Verse 8.31

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

ममैदमिति यो ब्रूयात् सोऽनुयोज्यो यथाविधि ।
संवाद्य रूपसङ्ख्यादीन् स्वामी तद् द्रव्यमर्हति ॥ ३१ ॥

mamaidamiti yo brūyāt so'nuyojyo yathāvidhi |
saṃvādya rūpasaṅkhyādīn svāmī tad dravyamarhati || 31 ||

He who says ‘this is mine’ should be questioned in proper form; and the owner ought to receive the property after having correctly described the colour, the number and other details regarding it.—(31)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The author explains in what, manner the rightful owner shall establish bis ownership over the lost property.

Whenever any one comes and says ‘this is my property,’ ‘he should be questioned in proper form.’—‘Questioned,’ i.e., examined.

“What is the proper form of questioning?”

The questioning could be done in the following manner:—What is the article that has been lost? Of what colour? Of what size? What is the number of things? Was it dropped or not dropped? If it was dropped, at which place was it dropped? Whence did you obtain it?

If he gives a correct account of the colour, number and other details; ‘colour’ of animals, clothes and the like: ‘the cow or the cloth lost was white’; similarly the ‘number’: ‘there were ten cows or yokes.’ ‘Other details’—such as, e.g., if it was gold what was its weight, if it was in a lump or a definite shape. If he gives a correct account of all this, then he establishes his ownership, and as such ‘ought to receive the property.’

An ‘account’ is called ‘correct,’ when it is found that what it describes is in exact agreement with what is known by other means of knowledge.

The mention of ‘colour, number and other details’ is only by way of illustration, and; implies also the producing of witnesses and other evidence of ownership.—(31)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Vivādaratnākara (p. 347), which adds the following notes’—‘anuyojyaḥ’ ‘should be questioned’,—‘rūpam’, ‘white and so forth’,—‘saṅkhyā,’ ‘four, five &c’,—the term ‘ādi’ is meant to include the ‘kind’ character and such other details regarding lost property.

It is quoted in Madanapārijāta (p. 226);—and in Nṛsiṃhaprasāda (Āhnika, p. 36a).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.31-32)

Agnipurāṇa (Rājadharma, 222-17-18).—(Same as Manu.)

Yājñavalkya (2-33.2173 (?)).—(See under 29 and 30.)