-eighth of the increase of goats, sheep, cows, buffaloes and horses, and one-sixteenth of the milk of buffaloes, she-goats, and ewes. Artists and artisans he shall make work for him one day in the fortnight. If the people start new industries or cultivate new lands, dig tanks, canals or wells, etc., the king should not demand anything from them until they have realised a profit double the amount spent by them. Having determined the land-revenue for each village, the king should receive it in advance from one rich man, or a guarantee of monthly or periodical payments. He should realise the one-thirty-second portion of the income of the money-lender. He should receive rents from houses and cultivated lands; also land-tax from shopkeepers; for the preservation and repairs of streets, he should realise dues from the users.’