Verse 8.40 [Stolen Property]

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

दातव्यं सर्ववर्णेभ्यो राज्ञा चौरैर्हृतं धनम् ।
राजा तदुपयुञ्जानश्चौरस्याप्नोति किल्बिषम् ॥ ४० ॥

dātavyaṃ sarvavarṇebhyo rājñā caurairhṛtaṃ dhanam |
rājā tadupayuñjānaścaurasyāpnoti kilbiṣam || 40 ||

Property stolen by thieves should be restored by the king to men of all castes; by retaining such property, the king imbibes the sin of the thief.—(40)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

When any property is stolen by thieves, the king should recover it; but he should not use it himself; he should restore it to the persons that may have been robbed.

The use of the term ‘all’ implies that stolen property shall be restored to Caṇḍālas also.

If we read ‘caurāhṛtam’ (in place of ‘chaurairhṛtam’), the compound should be expounded as ‘chaurebhyaḥ āhṛtam’—i.e., recovered from thieves—in accordance with Pāṇini 2.1.32. If we adopt the (third) reading ‘chaurahṛtam,’ the compounding would be in accordance with Pāṇini 2.1.30.

What is meant is that if the property stolen by thieves is incapable of being recovered, it should be made good by the king out of his own treasury.

The second half of the verse—‘By making use, etc.’—should be construed as follows:—The participle ‘upayuñjānaḥ’—derived from the root ‘yuja’ with the preposition ‘upa’—should be taken to indicate figuratively non-restoration; the sense being that ‘if the king does not restore to the person concerned the property that is his due, and if he uses that property for his own purposes’, then it is said to be ‘retained’ by him; and ‘by retaining such property the king imbibes the sin of the thief,’—‘kilviṣa’ meaning sin.—(40)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Mitākṣarā (on 2.36), which adds:—(a) If the king recovers the stolen property from the thieves and keeps it for himself, he takes the sin of the thief, (b) if he ignores the theft, then the sins of the people fall upon him; (c) if, having tried his best to recover the stolen property, he fails to do so, he should make good the loss out of his own treasury.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Gautuma (10.46-47).—‘Having recovered property stolen by thieves, he shall return it to the owner;—or he shall pay its value out of his own treasury.’

Āpastamba (2.26.8) (2.268?).—‘The King’s officers should ho made to repay what is stolen within the boundaries of their charge.’

Viṣṇu (3.66-67).—‘Having recovered the goods stolen by thieves, let him restore them entire to their owners, to whatever caste they may belong. If he is unable to recover them, he must pay their value out of his own treasury.’

Yājñavalkya (2.36).—‘The King should give to the people, what has been stolen by thieves; if he does not give it, he incurs the sin of stealing.’

Vyāsa (Aparārka, p. 641).—‘If the King is unable to recover what has been stolen by thieves, he shall make it good out of his own treasury.’

Nārada (6.16 et seq.).—‘He on whose land robbery has been committed must trace the thieves to the best of his power; or else, he must make good what has been stolen, unless the footmarks can be traced from that ground into another man’s ground. When the footmarks, after leaving that ground, are lost and cannot be traced any further, the neighbours, inspectors of the road and governors of that region shall be made responsible for the loss. When a house has been plundered, the King shall cause the thief-catchers, the guards and the inhabitants of that region to make good the loss, if the thief is not caught.’