Verse 7.139

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

नोच्छिन्द्यादात्मनो मूलं परेषां चातितृष्णया ।
उच्छिन्दन् ह्यात्मनो मूलमात्मानं तांश्च पीडयेत् ॥ १३९ ॥

nocchindyādātmano mūlaṃ pareṣāṃ cātitṛṣṇayā |
ucchindan hyātmano mūlamātmānaṃ tāṃśca pīḍayet || 139 ||

He shall not cut off his own root, nor that of others, through excessive greed; by cutting off his own root he causes suffering to himself as well as to others.—(139)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The ‘cutting off of his own root’ consists in not realising taxes and duties; and excessive taxation constitutes the ‘cutting off of the root of others’; and as a matter of course, the latter is due to excessive greed; and this is what is reiterated in the text.

The ‘cutting off of his own root’ causes Suffering to the King himself, by the depletion of his treasury. From the same cause others also come to suffer. For if a war were to break out, and the King’s finances happened to be low, his defeat and destruc tion would be certain; and this would constitute a great suffering for the people.

On the other hand, if the King were to realise taxes at all times of the year, this also makes the people wretched.—(139)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vīramitrodayā (Rājanīti, p. 275), which explains ‘ātmamūloccheda’ as ‘not realising revenues and taxes,’ and ‘paramuloccheda’ as ‘realising more revenue and taxes than what is proper.’

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Mahābhārata (12.87.18).—‘Taxes therefore shall be levied by the king after proper investigation; he should not destroy his own as well as other people’s roots by too much greed.’

Yājñavalkya (1.338-339).—‘The king, who unlawfully adds to his treasury out of the kingdom, speedily perishes along with his relations, losing all his prosperity. The fire arising out of the heat produced by harassing the people, is extinguished only after having burnt the king’s prosperity, family and life.’

Kātyāyana (Vīramitrodaya-Rājanīti, p. 276).—‘The king who unlawfully realises from the kingdom, taxes, fines, duties and shares of the land’s produce, is a sinner.’